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YEMEN's WATER CRISIS » October -November 2011 PROTEST INOMAN Volume 8-Number 1 £4 | €5 | US$6.5 »

YEMEN's WATER CRISIS » October -November 2011 PROTEST INOMAN Volume 8-Number 1 £4 | €5 | US$6.5 »

» MOVEMENT IN EFFECTS OF THE HUTHICONFLICT INNORTH YEMEN THIS ISSUE VEILING INOMAN » »

PLUS YEMEN AND

» REVIEWS AND EVENTS IN LONDON » SOUTH ARABIAN LANGUAGES SOUTH ARABIAN » THE SOUTHERN SECESSIONIST »

YEMEN'S WATER CRISIS » October -November 2011 PROTEST INOMAN Volume 8-Number 1 £4 | €5 | US$6.5 »

Volume 8 - Number 1 October - November 2011 £4 | €5 | US$6.5

THIS ISSUE » YEMEN AND OMAN » YEMEN'S WATER CRISIS » EFFECTS OF THE HUTHI CONFLICT IN » THE SOUTHERN SECESSIONIST MOVEMENT IN » SOUTH ARABIAN LANGUAGES » PROTEST IN OMAN » VEILING IN OMAN » PLUS » REVIEWS AND EVENTS IN LONDON

View from al-Nadhir, southern Razih, Yemen. 1977 © Shelagh Weir About the London Institute (LMEI) Volume 8 - Number 1 October-November 2011 Th e London (LMEI) draws upon the resources of London and SOAS to provide teaching, training, research, publication, consultancy, outreach and other services related to the Middle Editorial Board East. It serves as a neutral forum for Middle East studies broadly defi ned and helps to create links between Nadje Al- individuals and institutions with academic, commercial, diplomatic, media or other specialisations. SOAS With its own professional staff of Middle East experts, the LMEI is further strengthened by its academic Narguess Farzad SOAS membership – the largest concentration of Middle East expertise in any institution in Europe. Th e LMEI also Nevsal Hughes has access to the SOAS Library, which houses over 150,000 volumes dealing with all aspects of the Middle Association of European Journalists East. LMEI’s Advisory Council is the driving force behind the Institute’s fundraising programme, for which Najm Jarrah it takes primary responsibility. It seeks support for the LMEI generally and for specifi c components of its George Joff é programme of activities. Cambridge University Max Scott Gilgamesh Publishing Sarah Searight Mission Statement: British Foundation for the Study of Arabia Th e aim of the LMEI, through education and research, is to promote knowledge of all aspects of the Middle Kathryn Spellman Poots AKU and LMEI East including its complexities, problems, achievements and assets, both among the general public and with Sarah Stewart those who have a special interest in the region. In this task it builds on two essential assets. First, it is based LMEI in London, a city which has unrivalled contemporary and historical connections and communications with Ionis Th ompson the Middle East including political, social, cultural, commercial and educational aspects. Secondly, the LMEI British Foundation for the Study of Arabia is closely linked to SOAS, the only tertiary educational institution in the whose explicit purpose is to Shelagh Weir provide education and scholarship on the whole Middle East from prehistory until today. SOAS

Co-ordinating Editor LMEI Staff: Rhiannon Edwards Editorial Assistant Director Dr Hassan Hakimian Alice Piller Roner Deputy Director and Company Secretary Dr Sarah Stewart Listings Executive Offi cer Louise Hosking Vincenzo Paci-Delton Events and Magazine Coordinator Vincenzo Paci-Delton Designer Shahla Geramipour

Th e Middle East in London is published Disclaimer: Letters to the Editor: six times a year by the London Middle East Institute at SOAS Opinions and views expressed in the Middle East Please send your letters to the editor at Publisher and in London are, unless otherwise stated, personal the LMEI provided (see left panel) Editorial Offi ce views of authors and do not refl ect the views of their or email [email protected] Th e London Middle East Institute organisations nor those of the LMEI or the Editorial School of Oriental and African Studies Board. Although all advertising in the magazine is University of London Th ornaugh Street, Russell Square carefully vetted prior to publication, the LMEI does London WC1H 0XG not accept responsibility for the accuracy of claims made by advertisers. T: +44 (0)20 7898 4490 F: +44 (0)20 7898 4329 E: [email protected] SSubscriptions:ubscriptions: www.lmei.soas.ac.uk ISSN 1743-7598 To subscribe to Th e Middle East in London, please email [email protected] to request subscription information and a form. Contents

LMEI Board of Trustees 4 18 28 Professor Webley (Chairman) EDITORIAL Valued Friends OBITUARY Director, SOAS Th e UK friendly societies devoted Ernst J Grube Dr John Curtis to Oman and Yemen Sarah Searight H E Sir Vincent Fean KCVO Consul General to 5 YEMEN AND OMAN Professor Ben Fortna, SOAS 29 INSIGHT LISTINGS: Professor Graham Furniss, SOAS Yemen’s water and the Arab 20 OCTOBER – NOVEMBER Dr Karima Laachir, SOAS Spring Th e timeless art of Tribal Poetry EVENTS Professor Annabelle Sreberny, SOAS Gerhard Lichtenthaeler Steve Caton

LMEI Advisory Council Lady Barbara (Chair) Professor A. S. Abdel Haleem Near and Middle East Department, SOAS 7 22 Th e End of Bayt Zayd during the POETRY H E Khalid Al-Duwaisan GVCO Ambassador, Embassy of the of Huthi Wars in north Yemen Selected and translated by Flagg Mrs Haifa Al Kaylani Shelagh Weir Miller Arab International Women’s Forum Dr Khalid Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa President, University College of Professor Tony Allan ’s College and SOAS 10 24 Dr Alanoud Alsharekh Veiling in Oman Th e non- languages of LMEI and Fellow, St Antony’s College southern Arabia Mr Farad Azima Janet Watson Heritage Foundation Professor Doris Behrens-Abouseif Art and Archaeology Department, SOAS Dr Noel Brehony 12 MENAS Associates Ltd. A tale of two 25 Mr Charles L. O. Buderi Th e history of relations between REVIEWS Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP North and South Yemen Exhibition: Adornment and Dr Elham Danish Royal Embassy of Noel Brehony Identity: Jewellery and Costume Mr Kasim Kutay of Oman Moelis & Company Clara Semple Ms Heidi Minshall Middle East & North Research Group, Foreign & Commonwealth Offi ce 14 Mr Rod Sampson ‘Th e future will be ours, our Barclays Wealth, , !’ 26 Dr Th e in BOOKS IN BRIEF Correction Carnegie Middle East Centre Yemen Susanne Dahlgren Founding Sponsor and In the last issue on page 18, Member of the the caption read: 'Th e PSC Advisory Council 27 took part in a TUC vote in PROFILE Mohamed bin Issa al Jaber 2009'. Th e caption should MBI Al Jaber Foundation 16 Taher Qassim have read: 'A TUC vote in Th e year of Oman’s discontents 2009'. John Peterson

October-November 2011 » The Middle East in London » 3 EEDITORIALDITORIAL © Gerhard Lichtenthaeler

DDearear RReadereader

Meeting to resolve a water dispute, Amran region, Yemen, 2011. Gerhard Lichtenthaeler (see page 5) is seated with a government offi cial at the head of the room

Shelagh Weir, MEL Editorial Board

s the reaches autumn, population, is woefully underdeveloped, cities, despite attempts to crush them by and most eyes are trained in hope and (as Lichtenthaeler describes) faces imprisonments and military force. Th ese Aand horror on and , our imminent, catastrophic water shortages. protests, which demand Salih go, have focus shift s to two of the lesser-known Two distinct protest movements in gathered people from all parts of society, countries of the Middle East - Oman and the north and south of Yemen have been including businessmen, intellectuals, Yemen - which are experiencing their challenging Salih’s regime for several years, students, rural tribesmen and women. own unique disturbances. Each of these and (as Dahlgren and Weir describe) During these turbulent events, the southern Arabian countries has been ruled these have escalated into increasingly stereotypes of all women being secluded by the same man for an extraordinarily violent confl icts which seriously threaten at home and politically inactive, and long period: Qabus of Oman for the stability and unity of this fragile state tribesmen being inherently conservative, 41 years; President Ali Abdullah Salih – far more than the presence in Yemen disorderly and violent, have taken a of Yemen for 33 years. Both rulers have of `al-Qa`idah in the well-deserved battering. Women have maintained power with the help of (now (AQAP)’. Since early this year Salih has played active and vociferous roles in the diminishing) oil resources and foreign aid – additionally suff ered from Yemen’s version Yemeni uprising, including as leaders administrative, fi nancial and military. And of the Arab Spring - in his case physically and spokespeople. And tribesmen have both now face unprecedented opposition as well as politically. An explosion in his left their guns behind, and marched and to their authoritarian regimes or manner of palace compound in severely injured danced chanting verses of protest and ruling - especially from disenfranchised and him, and he has since been in Saudi Arabia longing - adapting (as Caton shows) an age unemployed shabab (youth) who have little receiving medical treatment. He recently old tradition to contemporary conditions. to lose, and dream of better, freer lives. appeared on TV repeating his intention to One can only hope that the intensely Th ese internal political pressures are return to Yemen, where his sons and allies communicative Yemenis, with their recent and as yet `relatively mild’ in still hold key positions, but as I write (in penchant for using words creatively and Oman, according to Peterson, where its early ) he is still abroad leaving persuasively, can resolve their diff erences, paternalistic ruler has presided over major Yemen in a limbo of uncertainty. Meanwhile settle their grievances and decide their economic and infrastructural development. major military, tribal and political fi gures political future by discussion and popular But they are older and graver in Yemen, have defected to the opposition. And mass agreement – and that further bloodshed can which has a much larger and poorer demonstrations continue in the principal be avoided.

4 » The Middle East in London » October-November 2011 IINSIGHTNSIGHT

Gerhard Lichtenthaeler describes how recent political events have aff ected the water crisis in Yemen YYemen’semen’s wwaterater aandnd tthehe AArabrab SSpringpring © Gerhard Lichtenthaeler

Men of Hijrat al-Montasir arguing their case, Amran region, Yemen, 2007

drilling rig was blocking the narrow drill deep into the limestone for water. But queued up for water which was being mountain track when, in 2007, I the villagers of Hijrat al-Muntasir were carefully rationed, and records meticulously Avisited Hijrat al-Muntasir, a village afraid that more extraction kept, by Ali the cistern gatekeeper. Th e in a tribal region 70 km northwest of the would wipe out their small mountain situation was grave. A village elder showed capital at an altitude of 3000 metres. spring, the sole source of drinking water me a local document listing the water Some men from the neighbouring of for 700 inhabitants. So they had mobilized allotments for each family - roughly 10 litres al-Ashmur, farmers of the lucrative cash- to prevent the drilling. Th e tension eased, per person per day. crop qat, the mild whose leaves and some Muntasiri men climbed down Trouble for the qat irrigators of al- are chewed in Yemen, had gathered around from the ridge for discussions to resolve Ashmur had started when the people of a the heavy equipment protectively. On the the dispute according to tribal customary third village, al-Qarin, noticed alarming above, more than 50 men from procedures. falls in the water levels of their wells, Hijrat al-Muntasir were positioned, several A short bumpy drive took us to the village sparking fears about the future. Despite this, with AK-47 machine guns. Th e Ashmuri cistern which stored the trickling water infl uential village families had continued qat farmers, desperate aft er yet another from the sole mountain spring. Women and to deplete the water table by drilling new, of their wells had run dry, had wanted to children with dozens of yellow containers ever deeper, wells and extracting water for sale to tanker owners who traded it to new Even before the crisis, about half the capital’s population qat farms in other areas, including Hijrat al-Muntasir. Th e tribal elders of al-Qarin of two million depended on informal water markets therefore drew up a consensus-based

October-November 2011 » The Middle East in London » 5 destroyed vital equipment, then set the place Many families are struggling to cope with severely reduced on fi re. In another incident, local people income due to the continuing political and economic paralysis unlawfully occupied the grounds of the urban agency. document (marqum) banning the sale have challenged and water Many families are struggling to cope of groundwater from their local wells to providers in new ways. As a result of with severely reduced income due to the outsiders. As this ban came into eff ect, the repeated sabotage of the country’s electricity continuing political and economic paralysis, desperate qat farmers of al-Ashmur had grid, between May and July this year the while the cost for food and basic items has decided to drill. capital Sanaa had power for only one to two dramatically increased. Many employees Negotiations took several weeks, with the hours a day, insuffi cient even to recharge of water agencies have not received their parties to the dispute meeting repeatedly at mobile phones. Th e prolonged electrical salaries for six months. However, temporary the site of the drilling rig. Finally the two black-out also brought to a standstill the relief came with the news that the July tribal groups reached a formal agreement raising of water from the 125 deep wells salaries for public service workers would be to protect the village spring and prevent operated by Sanaa’s public water supply paid by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a further over-exploitation of groundwater in agency. Even before the crisis, about half goodwill gesture, and no doubt for political the area. the capital’s population of two million reasons. In the spring of 2009, I was invited back depended on informal water markets. Sanaa Farmers have experienced huge losses, for the inauguration of a small village has several thousand water traders who own especially those dependent on pumped project. It was the fi rst visit for the vice small tankers, and buy water from privately- groundwater for . Potato growers governor and other dignitaries. Hijrat al- owned wells on farms around Sanaa then in the Amran basin had to dump much Muntasir had slaughtered two oxen for the deliver and sell it to people’s homes. With of this year’s spring crop because diesel occasion. Banners leading up to the village the severe shortage of diesel and petrol for fuel was unavailable. During the summer, welcomed the guests. Th ere was good news most of spring and summer, the price for a many of the basin’s 2500 deep wells, which - the drilling had been stopped without tanker of water (three cubic metres) soared normally pump 12-15 hours daily, fell confl ict. from 1500 to 8000 Yemeni Rials ($6 - $32). silent. Th e high cost of diesel, which soared But there was also bad news. As Ali the Th e situation has been worsened during the to seven-10 times the normal price on gatekeeper unlocked the screechy little protests by many families leaving unsafe the black market, forced most farmers to iron gate to the cistern, several village areas to seek shelter with relatives elsewhere leave their fi elds fallow. As a consequence, women came rushing down a steep path in Sanaa. Many others left the capital for the fi rst time in decades, groundwater carrying empty yellow containers. ‘No water altogether, heading for the safety of the rural levels appear to be recovering. Th e current today - go home!’ shouted Ali. ‘Tomorrow areas. political stalemate of Yemen’s Arab Spring morning, inshallah.’ Th e daily fl ow of the In many provincial towns opposition is thus accomplishing, at least temporarily, spring had reduced even further, and was movements have called for civil what years of water legislation have now suffi cient for only fi ve litres per person disobedience, asking people not to pay fees struggled to achieve. per day. Whether this was due to inadequate to government agencies including semi- rainfall or climate change, no one could say. autonomous water suppliers. Between Communities such as Hijrat al-Muntasir January and April up to 50 per cent of Gerhard Lichtenthaeler studied Arabic, are coping admirably with their diminishing water collection fees were unpaid, leaving ethnography and at SOAS, and spring. In social science terms, they retain many water providers without revenues has worked in the water sector in Yemen strong adaptive capacity - defi ned as the and unable to maintain minimum services. for the past seven years. He is author of sum of social resources available to counter In one small coastal town the local water Political Ecology and the Role of Water: the increasing scarcity of a natural resource. supplier run out of diesel to operate the Environment, Society and Economy in However, traditional coping mechanisms pump. Angry citizens broke into his offi ces, Northern Yemen (2003) are now being tested as never before. To avoid the terrible prospect of major © Gerhard Lichtenthaeler ecological failure, Yemen must address major structural problems including the draining of fi nite aquifers to irrigate fi elds of cash crops including qat. Yemen already is one of the world’s ten most water-scarce countries. Its aquifers are being mined at such a rate that groundwater levels have been falling by three to six meters annually, threatening agriculture and leaving major cities without adequate safe drinking water. Sanaa could be the fi rst in the world to run dry. Many of its wells already have to be drilled to Men holding up exceptional depths of 800 to 1200 metres to the recorded and reach water. agreed daily water entitlements of each Th e current political crisis, and especially family Amran region, the events triggered by the Arab Spring, Yemen, 2007.

6 » The Middle East in London » October-November 2011 YYEMENEMEN AANDND OOMANMAN

Shelagh Weir describes the fate of friends during the Huthi confl ict in north Yemen

Al-Nadhir, Razih, 1977. Bayt Zayd is the tallest house in the centre of the picture,

© Shelagh Weir Weir © Shelagh beyond the TThehe eendnd ooff BBaytayt ZZaydayd

y friend Muhammad in London I climbed the narrow stairs of a - Next morning, aft er a delicious suggested al-Nadhir, a small ‘town’ built mansion in Majz, entered a chamber of freshly-baked bread dipped in hot Min the tribal region of Jabal Razih, lined with petitioners, and a boy ushered clarifi ed butter, I set off in a four-wheel- as a suitable base for fi eldwork. Th e people me towards a dignifi ed man in a white drive Toyota taxi. It took two days to reach were kind and welcomed strangers. And so and fl owing robe at the head of al-Nadhir from Majz through the rugged it was. the room: ‘Th at’s Zayd’. He studied western mountains, one bumping along In 1977 I travelled north from Sanaa to Muhammad’s letter of introduction while unmade tracks to the border of Jabal Razih, meet Muhammad’s old friend, Zayd Ali the audience hid their astonishment. ‘Th e where the track ended, the second on foot Abu Talib, who was then governor of Majz boy will take you to my house,’ he said. with my bags on donkeys. I spent the night near the ancient walled town of Sa`dah - Th ere I waited with his and giggly little in the massive stone fortress at al-Qal`ah, far from his home in al-Nadhir. Zayd was son, Abd al-Salam, until Zayd came home. seat of the governors of Razih for centuries. a sayyid, a member of the Zaydi-Shi`ite His stern public demeanour had vanished, Th ere I met Abdu, a local shopkeeper, who religious elite who claim descent from the and he welcomed me warmly. I explained invited me home to meet his family. Th ey . Despite having been a royalist my mission – to study the customs and showered me with hospitality, and insisted leader during the 1960s Civil War, like many traditions of the of Razih. ‘I’ll write to I stay with them whenever I came through, educated he aft erwards became friends in al-Nadhir,’ he said. ‘Th ey will help which I did. an offi cial under the republican regime. It you.’ Further into the mountains I passed needed their learning and local knowledge, and overlooked their previous allegiance. During the months I lived in al-Nadhir between And they accepted that the thousand-year old imamate had ended, and pragmatically 1977 and 1980, the resourceful Razihis clubbed adapted to the new political reality. together and did much to improve their diffi cult lives

October-November 2011 » The Middle East in London » 7 through Sha`arah, a large open space By 1993 a had changed. Saudi Arabia had expelled its between the steep slopes where the lively weekly market was in full swing. Traders sat Yemeni guestworkers – abruptly curtailing their valuable in rows, their wares spread out before them, remittances. Th ere were also major new religious tensions and shoppers from the surrounding hamlets milled around and exchanged news. Later a clinic was built there. But there were no sometimes independently and in opposition Arabia, and by Ali Abdullah Salih - despite medical centres in Razih then. Th e whole to them, but accepted that era was over. himself coming from a Zaydi background. region was undeveloped, and its people felt His older sons had not chosen his scholarly In reaction, there was a renaissance of Zaydi neglected by the distant government. path. Muhammad was a driver and Ahmad rituals and teaching, though leading clerics During the months I lived in al-Nadhir made clothes. formally denied wanting to restore the between 1977 and 1980, a relatively In 1993, I returned to Razih to do further imamate. prosperous time thanks to remittances research. Zayd had long since died, but his Aft er the 2003 invasion of , from guestworkers in Saudi Arabia, the sons still lived in the family house with their Husayn Badr al-Din al-Huthi, a sayyid resourceful Razihis clubbed together and growing families. Much had changed on the and former parliamentarian based in did much to improve their diffi cult lives. national scene. In 1990 North and South the Khawlan mountains south of Razih, Th ey imported generators on donkeys, Yemen had united to form the founded a movement in protest at Salih’s wired up their houses, and enjoyed electric of Yemen. And following President Ali pro-American stance, and to defend the light and TV for the fi rst time; they built Abdullah Salih’s failure to condemn the religious rights of his beleaguered Zaydi underground cisterns to store rainwater; Iraqi , Saudi Arabia had madhhab. Skirmishes took place between and they hired bulldozers to carve out expelled its Yemeni guestworkers – abruptly his followers and the military, and in 2004, motor tracks between their settlements. curtailing their valuable remittances. Th ere during eff orts at mediation, ‘security forces’ A few also opened small private clinics to were also major new religious tensions. assassinated him. His brother took over, provide rudimentary medical and dental A minority of local men had embraced and local tribes rallied to his support. services to the desperately deprived Razihis. Wahhabi-Salafi sm, attracted in part by its Like the did before him, Salih sent Zayd visited al-Nadhir regularly to egalitarian ethos and repudiation of sayyid the army and tribal allies to crush his see his family and attend to his terraces. religious status. Th ey mocked the beliefs opponents. Brutalities took place on both In September 1977 he came to celebrate and rituals of the Zaydi majority, threatened sides, hostilities increased and spread, republican day, and presided with other them in , and accused them of the northern arms trade fl ourished, and Razihi dignitaries over a parade of local wanting the return of the (exiled in the confl ict developed its own complex, schoolchildren waving the national fl ag. Th e Kent since the Civil War). escalatory dynamic. following year, Ali Abdullah Salih became Th is divisive anti-Zaydi activism was Between 2004 and 2010, six so-called President of the aft er egged on by charismatic ideologues near ‘Huthi wars’ took place within Sa`dah the assassination, in quick succession, of his Sa`dah, and promoted through mosques Governorate and beyond, alternating with two predecessors. Few imagined then that and religious institutes which burgeoned fragile truces – two mediated by . An he would retain power for over thirty years. throughout the governorate. It was also estimated 350,000 people fl ed their homes, Because of Zayd’s familiarity with tribal supported and stirred by elements in Saudi and untold thousands of innocent civilians law and reputation for fairness, he was sometimes invited to mediate between Zayd Ali Abu Talib (2nd right) during a tribal mediation, 1980 people and groups at odds. As I observed © Shelagh Weir him and local shaykhs in action, I learned that the peaceful resolution of disputes by negotiation was a centrally important tribal ideal. Bayt Zayd sat on the other side of the Nadhiri mosque and market place from my own house, and I oft en visited. It was a typical multi-storeyed stone mansion containing several related households, each with its own smoke-blackened kitchen and clay bread-oven, and rooms modestly furnished with mattresses and cushions. Zayd had two teenage sons, Muhammad and Ahmad, as well as Abd al-Salam, so his patriline seemed assured – so important in this culture. His cousin in the house next door was pitied for being childless. Zayd was generous with his knowledge of the tribes and his family history. He was proud that his ancestors had once ruled Razih under the Zaydi imams, and

8 » The Middle East in London » October-November 2011 © Amnesty International © Amnesty

The destruction after the bombing of Bayt Zayd, 2009 were killed or maimed. Th e full facts may wars. By defi ning the Huthis and their and people rushed to collect what they never be known. Th e government prevented supporters as ‘Iranian-backed terrorists’ (an thought were aid packages. But they were journalists and even humanitarian aid unsubstantiated claim), or falsely confl ating bombs. Around that time, the nearby agencies from entering the confl ict zone. them with al-Qa`idah (to which they are government clinic was also bombed. A major factor in the escalation of the opposed), he punched US, UK and Saudi Doctors had to evacuate, abandoning the confl ict was outrage at disproportionate alarm buttons, and ensured the fl ow of aid casualties. state violence, provoking many youths - which supported his regime. He also, many During November and December 2009, including one of Abdu’s sons - to join the believe, desired to discredit and weaken his following skirmishes over the border in Asir, Huthis. In 2008 I met Abdu in Sanaa. He powerful northern commander, Ali Muhsin the Saudi air force joined in the rampage – had pleaded with his son not to go, he told al-Ahmar (who opposed Salih’s succession it is assumed with Yemeni and American me, and locked him in his room. But he plans), by embroiling him in a hopeless, collusion. I heard the roar of planes when escaped and was killed in the fi ghting. ‘Th en bloody campaign. He is also claimed to have I called friends in al-Nadhir. Th ere were soldiers came,’ Abdu said, ‘and destroyed my plotted his murder. Small wonder that Ali daily bombing raids, they said. Th ey were house and shop.’ Muhsin defected to the opposition in March terrifi ed. Soon aft er everyone fl ed ‘except In the tribal society of north Yemen, 2011. the old and weak, and those who couldn’t vital natural and man-made resources, In August 2009 Salih launched ‘Operation aff ord transport.’ properties, and vulnerable humans ’, the most ferocious ‘Huthi Around December 12 2009, Bani Ma`in including sayyids, women, children and war’, which spread to Razih. Ground troops, market near al-Qal`ah was bombed, killing non-combatants, are considered inviolable, tanks and fi ghter jets attacked roads, power 80 to 90 people. and should be especially protected during plants, petrol stations, water tanks, mosques, On December 30 2009, an allegedly Saudi hostilities. Th ese are serious contract-based schools, clinics and houses in a frenzy of bomber targeted Zayd’s house in al-Nadhir obligations. Th e president is a tribesman violence. Even open-air markets thronged and his cousin’s next door. About 45 men, himself. He therefore knew that his with traders and shoppers were mercilessly women and children perished, including forces’ deliberate attacks on such targets targeted. Little news of this reached the Zayd’s sons Muhammad and Abd al-Salam. grossly violated cherished laws and ideals, outside world because of government His other son Ahmed had been killed and could fatally threaten any hopes of embargos, but later Amnesty International earlier in the Huthi wars. Th us ended Bayt reconciliation and peace-making. gathered statements from who Zayd Ali Abu Talib. Many conclude from this, and from the witnessed the following atrocities. repeated sabotage of mediation eff orts, that On October 7 2009, parachutes fl oated Shelagh Weir is a member of the MEL Salih wanted to prolong, not end, the Huthi down from the skies onto Sha`arah market, editorial board. Her books include Qat in Yemen: Consumption and Social Change During the ‘Huthi wars’ an estimated (1985), and A Tribal Order: Politics and Law in the Mountains of Yemen (2007). 350,000 people fl ed their homes, and untold thousands of innocent civilians were killed or maimed

October-November 2011 » The Middle East in London » 9 YYEMENEMEN AANDND OOMANMAN

Dawn Chatty discusses the varied meanings of women’s veiling VVeilingeiling iinn OOmanman © Dawn Chatty uch of the commentary on the and women to dress modestly, and to cover oft en live side by side in single villages, increasing popularity of face their hair and ornaments when outside where female dress is the most obvious Mcovering (, niqab, ) their domestic environments. For women visual badge of identity, status and class. In among Middle Eastern women has this meant covering the upper chest, neck the interior, for example, some villages are linked it with the resurgence of religious and ears which were typically adorned with shared by Sunni Baluchi communities and fundamentalism in the Islamic world. What jewellery. However, Qu’ranic stipulations Ibadi Omani tribespeople. Dress identifi es is overlooked in such popular political were variously interpreted in diff erent women as belonging to one community or explanations is the antiquity of the practice, regions. In Oman and elsewhere veiling another. and the fact that veiling – like clothing practices included covering the hair while Simple but locally signifi cant distinctions everywhere - conveys multiple messages exposing the face, veiling half or the whole such as length of dress, colour of head about status and identity, and commitment face, to all-encompassing body covering. covering, or type of embroidery on trouser to social ideals. For most of the 20th century, Oman was cuff s are suffi cient for local inhabitants to Th e custom of face veiling is certainly geographically and psychologically isolated identify an unknown person’s ethnic or pre-Islamic. Historical accounts indicate from the rest of the Middle East. Even community identity. For example, in Ibadi that Arabian women just prior to and in today mountain ranges separate Oman’s mountainous communities of northern the early days of played an active coastal plains from the interior in both the Oman women wear full-length, loose baggy part in the social and political life of the north and the south of the country. Many trousers () under long sleeved shift s. community. Th e covering of women’s communities continue to live isolated Th e head and neck are covered with a long heads and faces in public therefore became existences with little external exchange rectangular scarf (laysu) which is wrapped a symbolic expression of their seclusion of people or ideas. Furthermore, these around the head and neck, leaving the face from such roles. It was mainly an urban encapsulated ethnic and religious minorities fully exposed. Women’s dress is similar phenomenon, as only the wealthy ruling and merchant families could aff ord to seclude their women. Historical accounts indicate that the custom Th e Qu’ran clearly encouraged both men of face veiling is certainly pre-Islamic

10 » The Middle East in London » October-November 2011 to this among the Sunni communities along most of the Batinah coast, but with In the urban and agrarian regions of the northern Omani coast, a tendency to match the fabric of the the veil identifi es a middle class, conservative population shift with the head scarf. Again the face is fully exposed, but the hair and neck are completely covered (this is also called hijab). black or deep blue fabric mask dyed with rather identifi es a middle class, conservative Along the northern parts of the Batinah, natural or synthetic indigo. Occasionally population. For a short period in the early however, among communities of settled jewellery is glimpsed through the black 21st century a full face veiling, the niqab - nomadic pastoralists, Baluchi farmers, and neck and head covering of younger women. was adopted by many urban young women others with close ties to the Trucial Coast Young women’s reveal part of the who were either in higher education , or (United Arab and Qatar) and to chin and its tattoos which indicate tribal employed in the civil service or businesses the Baluchistan coast of Makram (which membership, but face masks progressively some distance away from the families. stretches across from Persia to ), lengthen until, by late middle age, they Th ese women used the face veiling as a way dress is similar to that described above, but completely cover the face. to carry their private space with them as with the noticeable addition of a short face Th e burqa and head coverings give they moved about freely in the public spaces mask called the burqa. pastoral women in the interior a freedom of the large indoor shopping malls that Among the Shiite communities, to travel around, while communicating sprung up everywhere in Oman. However, concentrated mostly in the trading towns that they have adopted the sexually modest this face veiling among the urban youth has of Matrah, and , women are behaviour associated with wearing the recently lost popularity. completely covered, but the style of dress mask. Its wearing also conveys messages In the south, face veiling is a statement of is more western in design. Th e head cover about personal dignity, and the honour upward mobility by former slaves, or of the is oft en a thin chiff on rectangular scarf which decorous, generous, and stoic new wealth and leisure of the richer classes. of the same colour as the dress. Th e face behaviour bestows on the family. In the In the communities where face is uncovered and the head scarf may be desert, a appearing in public veiling is considered part of the appropriate tightly wrapped around the face or left lying without a burqa is unthinkable. She would dress of respectable women, refusal to loosely over the head and shoulders. When be considered not fully dressed, and would comply courts social death. In the rapidly leaving their homes, these women don the be socially and sexually compromised. changing social world of the Middle East, black cloak, called , which is closely Dress and head coverings have multiple the signifi cance of face covering can only be associated with women’s proper public meanings in Oman, as elsewhere. Th ey understood in the context of the totality of presentation of their bodies elsewhere in the not only identify a person as belonging to the society. Certainly to view face covering Middle East. a certain community, class, and economic as fundamentally a modern political Until the last decade – the burqa was strata, but they also convey a multitude of phenomenon is to fail to understand the known only among the former pastoral messages, and their meanings can change way in which the parts of the total structure communities of the north Batinah and the over time. Th e common western journalistic of personal appearance is consciously pastoral tribes of the interior of association of the face veiling with religious manipulated to assert and demarcate Oman (for example Duru, Wahiba, Harasiis, fundamentalism does not apply in Oman, diff erences in status and identity. Face and Mahra, Beit Kathir). Here lengths of black where it does not have that connotation, head covering are only part of a much wider muslin up to three metres long are wrapped at least not yet. In the urban and agrarian social reality. around the head over the burqa - a full face, regions of the northern Omani coast, it Dawn Chatty is Professor of Anthropology and Forced Migration in the Department of International Development, . She is author of Mobile Pastoralists: Development Planning and Social Change in Oman (1996) and Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East (2010)

(Opposite) A young woman, with a more open burqa with an adolescent girl in Haima taken in 2006

© Dawn Chatty (Left) Harasiis woman in Mukhaizana, Oman

October-November 2011 » The Middle East in London » 11 YYEMENEMEN AANDND OOMANMAN

Noel Brehony discusses the recent history of relations between north and south Yemen A taletale ofof ttwowo countriescountries

n 1960, , still a British colony, was and make Islam a purely private matter that had not been provided in British the second busiest port in the world for the individual. It educated party cadres times much beyond Aden and parts of Iand the base for 15,000 British troops. at a school in Aden assisted by the Soviet . It created jobs for its citizens Th e British ruled indirectly the and Communist Party. Banks and business were and subsidised food and basic commodities. shaykhs outside Aden and were gathering nationalised, large land holdings confi scated People were poor but there was little them in a broad federation in preparation and peasants and workers encouraged to corruption. Women had better rights than for eventual independence. On November rise up and seize their rights. Austerity was anywhere in the region apart from . 30 1967, the British handed over power the watchword in the early years: the regime Th e PDRY might have survived into the to the National Liberation Front (NLF), even organised demonstrations by workers and enjoyed for itself the oil fi elds which had been established only in 1963, to demand lower wages! of Hadhramaut but for some important and had driven out the Sultans and defeated Th e People’s Democratic Republic of failings. Th e NLF had not had time before its political rivals. Its victory was greatly Yemen (PDRY) became a virtual associate independence to form a united leadership assisted by the regime of the Yemen Arab member of the Soviet Bloc. Moscow with a shared vision. Its most important Republic (YAR), created by army offi cers provided arms and military trainers ‘historical’ leaders had emerged from the who had removed the Imam in 1962 and and experts. Th e former East Germany tribes or tribal alliances of the previous by Egyptian training, weapons and support. helped build the security services and the Sultanates and continued in PDRY to Many in the north expected the south to Chinese and Cubans trained the Peoples’ draw support from them, placing allies unite with it in 1967 even though the north Militias. Th e would not, in key positions in the armed forces and was in the fi nal stages of a civil war. however, provide the level of economic government. Aden-based politicians mostly Th e NLF, which in alliance with assistance needed for such a poor country. originating from north Yemen and lacking Communists and Ba’athists, later became International organisations partially fi lled a regional base in the south believed that the Yemeni (YSP), inherited the gap but most regional governments the party should be the dominant voice. an economy devastated by the closure refused to provide much economic support As the PDRY matured the two groups of the Canal in June 1967, the loss for the PDRY because of its support for like- clashed over the role of the party, the need of jobs linked to the British military and minded revolutionary groups in Oman and for pragmatism rather than Marxism in the departure of 100,000 civil servants, elsewhere. Remittances from workers in the managing the economy and on balancing businessmen and workers. Th e state Gulf sustained many south Yemeni families the strategic dependence on Moscow with was highly unstable with uprisings and despite attempts in the 1970s to prevent the need to get access to oil money from attempted coups until a group of Marxist migration. pro-Western Arab regimes. nationalists seized power in 1969. Th e PDRY achieved a great deal. It In the 1970s the PDRY was stronger than Th e NLF had grown out of the Movement extended state authority and its version of the YAR in terms of administrative and for and was present in the rule of law to all parts of the country military capacity despite the disparity in both north and south Yemen. Th e NLF although this was achieved through harsh population (the north had three times as set out to transform south Yemen into a security measures. It built the schools, many people). Th e Adeni-based northerners Marxist state, which would abolish tribalism hospitals, roads and government services wanted to use allied YAR political groups to replace the regime in Sanaa and unite Yemen under the YSP. Th eir southern rivals Th e PDRY achieved a great deal. It built schools and hospitals saw unity as a long term project and in the meantime worked as amicably as possible that had not been provided much under British rule with the Yemeni presidents. Th ere were

12 » The Middle East in London » October-November 2011 border wars between the north and south in Th e secessionist movement suff ers the same 1972 and 1979. Much to the astonishment of the outside world each war was followed failings as the PDRY: there are regional divisions, by agreements to unite the two Yemens. several organisations and competing leaders Th ese were not seriously intended and were not followed up President , without fi rst clearing this presidents have been working with the YSP Unity only took place aft er the rivalry with his party. Both presidents knew there and Yemeni political parties to propose between southern tribal politicians burst was opposition to unity in their respective a new form of federation. Th e tens of out into a virtual civil war in January Yemens and wanted to achieve unity as soon thousands of protesters that demonstrate 1986 causing extensive damage to Aden, as possible of the two very diff erent political weekly in Yemen’s cities also want a solution undermining the legitimacy of the regime systems. Th e leaders may have signed the within unity. None want a return to the and severely damaging its economy. Some unity agreement but they had not made PDRY. What they do want is for Sanaa of its historical leaders were killed and the psychological and political adjustments to recognise that the southerners have a almost a third of its leadership moved to that were required. Th e almost inevitable separate Yemeni identity that needs to be the YAR. Th ey supported and were given result was the civil war of 1994 and the start accommodated in a reformed political support by President Ali Abdullah Salih, of what many in the south see as ‘northern structure. Th is identity is the main legacy of now confi dent that the PDRY was no occupation’. the south Yemen of 1967-1990. longer a threat. Th ough the weakened In recent years a secessionist movement and divided PDRY leadership considered has grown in the south even though the Noel Brehony is a member of the LMEI drastic reform of its political and economic , now part of a advisory council and the author of Yemen systems and its international relations it coalition of parties opposed to President Divided (2011) was the collapse of the Soviet Union in Saleh and many southerners within the 1989 that exposed the fl aw in its strategic Yemeni regime (including the vice president relationships. It concluded that it should and prime minister) want southern seek a federation with the north. Th ere grievances addressed within the framework are still uncertainties over why Ali Salim of unity. Th e secessionist movement suff ers Ali Salim al-Bidh of south Yemen (People’s al-Bidh, then as secretary general of the the same failings as the PDRY: there are Democratic Republic of Yemen) and Ali Abdullah Salih of north Yemen (Yemen Arab Republic) YSP (the de facto leader of the south), regional divisions, several organisations signing the Aden agreement on Yemeni unity, agreed to full unity in private talks with and competing leaders. Two former PDRY December 1989 © Ali Nasser Muhammad and Dar al-Ayyam

October-November 2011 » The Middle East in London » 13 YYEMENEMEN AANDND OOMANMAN

Susanne Dahlgren discusses the aspirations of the southern secessionist movement in Yemen ‘‘TheThe ffutureuture wwillill bbee oours,urs, oourur ccountry,ountry, SSouthouth AArabia!’rabia!’ © Susanne Dahlgren

ince early 2007, a movement that the unifi cation process. As a consequence, joined the protests, and the biggest social popular grievances and off ers the two armies fought a short but movement of the 21st century in the Arab San option to the current political crisis, devastating war in the summer of 1994, world before the 2011 Arab Spring was has gained importance throughout southern and the Northern troops rolled over Aden. formed. Yemen. Dismissed as merely ‘secessionist’, Th ereaft er southerners have felt that they Ali Abdullah Salih, responded with the movement has failed to convince live under northern occupation. fury, declaring that he would make the the world of its viability, and it has been For years Yemeni exiles in the UK have Southerners ` from the sea’. He sent overshadowed by other concerns such as al- actively promoted the re-establishment of tanks, air raids and snipers against peaceful Qa’ida. But as it had the support of some 70 an independent south Yemen. Starting in demonstrators, and stated that pledging percent of the population by 2009, it merits 2004, on the tenth anniversary of the 1994 support for Yemeni unity was like pledging serious consideration. Is the Southern war, the Southern Democratic Assembly loyalty to God. Th e protests culminated in Movement (harak) a threat to Yemen’s (Taj) in the UK has provided a platform for a mass demonstration in Aden on January future, or could its goals, mobilisation political action, despite denouncing unity 13 2008 to promote southern reconciliation tactics and popular support set an example being regarded as high treason in Yemen. aft er the divisions of the 1986 civil war, to the whole nation? Th e Southern Movement joins people which ended with soldiers shooting into Th e unifi cation of the Yemen Arab of all social and economic strata. It started the crowd. On February 25 2011 a similar Republic (north Yemen) and the People’s in spring 2007 with protests that gathered massacre was carried out in Aden, this time Democratic Republic of Yemen (south former military commanders and soldiers to crush a huge rally organised by the Aden Yemen) was already being considered from the south. Th ese were men whom the Youth Revolution. In shaky video posted on in the early 1980s when Socialist party 1994 ‘reorganisation’ of the army had ‘sent YouTube, bodies lie in the street while tanks functionaries in Aden concluded that ‘Th e home to sit with my wife’ as one former roll by. More military crackdowns followed North has to develop as a society fi rst’. But air force pilot sarcastically described his until the Sanaa-appointed governor and Yemeni unity was declared on 1990, dismissal. Th ey were joined by unemployed his lackeys fl ed town. Th e former PDRY and most of the two states’ institutions youth, and peasants throughout the fl ag was then hoisted. Aden presently were merged except the army - the ultimate southern countryside. Th e movement is looks as though the Sanaa government has guarantee of any state’s sovereignty. Aft er a most active in Dhala’ governorate, where surrendered and the Southern Movement short honeymoon, things went wrong, and the pro-independence Southern revolution has won. But no independent state has yet Southern leaders withdrew from Sanaa back started in 1963, and in Hadhramaut, the been declared, and people have become to Aden. eastern region with most of the country’s oil impatient. What happened? For southerners, it became evident that resources. Later all other sectors of society For many southerners it is impossible Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Salih, was not genuinely promoting multi-party , decentralisation of rule or For years Yemeni exiles in the UK have actively promoted good governance, as had been agreed in the re-establishment of an independent south Yemen

14 » The Middle East in London » October-November 2011 to accept the idea of re-uniting with the As the Arab Spring at fi rst created optimism North because they perceive them as having a diff erent mentality to their own, about a joint future for north and south Yemen, as putting tribal attachment before state the situation that followed dashed hopes loyalty, as preferring patronage to equal citizenship, and because of the corruption government troops occasionally shooting embraced, and to disallow a one party at all levels of the administration. Th e north `friendly fi re’ at the tribes and the harak system. Th ey wish for press freedom and has to change, many feel, before the two supporters who had joined in the fi ght to prevail, and to keep out countries can merge. Still, not everybody against the Islamists. al-Qa’ida. While some Southerners dream agrees that all Northerners are dahbashi As the Arab Spring at fi rst created of European social democracy, others look (uncivilised hicks) as many describe optimism about a joint future for north and back to the strong state of the PDRY era. To them. For some the northern approach to south Yemen, the situation that followed preserve their identity, youth activists study modernity is a problem. Th ey think that dashed hopes. In May a meeting of harak southern history in seminars in-between while northerners are keen to change their sections in declared that ‘equivalent the demonstrations. While the path is clear SUV’s to the latest model, they fail to send partnership between the two states’ is for these young people, the outcome is their daughters to university. Many also possible. But when Islamists were allowed uncertain. It looks as though Southerners believe that Northerners regard politically to enter Abyan in June, and president Salih’s in exile will have to continue demonstrating active women as a sign of social chaos. son Ahmed eff ectively took over power in London, Sheffi eld and Birmingham for Both these stereotypes were challenged this in Sanaa aft er the President was injured some time to come. spring when young women led the youth that month, harak sections again opted for revolution in Sanaa and Ta’izz, and causing separation. Th e February 16 Movement Susanne Dahlgren is Academy of Finland some southerners to reconsider the need for of the Aden Youth Revolution also joined research fellow in University of Helsinki and separation. As a harak supporter in Aden, a the harak to fi ght for an independent state. author of Contesting Realities: Th e Public university-educated man in his forties, told Fadi Hassan Ba’um, son of the jailed harak Sphere and Morality in Southern Yemen me, ‘We can keep independence as a future leader Hassan Ba’um, commented that the (2010) option, and go ahead with a federation of formation in Sanaa of a transitional council the two states.’ was the right step but too late. Th e latter According to harak supporters, the includes former Southern leaders, Ali Nasir withdrawal of state rule from Aden in July Muhammad and Haider al-Attas, who are 2011 was intended to allow Islamists to both unionists, and one of its tasks is to enter. Th is had occurred in the southern `urgently solve the southern problem’. Abyan province where Islamist fi ghters Th e main offi cial strategy of the harak is to re-establish the People’s Democratic (Opposite) Aden University professors took over aft er the army withdrew. Abyan demonstrating against government early residents claim that President Salih did this Republic of Yemen by cancelling the retirement scheme that aimed to replace Adeni to prove his threat that, if he stepped down, unity agreement. It wants to preserve a intellectuals with government loyalists. (2007) al-Qa’ida would exploit the ensuing chaos centralised state, the rule of law, and the (Below) A sit-in supporting Adeni newspaper al- and take over. Heavy fi ghting followed with British administrative system that the PDRY Ayyam against government crackdown. (2008) © Susanne Dahlgren

October-November 2011 » The Middle East in London » 15 YYEMENEMEN AANDND OOMANMAN

J E Peterson describes the background to the recent uprisings in Oman

TThehe yyearear ooff OOman’sman’s

© Karim Sahib ddiscontentsiscontents

ne hears little of Oman in the Th e new Sultan unquestionably presided It is striking that this system with all international media. Mention at the apex of authority without challenge, its faults has still produced an enviable Ois most likely to be found in the and with little need of approval from his record and evidence of socioeconomic travel pages as it has grown as an attraction family (unlike elsewhere in the Gulf) or development. But Oman still faces for tourism. Th e country is commonly from politically powerful religious fi gures, enormous problems. Oil production has described as calm, peaceful and hospitable; tribal leaders, or military commanders. generally been dropping in recent years. a Danish journalist once likened it to an At the same time, Sultan Qabus was While exports of liquefi ed natural gas have ‘Islamic California.’ But perceptions shift ed inexperienced, having spent the six years bolstered the government’s income stream, slightly in 2011 as Omanis followed the aft er his Western education in near- they will never be as profi table as oil. example elsewhere in the and seclusion in in the south of the Furthermore, an increasing amount of gas is inaugurated their own activism. Th at this country. As a consequence, consultation required for domestic use. should have happened in quiet Oman and advice were confi ned to a small circle of Meanwhile, Oman’s population has should not have been a surprise. advisers, most of them non-Omanis. exploded since 1970. Th ousands of Oman began its eff orts towards political While these advisers may have benefi tted secondary-school graduates enter a stagnant and socioeconomic development only in the country with their expertise and jobs market every year. Th e sultanate is 1970, when the present Sultan, Qabus bin contacts, all too oft en their principal one of the relative ‘have-nots’ of the Gulf Said, overthrew his isolationist father. Not interest was in building their own fortunes. Cooperation Council and there is a wide surprisingly, the early stages were tentative As more Omanis took up high positions disparity in wealth between the prosperous and rather rocky. Development required and acquired infl uence with the sultan, middle-class enclaves of Muscat – not to expertise, infrastructure, and planning, the pattern of combining public service mention the palatial estates of the elite – and which was diffi cult to come by in the early with personal aggrandisement became the average Omani. years. Progress in development was also institutionalised. Th e Sultan rarely acted Perhaps as many as 80 per cent of all impacted by the emergence of an entirely against individuals unless they were seen as Omanis were not yet born in 1970. Th ey new and narrowly based political structure. particularly egregious. have no idea of what life was like before that seminal year, and therefore do not feel the Oman still faces enormous problems. same loyalty and gratitude to Sultan Qabus that their elders did. Instead, many have Oil production has generally been dropping in discreetly criticised the waste and favoritism recent years, while the population has exploded for years. Th e state brooks no dissent,

16 » The Middle East in London » October-November 2011 Without signifi cant change, this year’s relatively mild single personality, Sultan Qabus. While he has justifi ably earned respect for setting the pressures may well be transformed into active dissidence nation on the road to relative prosperity (and in carving out a remarkably viable civil society is weak, and the only forums Instead of subsiding, strikes spread to foreign policy), he has tolerated many for discussion have been the sometimes other commercial entities, as well as the abuses of the public trust by his offi cials tolerated blogs. industrial complex, and protesters and maintained a certain distance from With all this in mind, it is therefore not demanded trials for the dismissed ministers his people. July 2011 marked the 41st surprising that young, disaff ected Omanis and other government offi cials on charges anniversary of his taking power and, given should follow the example of their fellow of corruption. More than two hundred his age (71) and lack of a son and heir, there and gather in protest in early 2011. protesters who had been arrested earlier are continuing concerns over the succession. Th e fi rst protest march took place in Muscat were pardoned in mid-April while another Th e events of this year unequivocally in mid-January with demands for better 27 were put on trial. More arrests followed demonstrate that increasing numbers wages and controls on rising prices. But in May, although most of the protesters were of Omanis seek a voice in the decision- as the protests continued, there were also released aft erwards. making process, but the paternalistic political demands for expansion of the In contrast, a wave of convictions nature of the political system continues powers of the elected consultative body, followed in June: 21 men were sentenced unabated. Without signifi cant change, this the al-, and the replacement of to jail in on charges of arson while a year’s relatively mild pressures may well be long-serving ministers. further 15 were sentenced to jail a week transformed into active dissidence and more Th e protests soon spread elsewhere in later. Another 55 were convicted in Jalan insistent demands in following years. Oman, especially to Salalah in the south Bani Bu Ali in eastern Oman and 13 more and in the Batinah to the west of Muscat in Suhar later in the month. An additional J E Peterson is a historian and political – as well as in Ibri in the northwest and dozen were sentenced in Suhar in July, analyst. His recent books include Oman’s Sur in the far east. Suhar, the major town prompting a new round of mass protests : the Sultanate’s Struggle for in the Batinah, was particularly signifi cant against the arrests and convictions. Supremacy (2007), and Historical Muscat: since it is the nexus of government What is most striking about the agitation an Illustrated Guide and Gazetteer (2006) plans for a major industrial base for the in Oman is not so much that it happened country. Private companies, including the but that it has been so prolonged. Th ere is national oil company and the national no doubt that the Sultanate of Oman has telecommunications company, were also hit made great strides in its development since by strikes. 1970. But political institutionalisation and Th e government’s initial response was economic constraints have not kept pace to raise the salaries of civil servants and with the progress in development. security forces, increase , and Essentially, the political system remains announce the creation of 50,000 jobs. But little changed since those early days of the this did not stem the protests. Eventually, 1970s. It remains heavily dependent on a the Sultan replaced a number of his ministers – including the minister of © John Peterson fi nance, the minister of the Royal Offi ce, and the head of the police – with a number of Majlis al-Shura members. He also promised more powers to the elected Majlis al-Shura and its appointed companion house. At the same time, however, the government reacted forcefully against repeat demonstrations. One or more persons were killed by rubber bullets in Suhar in late February, and a number of others were injured. Th e Globe Roundabout at the main entrance to Suhar was only re-opened aft er a month of occupation by protesters, but a subsequent demonstration saw another protester killed by a rubber bullet.

(Opp0site) Masked Omani protesters jump in front of burning vehicles during a demonstration in , more than 200 kms (125 miles) northwest of Muscat, on February 27, 2011 (Right) View of Muscat from Pass

October-November 2011 » The Middle East in London » 17 YYEMENEMEN AANDND OOMANMAN

Sarah Searight describes the various UK friendship societies devoted to Yemen and Oman VValuedalued FFriendsriends © E. Esti

ost fi nd working or doing research further information can be obtained, and A principal objective of the Society is to in the Middle East a stimulating are keen to attract new and especially promote knowledge amongst British people Mand rewarding experience, and younger members. about all aspects of Oman, mainly through aft er returning home wish to meet others illustrated lectures given by specialists in with similar experiences, and to maintain Th e Anglo-Omani Society (www.oman. their own fi elds. Lectures are held at the relationships with the nationals amongst org.uk) was founded in London in January Society’s premises at 34 Sackville Street, whom they lived, and from whom they 1976 to foster the long-standing relationship London. Th e Society also makes grants for received so much hospitality. Out of this between citizens of the United Kingdom UK students with an interest in Arabic or need several `friendship societies’ have and the Sultanate of Oman. It is now an to visit and study been formed focussing on various parts incorporated company and a registered in Oman, and for Omani students to visit of southern Arabia. All provide occasions charity. Th e Society has throughout its the UK. Th e Society supports conservation for present or former diplomats, business existence received the generous support projects of archival material relating to people, teachers, academic specialists and of its Patron, Sultan Al Oman, archaeological research, traditional others to socialize with one another and Said, enabling it increasingly to develop a music, and books and fi lms about Oman. with people from Yemen and Oman. Th ey programme in furtherance of its charitable Th ere is an increasing emphasis on recent are all also registered charities which aim objects. Membership is open to British developments in the Sultanate, and the to disseminate information about these and Omani nationals, and Associate Society hosts meetings and seminars with countries, and to promote good causes, by Membership to other nationalities. Omani ministers and senior government means of lectures, study grants, student Corporate Membership is available to offi cials and their UK counterparts and exchanges and philanthropic activities. All companies with a commercial interest in senior fi gures from the relevant UK these societies have websites from which Oman. sector. An annual lunch enables an

18 » The Middle East in London » October-November 2011 Omani Minister to provide an up-to-date with its own events and activities. Th ose not just to increase profi le and funds, assessment of developments in Oman to the interested in joining should contact bys. but also to provide an opportunity for wider membership of the Society. [email protected]. Information supporters to meet. In order to encourage continued interest on Yemen-related activities in Britain can be in Oman for younger members, many obtained from www.facebook.com/groups/ Th e Friends of Soqotra (FoS) (www. of whom have been the recipients of the britishyemenisociety friendsofsoqotra.org) was established Society’s student grants, a New Generation to promote the sustainable use and Group has been established with its Th e Friends of Hadhramaut (www. conservation of the natural environment own programme of lectures, events and hadhramaut.co.uk) was formed aft er a of the Soqotra , and in so doing expeditions. It is envisaged that this will visit to the area by Sultana al-Qu’aiti and to raise awareness of its and insure the continued development of the Bryan Fyfi eld-Shaw as part of a 1996 BYS the unique culture and language of the Society for the future. expedition. Registered as a charity with the islanders. Th e primary aim of FoS is to broad aim of relieving , its aim is to provide information about the archipelago Th e British-Yemeni Society (BYS) strive to raise living standards collectively to a wider public, and to develop a network (www.al-bab.com/bys) was formed in and individually in the region. Its work of experts to communicate the uniqueness 1993, in the aft ermath of the fi rst Gulf is purely humanitarian and strictly non of both natural resources and people. War, with the aim of promoting friendship political. It is hoped that recognising this special and understanding between the peoples Although a small charity its work is character will help ensure the development of Britain and Yemen. It holds regular spread as widely as possible, both in the of benign tourism to the benefi t of the meetings and lectures on a wide range of main towns, and among the more remote island communities. FoS members are cultural, social, economic and historical towns and villages, including al-Qatn, actively involved in publicising the latest subjects concerning Yemen. It publishes Shibam, and Tarim, along the great activities and research on the archipelago an annual magazine. And it has been wadi and its tributaries and their rural through talks and articles on the FoS involved in various other activities including hinterland. Over the years it has provided website and in its newsletter, Tayf. Recent sponsoring visits of Yemeni artists and equipment and supplies to hospitals and FoS activities have included producing musicians to Britain, the recruitment of clinics, schools and libraries, and helped the awareness posters alongside the Soqotra British teachers to work in Yemen, support handicapped. Aft er the fl oods of October Governance and Biodiversity Project for a medical clinic in Aden, a visit of Welsh 2008 a special appeal was launched to (SGBP): ‘ is not a souvenir’ states its musicians and craft to Yemen, and help with house repairs and replacement promotion of responsible tourism. FoS has support for publications and exhibitions. of livestock including bees (honey being also been involved in joining the National Th e Society also awards one grant of £500 a major cash crop). Th e most ambitious Geographic on a trip to Soqotra, and annually to assist academic study related project to date has been a purpose-built helping the BBC with research on the whole to Yemen. A counterpart society based sewing centre for women in Fuwwa, archipelago. On the island of Soqotra FoS in Yemen, the Yemeni British Friendship completed in 2006. A more recent focus has activities have included donating historical Association (YBFA), has been active for been on girls’ education. photographs to the Soqotra Library and the even longer than the BYS, and supports Th e charity draws on the good will of Soqotra Historical and Cultural Association, its activities. Th e BYS has recently formed well-wishers around the world. At least one funding the purchase of non-prescription a younger members and students group, fund-raising event is organized annually, reading glasses, and assisting in soil conservation projects and in the prevention, or at least management, of alien and invasive species.

Sarah Searight is a member of the MEL editorial board

(Opposite) Sanaa Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Yemen (Left) The Soqotra Dragon Tree or Dragon Blood

© Radahann Tree, is a native to the Soqotra archipelago. 2010

October-November 2011 » The Middle East in London » 19 YYEMENEMEN AANDND OOMANMAN

Steven Caton describes how a traditional genre has adapted to modern technology and political change in Yemen TThehe ttimelessimeless © Steven Caton aartrt ooff TTribalribal PPoetryoetry

he ancient Arabic-speaking the country. Assassinating an Imam was no Th ere is also a dance component involving a tribes of Yemen have always light matter, and al-Qardaci had to justify his simple step while holding the hands of one’s Tproduced great oral poetry which action before his people: companions and marching down a wadi is composed spontaneously, during the to a destination, in this case the shaykh’s act of performance, rather than recited O these fortress towers that loom before village. from memory. A high artistic premium me// there is no blame on the fugitive Th e other great performative poetry is the is placed on improvisation - the ability to Say to Yahya bin Muhammad, //‘We will baalah, a poem composed competitively by produce novel lines of verse on the spur meet on Judgment Day.’ two or more poets who vie to produce the of the moment. Poetry is produced for most beautiful lines or wittiest rejoinders. specifi c social occasions such as wedding Th e ‘fortress towers’ refers to the multi- Th e occasion is the groom’s wedding night, ceremonies, religious festivals and, above storied houses distinctive of Yemeni and the playfulness of the poetry is meant to all, dispute mediations. Th e most famous architecture. Yahya bin Muhammad is entertain the groom. Many of the zaamil’s poetry is the qasidah, which has been the Imam the shaykh had just killed. Th e aesthetic features are also found in the extensively studied and described. Here implication of the poem is that al-Qardaci baalah, but the latter is more dramatic. As I focus on two other genres of poetry, refuses to be judged by anyone on earth for the performance warms up, a new routine most commonly known as the zaamil what he did, claiming that it will be between kicks in called ‘challenge-and-retort,’ in and the baalah, that are quintessentially his conscience and God. which only the most gift ed to compete. performative. Poetic performances are multi-media One of the baalah’s thrills is to track the Th e zaamil resembles some aphoristic and aff airs. Th e poem’s chant would have been in encounter of duelling poets throughout the ‘condensed’ poetry familiar to us in other a high tenor (almost a falsetto) that is hard evening. Th ese competitive routines oft en traditions such as the Japanese haiku. It has on the larynx, and is meant to be, for the focus on political themes or current events. highly varied meters and tightly constrained performance is supposed to demonstrate Improvisational poetry, especially when rhyme schemes. Here is a famous example, stamina. Such poems are ‘carried’ by a it involves music and dance as it does in composed by a poet who was also one of chorus, consisting of two groups of men, Yemen, does not lend itself well to writing Yemen’s greatest shaykhs, Ali Nasr al- one carrying the fi rst line on the fi rst half or print, which fi xes the poem’s text at Qardaci, head of the al- in the of the tune, the other the second, and thus one moment in a compositional process, far east of the country. He composed the alternating until a new poem is created. and fails to capture the excitement and poem in 1948 upon returning to his natal village aft er assassinating Imam Yahya, the ruler of Yemen, who had failed to initiate Th e tape recorder gave a new life to this badly needed reforms which the shaykh and many other like-minded progressives tradition as it enabled the entire performance considered essential for the development of to be recorded and appreciatively listened to

20 » The Middle East in London » October-November 2011 dynamism of the process itself. Th e tape recorder gave a new life to this tradition, All three genres of the Yemeni poetic tradition were especially the zaamil, which enabled the represented during the protest chants and marches entire performance to be recorded and appreciatively listened to by tribesmen rehearsed). Th ey also seem to have been throughout Yemen and the Yemeni musically ‘doctored’ or altered in signifi cant Example 1 diaspora. ways, sounding in some instances more http://www.youtube.com/ Th ough the revolutions in Tunisia, like traditional religious hymns than tribal watch?v=oNmIIu0j51c , Libya and Syria produced their own chants (see example 2). Th e religious hymn verse, Yemen’s was perhaps distinctive for would ‘frame’ the tribal poem in pietistic Example 2 the prominence of tribal poetry. Of the terms, which is not surprising: once a poetic http://www.youtube.com/ millions of people who turned out in the text of this sort is cast into the public sphere, watch?v=hrSnxIL5uYA streets and squares, a very large proportion it is up for grabs by whoever wants to use it were tribesmen led by their shaykhs. Th ey for their own political purposes, including Example 3 joined the peaceful protests in the capital Islamists. When the poem is chanted by a http://www.youtube.com/ leaving their weapons behind, preferring male chorus on the internet, there may be watch?v=K07f9KnNkfk to wage their political battles with poems no vocal antiphony, and no high-pitched rather than bullets. voices, as commonly heard in zaamil poetry Steven Caton is Professor of Contemporary All three genres of the Yemeni poetic - no doubt because the latter would sound Arab Studies in the Anthropology Dept, tradition were represented during the strange to an audience unfamiliar with the Harvard University. His books include ‘Peaks protest chants and marches, and they can Yemeni tribal poetic tradition (see example of Yemen I Summon’: Poetry as Cultural be seen on the internet. However, it is 3) Practice in a North Yemeni Tribe (1990), important to bear in mind that only some Looked at one way, these changes make and Yemen Chronicle: an Anthropology of of these are completely authentic. Street tribal poetry more accessible on the web War and Mediation (2005) demonstrations that have been fi lmed for to a cosmopolitan audience with very TV show some zaamil performances similar diff erent expectations of music and imagery to those in example 1, in which tribesmen from Yemeni tribesmen. However, the march with thousands of others down the purist might object to what the poetry has main boulevards of Sanaa. (Note that in become in the process - a pale shadow of its example 1 they are Murad tribesmen, the former performative self. But oral poetry is same tribe as that of Sheikh al-Qardaci)). composed in order to be heard (and seen), Substitute the paved street for the wadi, and and to be broadcast throughout the public the city square for the dispute mediation sphere. Th e fi rst major shift was from face- arena, and the main coordinates of tribal to-face communication to the audio cassette performance are transposed from a rural tape. Now tribal poetry is mediated by to an urban space. It did not take much the internet, and there are many examples, adjustment for these tribesmen to perform especially that of dispute resolutions, that their traditional poetry in such a diff erent have been recorded with a cellphone or setting. even a video camcorder. Th e intention is the If one does not get totally authentic same: to spread the voice to a wide political performances on the internet, what, then, constituency. Instead of decrying the does one get? Some examples have been transformation, we should welcome it, for (Opposite) Dancers at a tribal wedding recorded in a studio (which would account it marks just one more way that tribesmen (Below-left) A poet performing baalah poetry for the clarity of the sound but also the are inextricably part of, and adapting to, the (Below-right) Zamil procession during wedding impression that the performance has been modern world. celebration © Steven Caton © Steven Caton

October-November 2011 » The Middle East in London » 21 PPOETRYOETRY

Two qasidah poems by poets from Jabal ` in southern Yemen, translated and introduced by Flagg Miller, author of The Moral Resonance of Arab Media: Audiocassette Poetry and Culture in Yemen (2007)

The poem below is by Shayef al-Khaledi, a farmer and to the new establishment after former president `Abd al- shepherd, who became one of Yemen's most celebrated Fattah Isma`il was forced into exile. poets through his pioneering use of audiocassettes during In this poem, Khaledi is wary of mentioning Muti` by name. the 1960s and 1970s. In this poem, he laments the arrest, He instead laments over his wrongful arrest and impending in 1980, of South Yemen's foreign minister Muhammad conviction through the genre of eulogy for a deceased Muti`, also from Yafi ` like Khaledi, and one of the strongest comrade. Employing a leit-motif of technological mediation proponents of a harmonious relationship between (in this case, radio and wireless telegraph), the poet progressive socialist ideals and tribal tradition. Muti` was anticipates his later work which used media technologies executed, without trial, the following year by the newly- to help Yemenis navigate ideological currents of tribalism, appointed president of the People's Democratic Republic of nationalism and Muslim reform. Yemen, `, showing the threat he posed A LetterLetter ttoo tthehe CCorpseorpse

By Shayef al-Khaledi (1932-1998)

Khaledi said: How much yearning and hope? Aching, ache upon ache, has availed me nothing Craving and yearning empty, they have no meaning I cannot recall my heart or hopes... such deceit... Never forgive that maligned era that misled and separated us Separating those in the group from their own How my companions were lost, and we became lost ourselves aft er them Each crossing a mountain, one to the left and another right... Where is our family, our beloved? Where have they gone? Where is the accompanying friend? Where am I to him? Where are those whom I used to see with my own right eye? Our obliged prayers and our laws went with them Shayef al-Khaledi

Where are those spliced from the world ahead of me, © Flagg Miller Th ose to whom the world was so wretched? Where are those who were with us, wherever we went? What do we say or tell those who ask about them? No one has come from the cemetary to tell us Are they in fi re, or in heaven? Not a letter from the corpse allays our concerns About his health. How is he, beneath that grave? Th at the evening news might tell him about us! Why, my heart can bring him not a single word, visible or hidden Or that a wireless phone could lead us there! Why, I would speak to the blessed corpse, to his ear I would explain to him how my gaunt heart suff ers Aft er him the tears of my eyes would fl ow upon my cheeks. And yet, I can seek consolation from nothing but empty loss...

How I was comfortable at his side, with his poetry! Yes, I taught him poetry, until he excelled and savored it And a thousand of my verses were found in his song I have no other task but the path of poetry and singing And the plucking of strings, the work of my comerade and delight Remember his beauty, the winking of his fair eyes And the good words that fl owed from his tongue? Death has startled us, with such shock, and has barred us From the beloved friend in whose bosom I rested Never forgive death, which has brutalized us with such violence (Or shall I call with a voice of solace and peace?...) Yet if cursing death were possible, I would curse, if only for the health of my own house! I would curse death this very moment, a hundred curses... But from fate to fate we surrender Rebuking not death, from which there is no absolution.

22 » The Middle East in London » October-November 2011 The poem below, by Atef Ghurama, dates from the period female emancipation were legacies of the 10th century of Marxist rule in south Yemen (1970-90). Ghurama was a Qarmatian revolt against Zaydi-Shi`ite authority in the member of the Ahl al-Haqiqa, an esoteric order of Yemeni predominantly Shafi `i-Sunni region. whose hermeneutics of mystical knowledge In his poem, Ghurama expresses his hopes that Marx and (ma`rifa), and ideals of social justice and egalitarianism, Lenin will lead to a new era of righteousness, equality gave them a romantic appeal among Marxist and ‘justice’ in Yemen, ideals compatible with those of revolutionaries. Documentaries such as "Communists in the Ahl al-Haqiqa. The current strains of anti-Western the Year 1000," by East German fi lm-makers in the 1970s, "counter-idealism" being voiced by al-Qa`ida on the Arabian portrayed the Ahl al-Haqiqa as early communists whose Peninsula in Abyan and Lahej, Ghurama's own governorate, practices of socialism, collective property ownership, and give this poem added historical interest. CCounter-Idealistounter-Idealist SSpeechpeech AArrivesrrives TTriumphant!riumphant!

ByʿĀṭef Ghurāmah, 1970s

Speech arrived, the destroyer of Idealism Clarifying tangible reality with Materialism Th e transformations of the past are a natural matter Human thought is a state of sense and sensations How many ongoing revivals has history known? For every era and people [there is] a prescribed path From the primitive to the age of capitalism Idealism has failed to reach its runic extreme Th e hands of the clock have wound down Until they reached the bell and struck the alarm Teacher of the principles of the socialist revolution Marx (and the) plans of Lenin were proven in Th e working class strives to stand fi rm To eradicate tyranny and the nightmare (And) the exploiter of men, over centuries past (Th ey) steadily gnawed at the will of nightmarish rulers and the kambrādūr of Idealism: Adherents seek a special banner To fl y above capitalist authority Th e pulse of the hand of injustice suff ers from desperation (While) the symbol of social life rises in the east As science enjoys its studied place A spirit of friendship appointed for the people of Yemen With revolutionary consciousness accompanying their blessed path A place for the production of industry and self-reliance Commercially mobilized, a wide march of humanity in fi le Its sections assuring daily production Exchanging between them, with their discount prices A spirit of peace that fosters equality With justice assessing both surplus and paucity Th e slogans of science fl uttering high in the air With a high clarifying its fi ve-pointed form

October-November 2011 » The Middle East in London » 23 YYEMENEMEN AANDND OOMANMAN TThehe nnon-Arabicon-Arabic llanguagesanguages ooff ssouthernouthern AArabiarabia © Janet Watson Janet Watson explores the six languages which survive alongside Arabic in the southern Arabian peninsula

ix unwritten , known as Modern South Arabian SLanguages (MSAL), still survive in the southern Arabian peninsula: Mehri spoken in eastern Yemen, western Oman and fringes of the Empty Quarter; Jib- bali (or Śhεri) spoken in western Oman; Hobyōt spoken in eastern Yemen and Mohammed Ngema Al- western Oman; Ḥ arsūsi and Baṭḥari spo- Mahri, Workshop, University of ken in western Oman; and Socotri spoken Salford, May 2011 on the island of Socotra. Th e MSAL share with other Semitic languages the con- tury, the research of the renowned SOAS with an initial and fi nal negator, as in: sonantal root-and-pattern structure of linguist, T M Johnstone, on the MSAL la-ḥams tinkā lā [literally: not I want her verbs, nouns and adjectives. Th us words of Oman from the late 1960s to the early come not] ‘I don’t want her to come’ . Th e involving k-t-b, for example, express the 1980s, and the French mission studies fact that Socotri, the most conservative of notion of writing. Th ey also share much of the MSAL of Yemen from 1983 to the the MSAL, negates at the beginning of the of the basic lexicon with one or another present day. Since 2000 fi eld research on clause, as in other Semitic languages, sug- Semitic language. Th ey are not, however, Mehri has also been conducted by Lieb- gests that some MSAL have gone from us- mutually comprehensible with their close haber on poetry and songs, Sima on the ing an initial negator to an initial and fi nal cousins Arabic, Hebrew or Ethio-Semitic. Mehri of eastern Yemen, and myself on negator and then to a fi nal negator only. (Th is also applies to the language or the Mehri of eastern Yemen and Oman. Th is development is seen in French, for dialect spoken on Jabal Rāziḥ in northYe- All this work has been conducted with example, where ne, the original negator, men, and other similar survivals may yet the acknowledged collaboration of native was reinforced by pas ‘step’, and in some be discovered). speakers. dialects pas can express negation on its An estimated 100,000-180,000 people Th e MSAL are of great typological own, as in je veux pas ‘I don’t want’. Th is straddling three state borders still speak interest to Semitists and general linguists. discovery is of great interest to compara- Mehri, 60,000 Socotri, 10,000 Jibbali, Th ey are the only Semitic languages still tive linguists. under 1000 Ḥ arsūsi, around 400 Hobyōt spoken to have three plain sibilants - /s/, All MSAL are endangered languages, and only a few Baṭḥari. Given the geo- /š/ (English ‘sh’) and /ś/, a lateral sibilant and not all members of their ethnic graphical separation of Ḥ arsūsi in Jiddat very similar to Welsh ‘ll’. Th ey are also groups still speak them. Th reats to their al-Ḥ arāsīs, Oman, and that early Islamic the only ones which diff erentiate between survival include education (dominantly maps show Mahrah extending well be- singular, plural and dual in pronouns and in Arabic), the development of mass com- yond the present extent of spoken Mehri, verbs. Th us ‘we went’ in Omani Mehri munication, and the rapid loss of tradi- these languages have clearly retreated can be realised as akay syarki ‘we (dual) tional cultural knowledge and practices. signifi cantly over the past 1500 years. went’ or as nḥah syūran ‘we (plural) went’. Th ey therefore urgently need document- Th e MSAL were fi rst discovered by Th e majority of MSAL are also unique ing for future linguists to study, and for western writers in the 1830s, and the within both extant and extinct Semitic the sake of future generations of speakers. sixth MSAL, Hobyōt, was only discovered languages in negating a clause with a fi nal (by Lonnet and Simeone-Senelle) in the negator, as in Omani Mehri wadak kam Janet Watson is Professor of Arabic 1980s. Th e major stages in MSAL docu- laśxawwal bi-maskūt lā [literally: I know Linguistics at the University of Salford, mentation are the work of the Viennese how long I stay in Muscat not] ‘I don’t and author of several books and articles on Expedition of the early twentieth cen- know how long I will stay in Muscat’, or southern Arabian dialects and languages, including Th e Phonology and Morphology Th e Modern South Arabian Languages are of great of Arabic (2002) and Th e Structure of Mehri typological interest to Semitists and general linguists (In preparation)

24 » The Middle East in London » October-November 2011 RREVIEWS:EVIEWS: EXHIBITIONEXHIBITION AAdornmentdornment aandnd IIdentity:dentity: Jewellery and Costume of Oman

Clara Semple

he Sultanate of Oman is celebrated for exquisitely craft ed bracelets, massive anklets its dramatic mountains and coastline, and weighty ear ornaments. Also displayed Tlush oases and handsome stone forts. are ornate silver daggers once worn by many A less visible but equally impressive feature Omani men, and a remarkable leather and is its long tradition of exquisitely craft ed silver woman’s headdress. silver jewellery once worn throughout the We learn through a series of panels and country by townspeople as well as bedouin. texts that none of these ornaments is worn Th is rich heritage is fast disappearing due randomly or simply for decoration. All to a decline in the popularity of silver and are part of a well-established tradition of a preference for gold ornaments. Many costume and jewellery worn on celebratory old silver ornaments are now in private occasions such as weddings, births and collections, although museums in Muscat circumcisions. Each item fulfi ls a function, and Kuwait have signifi cant displays. Until be it to protect the wearer from harmful now, however, there has been no such spirits, to promote fertility, or to refl ect the collection on public display in the United wearer’s marital and fi nancial status. Kingdom. So when a private collection of A lavishly gilded amulet case containing a Omani jewellery came up for sale in 2009, script from the Qu’ran and suspended from the British Museum, with great prescience, a chain to form a necklace is a protective seized the opportunity to fi ll a gap in their device to keep its wearer from harm. Th e collections. salwa (meaning `amusing’), a delightfully Th e result is a dazzling exhibition: quirky bicycle refl ector encased in silver ‘Adornment and Identity: Jewellery and and embellished with chains, is worn Costume from Oman’, which is not only by unmarried girls also for protection. aesthetically pleasing, displaying the Children too wear silver ornaments to ward (Left) Anklets lustrous patina and fl uid forms so distinctive off the ‘evil eye’. of Omani jewellery, but also informs us Jewellery is also vital for dowry payments (Above) Lawati dress from Muscat of the use and deeper signifi cance of the which become the property of the bride ornaments. On display is a breathtaking to use as she pleases. It was important to array of jewellery together with colourful maintain the value of the jewellery, so the Also on display is an exuberant collection costumes and other related artefacts main source of silver was the Maria Th eresa of costumes from Dhofar, Sur, Muscat and refl ecting the regional and cultural variety thaler, a trade coin used as currency in , cleverly juxtaposed to emphasise of this rich and diverse country. Opulent Oman until the mid -20th century, which the contrasts in regional styles and wedding necklaces made from multiple had a high and reliable silver content. Th is embellishments. Th is sensitively curated, chains, and embellished with coins, semi- magnifi cent coin, with its effi gy of the 18th compact exhibition provides the visitor with precious stones and amulets, hang alluringly century Hapsburg Empress, was also used a rare opportunity to enjoy a unique style on the walls. And showcases entice one with as a component in wedding necklaces and of silver jewellery and at the same time gain other ornaments, as were Indian and insights into the rich and diverse culture of other imported coins. Oman. Omani silversmiths, with a few simple Th e exhibition is well complemented tools, created some of the most intricate by an exhibition of Balkan costume and jewellery in the world. Happily a few of jewellery in the adjacent gallery, which also these venerable craft smen are still at work, includes bridal costume and jewellery. and one showcase is devoted to this dying craft . Most of the pieces shown date from Clara Semple is a writer and researcher on the 1950s, and many are re-worked from Middle Eastern jewellery, and author of A melted down silver jewellery - a common Silver Legend (2005), a history of the Maria practice. Th eresa thaler

October-November 2011 » The Middle East in London » 25 BBOOKSOOKS ININ BRIEFBRIEF

awaz A Gerges is romherz analyses the TThehe RRiseise professor of Middle QQatar:atar: role played by Qatar FEastern politics and A ModernModern HHistoryistory Fin the Middle East aandnd FFallall ooff international relations and how it diff ers from the at the London School of other Gulf states. Th e author AAl-Qaedal-Qaeda Economics. In this book, his examines how the al-Th ani seventh and a follow up to by Allen James tribe has shaped the history two previous works focused Fromherz of modern Qatar, and how by Fawaz A. Gerges on Jihadism, he argues that a traditional tribal society Al-Qaeda has degenerated is adapting to its status as into a fractured, marginal a burgeoning economic body, which has neutralised superpower. Drawing on its political potency. original sources in Arabic, Gerges interviews Jihadis English and French, as to demonstrate the factions well as his own fi eldwork, he observes and also Fromherz presents a portrait provides a brief history of of Qatar which analyses the the organisation, showing country’s paradoxes and its emergence from the Qatar’s growing regional disintegrating local Jihadist infl uence within a broader movements of the mid- historical context. 1990s up to the most recent activities.

Oxford University Press IB Tauris, November 2011 November 2011 £15.99 £29.95

ami Moubayed is editor artin Evans SSyriayria aandnd of the Forward news AAlgeria:lgeria: examines the Smagazine in Syria. In FFrance’srance’s Morigins and tthehe UUSASA this book, he analyses the consequences of the Algerian tumultuous relationship UUndeclaredndeclared WWarar War and in doing so between Syria and the USA uncovers interesting insights that offi cially began aft er the into the relationship between First World War. by Martin Evans the French socialist party by Sami Moubayed In the 40 years between and Algerian nationalist 1919 and 1959, envoys from movements. the White House, along Evans argues that it was with presidential candidates the Socialist led Republican from both the Republican Front, in power from January and Democratic parties, 1956 until May 1957, which Secretaries of State, and was the defi ning moment in US celebrities like Eleanor the war. Roosevelt and Helen Keller To demonstrate this he all went to and delves into classifi ed archival reported very diff erent sources as well as new oral observations. Th is book testimonies, including with presents an insight into the Mohammed Harbi, an political and social relations original member of the FLN between the two countries liberation group in . and cultures.

IB Tauris, Oxford University Press, November 2011 November 2011 £56.50 £20.00

26 » The Middle East in London » October-November 2011 PProrofi lele TTaheraher QQassimassim MMBEBE Chairman of the Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival

changes which will hopefully lead to freedom, democracy, peace and justice for all Yemenis. One of my proudest achievements is to have helped develop the annual Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival, which aims to bring a vivid and diverse representation of to Britain. It was launched in 2002, and its audience has increased from a few hundred a year mainly from Liverpool, at the beginning, to more than 40,000 from all over the UK in 2011. At the start only a few local organisations were interested in our Festival, in addition to our major sponsor, the Bluecoat arts centre. Th is year most of the art organisations in the city were involved, and where there were formerly only a few events, dominated by belly dancing, we now have fi lms, theatre, music, dance, literature, exhibitions, talks, debates, lectures, and the popular family day. Th is year the Festival also took place at was born in al-Karabah, a small poor moved to England in early 1995 to seek a time when the eyes of the whole world are village near Ta`izz. I studied in Yemen, a better education for our children. We focused on the Middle East, so provided a ISweden and England, and paid for my settled in Liverpool and I worked for the particularly good opportunity to celebrate education by working in public health local council then the Liverpool Health and publicise Arab culture, and off er in various African and Middle Eastern Authority, where I have been for the past valuable insights into the history, passions countries including Yemen, which ten years. I am presently in the Public and aspirations of the people of the region remained my main work base. From 1980 Health Department where I work on health Th e Festival is now striving to become to 1995 I was employed by several major improvement and the delivery of services. independent of the Bluecoat in order to international health and development In addition to my professional work in the maintain its dynamism. To help achieve this agencies, and travelled throughout the health sector, I have been heavily involved we have invited the much-loved Lebanese country on their behalf. in voluntary community activities at local composer and musician, Marcel Khalife, In addition to my main work, I was and national levels. I fi nd this work very to be its fi rst Patron and international also involved in diffi cult international rewarding because of the rich experience I ambassador. campaigns against unethical practices in gain of how people live, interact, socialise, In 2010 the Liverpool Arabic Arts pharmaceuticals, the misuse of food aid resolve issues or run into trouble. Festival was proud to receive the annual by the World Food Programme, and the I have been the initiator, founder, co- Arab-British Culture and Society award aggressive promotion of baby milk- powder. founder or leader of the Liverpool Yemeni for its outstanding contribution to the Because of the scarcity of clean water and Community organisation, Liverpool British public’s understanding of the life, unsterilized bottles, bottle-feeding was Arabic Centre (LAC), the Black Asian and society, and culture of the Arab people. a major cause of infant mortality. It was Minority Ethnic (BAME) Consortium (for Th is recognition has led to important therefore a major victory when baby-milk which I received an MBE in 2008), the opportunities to publicize our work. commercials were banned from Yemeni TV. Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival (LAAF), the I met my Irish wife, Ann Hoskins, while Yemeni Community Coordinating Council she was working as a doctor for the British (YCCC) UK, and Change Point Liverpool, Organisation for Community Development which I chair. Th e latter was created recently (Above) Taher Qassim at his MBE award ceremony in 2008 with his wife and daughters, on Jabal Raymah in the Yemeni . in response to the current uprising in and Ed Balls, then Secretary of State for We lived in Yemen for ten years, then Yemen, and its main purpose is to support Children, Schools and Families

October-November 2011 » The Middle East in London » 27 OObituarybituary OObituarybituary

By Doris Abouseif rnst J. Grube (May 9 1932 - June 12 2011) was born in Austria and Espent his youth in Berlin; he received a doctorate from the Freie Universitat in 1955 and worked at the Art Library of the Berlin State Museums before he moved to the Islamic Museum. In 1958 he was off ered a research-grant at Th e Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and in the following year he joined the Met’s Department of Near Eastern Art. In 1962 he was appointed curator of the newly- established Department of Islamic Art. During his American years he also taught Islamic Art History at Columbia University and at Hunter College. In 1972 he moved to Italy where he taught Islamic art history at the University of Padua and later at the Oriental Institute in Naples. In 1977 he was appointed to the Chair of Islamic Art History at the University of Venice which he kept until his retirement in 1988. Ernst Grube was a very productive scholar. He wrote, either alone or with others, books including Muslim Miniature Painting from the XIII to the XIX Century from Collections in the and Canada (in English and Italian); Th e World of Islam, Landmarks of the World's Art (in English, German, Dutch and Finnish); Th e Classical Style in Islamic Painting and Cobalt and Lustre; Th e fi rst centuries of Islamic pottery, (a catalogue of pottery in the Nasser D Khalili Collection). His latest book, to which also Jeremy Johns contributed, Th e Painted Ceilings of the Cappella Palatina, was published in 2005. He also wrote 117 articles and 32 reviews and founded the journal Islamic Art of which he was the co- editor with his wife Eleanor Sims, herself an eminent Islamic art historian. While his interests and publications covered all aspects of the Islamic decorative arts, the focus of Ernst Grube’s research of the Cappella Palatina book is 200 pages period of his life, and in spite of his illness, was painting and pottery. More recently he long; he also compiled an annotated a youthful enthusiasm for all intellectual worked on Fatimid rock crystal: he was to bibliography of the Iconography of Islamic subjects, which made conversation with give the keynote address at the conference art (2005). His passion for pottery was not him a fascinating experience. He had style, ‘Making things Speak’ in the Berlin’s only academic; he had a remarkable private was very generous and helpful and was not Museum of Islamic Art, to celebrate the collection that included not only Islamic but inclined to say negative things about others. installation of the rock crystal ewer from also various other, including contemporary, He had many friends and will be missed by the Edmund de Unger collection, but he objects. many colleagues and former students. died in hospital a couple of weeks earlier. Ernst Grube was a prominent fi gure Iconography was a prominent aspect of his in the fi eld of Islamic art history, and a Doris Abouseif is Nasser D Khalili Professor approach and he was also renowned for his charismatic speaker with a brilliant mind of Islamic Art and Archaeology at SOAS extensive bibliographies: the bibliography and remarkable culture. He kept to the last

28 » The Middle East in London » October-November 2011 LISTINGS EEventsvents iinn LLondonondon

HE EVENTS and 3:00 pm | Th e Green Wave second half of the 15th century. by: Dash Arts. A blend of Middle organisations listed below (Film) Organised by: Institute of Admission free. Christie’s London, Eastern Song and Western Jazz with Tare not necessarily endorsed Contemporary Arts (ICA). Also at 8 King Street, St James’s, SW1Y Hjaz. Admission free. Venue TBC. or supported by The Middle East in 5:30 pm & 7:45 pm. Until 13 October. 6QT. T 020 7389 2203 E dherbert@ E [email protected] W www. London. The accompanying texts Dir Ali Samadi Ahadi (2010), christies.com W www.christies.com dasharts.org.uk and images are based primarily Iran, 80 min. A moving account of on information provided by the Iran’s Green Revolution, the fi lm 5:30 pm | and Benghazi: a 7:30 pm | Th e Green Wave (Film) organisers and do not necessarily uses collage and illustration to tell new future for the past (Lecture) See listing for Saturday 1 October reflect the views of the compilers the stories of the demonstrators as Paul Bennett, Canterbury for details. or publishers. While every possible they fought for change and reform. Archaeological Trust and the effort is made to ascertain the Tickets: £10/£8 conc. ICA, Th e Mall, Society for Libyan Studies. accuracy of these listings, readers London SW1Y 5AH. T 020 7930 Organised by: Society for Libyan Th ursday 6 October are advised to seek confirmation 3647 W www.ica.org.uk Studies. Admission free. British of all events using the contact Academy, 10-11 Carlton House 10:00 am | Art of the Islamic details provided for each event. 3:30 pm | Discover Mesopotamia , London, SW1Y 5AH. E and Indian (Auction) Submitting entries and updates: through Storytelling ZIPANG Day [email protected] W Organised by: Christie’s London. please send all updates and Out Organised by: Th e Enheduanna www.britac.ac.uk/institutes/libya/ Also at 2:30pm. Sale led by a submissions for entries related Society. Doors open at 3:00pm. recently discovered and previously to future events via e-mail to Storytelling workshop where you 5:45 pm | Th e Gulf Arab States unknown 8th century Umayyad [email protected] or by fax to will hear a professional storyteller and the Political Economy of the sculpture of a deer in bronze with 020 7898 4329. tell a Mesopotamian story and can Middle East: a moment of change? copper inlay from Iran along with have a go at telling the story yourself (Lecture) Adam Hanieh, SOAS. other works of art dating from BM – British Museum, Great with live Iraqi music. Admission Organised by: London Middle East the 7th century through to the 20th Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG free. Poetry Cafe, 22 Betterton Institute, SOAS (LMEI). Lecture to century. Admission free. Christie’s SOAS – School of Oriental and Street, Covent Garden WC2H 9BX. mark the launch of Hanieh's book London, 8 King Street, St James’s, African Studies, Th ornhaugh Street, W www.zipang.org.uk Capitalism and Class in the Gulf SW1Y 6QT. T 020 7389 2372 E Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG Arab States (Palgrave-Macmillan, [email protected] W www. LSE – London School of Economics Sunday 2 October 2011). Part of the LMEI's Tuesday christies.com and Political Science, Houghton Evening Lecture Programme on Street, London WC2 2AE 3:30 pm | Th e Green Wave (Film) the Contemporary Middle East, 1:15 pm | Object in context: the Also at 6:00 pm. See listing for Th e Middle East in Transition: a Royal Standard of Ur (Lecture) Saturday 1 October for details. new social economic and political Dominique Collon, former British OCTOBER EVENTS landscape? Chaired by Gilbert Museum. Organised by: BM. A Monday 3 October Achcar, SOAS. Tea and biscuits lecture on the purpose, structure Saturday 1 October available from 5:30pm. Admission and meaning of the lapis lazuli 7:30 pm | Exiled Lit Cafe - Voices free. Khalili Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. and shell mosaic covered Royal 9:30 am | Th e Shi’a in the 20th from the Arab Spring (Meeting/ T 020 7898 4490 E [email protected] Standard of Ur, originating from Ur and 21st Centuries (Conference) Reading) Organised by: Exiled W www.lmei.soas.ac.uk in Southern Iraq, c. 2600-2400 BC. Organised by: Centre for Academic Writers Ink.Monthly Meeting. Admission free - Booking advised. Shi’a Studies and the London An evening with poets, writers Wednesday 5 October Stevenson Lecture Th eatre, Clore Middle East Institute, SOAS and musicians from Libya, Syria, Education Centre, BM. T 020 7323 (LMEI). Admission free. Al- Palestine, Egypt, Yemen, . Dash Arabic Series Café Organised 8000 / 020 7323 8181 E boxoffi ce@ Khoei Foundation, Chevening Presented by Fathieh Saudi, poet. Road, London NW6 6TN. E Tickets: £4/£2 EWI members. [email protected] W http:// Poetry Café, 22 Betterton Street, shiaresearch.com/conferences/ London WC2H 5BX. E jennifer@ CASS-LMEI.pdf exiledwriters.fsnet.co.uk W www. exiledwriters.co.uk 11:30 am | Discover Mesopotamia MIDDLE EAST BRIEFINGS through Storytelling on a ZIPANG Tuesday 4 October Day Out Organised by: Th e Enheduanna Society. Guided tour 10:30 am | Oriental and European The London Middle East Institute offers tailored briefings looking at items which illustrate the Rugs & Carpets (Auction) on the politics, economics, cultures and languages of the Middle East. world of stories in Mesopotamian Organised by: Christie’s London. Previous clients include UK and foreign governmental bodies mythology. Admission free. BM Also at 2:30pm. Th e sale features and private entities. (meet in the Great Court beside the over 300 lots, led by one of the Contact us for details. Information Desk). W www.zipang. earliest carpets to have Tel: 020 7898 4330 E-mail: [email protected] org.uk survived, dating to Egypt in the

October-November 2011 » The Middle East in London » 29 THE AGA KHAN UNIVERSITY Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations Exploring Muslim Cultures 11 October - 3 November 2011(Tuesday and Thursday evenings) Conducted over 4 weeks, this course explores the spiritual, legal and doctrinal traditions of Muslim history. Each session will offer an overview of the different historical and cultural aspects of Muslim people; and examine the ways in which experiences and insights from a major world civilisation bear upon questions faced by humanity today. Fee: £120/£80/£60 (full/early bird/concession) Application deadline: 6 October 2011 Gender and Identity in Muslim Contexts 5 November 2011 Engaging with the : History and Contemporary Issues CPD accredited - 12 & 19 November 2011

For details about courses please contact: Tel: +44 (0)20 7380 3865, Email: [email protected], Web: www.aku.edu/ismc Photos/Illustration © AKDN Image Bank

THE AGA KHAN UNIVERSITY Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations Master of Arts in Muslim Cultures The MA in Muslim Cultures offers distinctive ways of approaching the cultures and societies of Muslim peoples. The MA Programme draws upon the theories and methods of the humanities and social sciences as a framework for study in order to encourage broad analytical and comparative perspectives. This requires that cultural manifestations such as art, poetry and architecture be examined alongside doctrine, law and religious practice. While the MA Programme endeavours to explore and understand Muslim cultures and societies as they have evolved over time, it also focuses on the complexities of contemporary issues. Financial assistance available For further details please visit: Applications by 27 February 2012 www.aku.edu/ismc Photos/Illustration © AKDN Image Bank

30 » The Middle East in London » October-November 2011 britishmuseum.org W www. 7:30 pm | Th e Green Wave (Film) Contemporary Middle East. Tea Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. T 0771 408 britishmuseum.org See listing for Saturday 1 October and biscuits available from 5:30pm. 7480 E [email protected] for details. Admission free. Khalili Lecture W www.soas.ac.uk 4:00 pm | Th e Petra Eff ect: Th eatre, SOAS. T 020 7898 4490 E Archaeology and Psychical Saturday 8 October [email protected] W www.lmei.soas. 7:30 pm | Th e Green Wave (Film) Research at George Horsfi eld ac.uk See listing for Saturday 1 October and Agnes Conway’s Excavations 9:45 am | Courts and Capitals for details. (Lecture) Amara Th ornton, Institute 1815-1914: From Alexandria to 6:00 pm | Th e Egyptian Revolution of Archaeology, UCL. Organised (Conference) Organised by: of 2011: and Th ursday 13 October by: Palestine Exploration Fund Th e Society for Court Studies and Power Politics (Panel Discussion) (PEF). Th e Iain Browning Memorial Th e Victorian Society. Focusing Khaled Fahmy, American University 7:30 pm | Th e Green Wave (Film) Lecture. Th is lecture will expose on the Near and Far East, this in Cairo; Charles Tripp, SOAS; See listing for Saturday 1 October the relationship of scholarship conference will explore the role of Timothy Garton Ash, Guardian and for details. to unorthodox techniques while royal patronage in refashioning University of Oxford. Organised charting the history of the fi rst some of the world's great cities. by: British Academy in partnership Friday 14 October archaeological excavation at Petra. Tickets: £60/£20 students. Art with the Oxford University Admission free. Stevenson Lecture Workers Guild, 6 Queen Square Research Project on Civil Resistance 1:15 pm | Ceramics and society: Th eatre, Clore Education Centre, London, WC1N 3AT. T 020 8747 and Power. A look at the Egyptian pottery from the Late Neolithic BM. T 020 7935 5379 E admin@pef. 5895 E [email protected]. revolution, exploring the range in the Middle East (Gallery Talk) org.uk W www.pef.org.uk uk W www.courtstudies.org of factors contributing to change. Organised by: BM. A talk by Michela Chaired by Sir Adam Roberts, Spataro and Alexandra Fletcher, 6:30 pm | Framing the Arab 12:00 pm | Nour Souk (Lecture) KCMG, FBA, British Academy and British Museum. Admission free. Uprisings: a historical perspective Organised by: Leighton House University of Oxford. Followed by Room 56, BM. T 020 7323 8000 W (Lecture) Juan Cole, University of Museum. Part of the Nour Festival a reception. Admission free www.britishmuseum.org Michigan and author of the blog of Arts: October – November 2011. (Pre-registration required). British Informed Comment. Organised To celebrate its annual Nour Festival Academy, 10-11 Carlton House 6:45 pm | Launch Event/Party - by: LSE. Fred Halliday Memorial of Arts, Leighton House is hosting Terrace, London SW1. T 020 7969 'Screen a Smile' (Film) Organised Lecture. Chaired by Kimberly the Nour Souk: a display and sale 5200 W www.britac.ac.uk in collaboration with 'Draw a Smile' Hutchings. Admission free. Sheikh of contemporary design, fashion, and in association with the London Zayed Th eatre, New Academic foods and artisanal wares from Wednesday 12 October Middle East Institute, SOAS (LMEI). Building, LSE. T 020 7955 6043 E the Middle East and . Launch of Th e London MENA [email protected] W www2.lse.ac.uk Admission free. Leighton House 5:30 pm | Saudi Arabia in the (Middle East & North Africa) Film Museum, 12 Holland Park Road, Region and in Itself (Lecture) Sir Festival: Friday 14 October - Tuesday 6:30 pm | Launch Reception for Th e London W14 8LZ. T 020 7602 3316 Tom Phillips, British Ambassador 18 October. Th e Festival opens with 500 Club and a talk by bestselling E [email protected] W www. to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. the screening of Just Like Us, Dir author Ahdaf Soueif (Lecture) nourfestival.co.uk Organised by: Saudi-British Society. Ahmed Ahmed (2010), US, 72 min. Organised by: Council for Arab- Admission free for Members/£5 Followed by post screening nibbles British Understanding (Caabu) and 3:00 pm | Th e Green Wave (Film) guests. Arab-British Chamber of and a photography exhibition Andy Love MP. Talk by on Ahdaf Also at 5:30 pm & 7:45 pm. See Commerce, 43 Upper Grosvenor by Dubai One TV's Hermoine Soueif on the Arab uprisings and listing for Saturday 1 October for Street, London W1K 2NJ. E Macura. Tickets: £15. what they mean for Britain. Tickets: details. [email protected] W Gallery Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. E £30. Th e Arab British Chamber of www.saudibritishsociety.org.uk tickets@menafi lmfest.com W www. Commerce, 43 Upper Grosvenor Sunday 9 October menafi lmfest.com Street, London W1K 2NJ. T 020 6:30 pm | New Developments 7832 1321 E [email protected] W 3:30 pm | Th e Green Wave (Film) in Digital Documentation and 7:00 pm | Exploring Arabic hip-hop www.caabu.org Also at 6:00 pm. See listing for Representation of Ancient (Lecture) Part of the Nour Festival Saturday 1 October for details. Egyptian Material Culture: of Arts: October – November 2011. 7:30 pm | Th e Green Wave (Film) Refl ectance Transformation Doors open 6:30pm. Music theorist See listing for Saturday 1 October Monday 10 October Imaging (RTI) (Lecture) Kathryn Randa Safi eh considers the place for details. Piquette. Organised by: Th e Egypt of Arab inspired hip-hop today 6:00 pm | Petra and Jerusalem: Exploration Society. Admission accompanied by performances by reconstructing ritual in the rock- free (Pre-registration required). the rapper Master Mimz (Myriam Friday 7 October cut tombs (Lecture) Lucy Wadeson, Th e Egypt Exploration Society, 3 Bouchentouf). Admission free - University of Oxford. Organised by: Doughty Mews, London WC1N Booking required T 020 7471 9153. 10:00 am | Art & of Anglo- Archaeological Society 2PG. T 020 7242 1880 E contact@ See listing for Saturday 8 October Th e Islamic & Indian Worlds (AIAS). Admission free. Stevenson ees.ac.uk W www.ees.ac.uk/events/ for venue and contact details. Including Works From Th e Lecture Th eatre, Clore .html Collection of Th e Late Simon Centre, BM. T 020 8349 5754 W 8:00 pm | Under Th e Sun Digby (Auction) Organised by: www.aias.org.uk 7:00 pm | A tapestry at Powis Castle (Performance) Organised by: Christie’s South Kensington. Also based on the Louvre’s ‘Reception of Arabian Dance Th eatre. Also on at 2:30pm. Highlights include a Tuesday 11 October a Venetian Embassy in Damascus’ Saturday 15 October. Dance show collection of 105 manuscripts, led (Lecture) Helen Wyld, Paul telling a modern story about a young by an illuminated Ottoman Qur’an. 5:45 pm | Egypt: How far is it a Mellon Centre, the National Trust. Bedouin girl who challenges her Admission free. Christie’s South revolution? (Lecture) Maha Azzam, Organised by: Islamic Art Circle traditions and follows her dream to Kensington, 85 Old Brompton Chatham House. Organised by: at SOAS. Part of the Islamic Art become a dancer in Cairo. Tickets: Road, London SW7 3LD. T 020 London Middle East Institute, SOAS Circle at SOAS Lecture Programme. £15 advance/£17 on the door T 020 7752 3239 E [email protected] (LMEI). Part of the LMEI's Tuesday Chaired by Doris Behrens-Abouseif, 8341 4421 W www.jacksonslane. W www.christies.com Evening Lecture Programme on the SOAS. Admission free. Khalili org.uk. Jacksons Lane Th eatre,

October-November 2011 » The Middle East in London » 31 269a Archway Road, London N6 6:30 pm | A Saudi Spring of 12 - 27 October. See listing for Institution of Great Britain, 21 5AA. T 0798 444 8488 E info@ Sand Storms: signs of domestic Saturday 15 October for fi lm Albemarle Street, London W1S arabiandancetheatre.com W www. turbulence (Lecture) Madawi Al- details. Various ticket prices. NFT2, 4BS. T 020 7479 8940 E events@ arabiandancetheatre.com Rasheed, King's College London. Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, frontlineclub.com W www. Organised by: Middle East Centre, London SE1 8XX. W www.bfi .org. frontlineclub.com Saturday 15 October LSE. Part of the Middle East Centre uk/lff / Arab Uprisings lecture series. Saudi 7:00 pm | Here Comes the Rain 6:30 pm | Mourning (Film) Part of Arabia has so far avoided a major Tuesday 18 October (Film) Organised by: Leighton the 55th BFI London Film Festival: show of discontent but there are House Museum. Part of the Nour 12 - 27 October. Dir Morteza signs of domestic turbulence on the 3:15 pm | Where Do We Go Now? Festival of Arts: October – November Farshbaf (2011), Iran, 84 min. An horizon. Admission free. Wolfson (Film) Part of the 55th BFI London 2011. Doors open from 6:30pm. Dir Iranian boy goes on a road trip Th eatre, New Academic Building, Film Festival: 12 - 27 October. See Bahij Hojeij (2010), Lebanon, 100 with his deaf relatives aft er his own LSE. T 020 7955 6198 E d.c.akkad@ listing for Sunday 16 October for min. Film addressing Lebanon’s parents mysteriously leave in the lse.ac.uk W www2.lse.ac.uk fi lm, venue and contact details. missing ten thousand people almost middle of the night and are killed two decades aft er the ending of the in an accident. Various ticket prices. 6:45 pm | ‘feMENA’ - Double Bill 3:45 pm | Mourning (Lecture) civil war in 1991 through the stories ICA, Th e Mall, London SW1Y 5AH. (Film) Part of Th e London MENA Part of the 55th BFI London Film of three women. Tickets: £8/£6 W www.bfi .org.uk/lff / (Middle East & North Africa) Festival: 12 - 27 October. See listing conc. - Booking required T 020 Film Festival: Friday 14 October for Saturday 15 October for fi lm 7471 9153 W www.wegottickets. 8:00 pm | Under Th e Sun - Tuesday 18 October. details. Various ticket prices. NFT2 , com/LeightonHouseMuseum. See (Performance) See listing for Friday Night, Dir Sally El Hosaini (2010), Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, listing for Saturday 8 October for 14 October for details. UK, 12 min. and London in a London SE1 8XX. W www.bfi .org. venue and contact details. Headscarf, Dir Mariam Al Sarkal uk/lff / Sunday 16 October (2011), UK, 23 min. Followed by an 7:30 pm | Grand Maestro extended Q&A with the directors. 5:45 pm | Covering Islam, Covering Mohammad Reza Shajarian 3:15 pm | Where Do We Go Now? Tickets: £10. St Ethelburga’s Centre the Middle East: confessions of (Concert) Organised by: Southbank (Film) Part of the 55th BFI London for Reconciliation and Peace, 78 a practising journalist (Lecture) Centre. With Shahnaz Ensemble Film Festival: 12 - 27 October. Dir Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AG. E Roger Hardy, BBC World. directed by Maestro Majid Nadine Labaki (2011), , tickets@menafi lmfest.com W www. Organised by: London Middle East Derakhshani. An evening with Lebanon, Italy, Egypt, 100 min. A menafi lmfest.com Institute, SOAS (LMEI). Part of the Grand Maestro Shajarian, Iran's story of female solidarity crossing LMEI's Tuesday Evening Lecture most celebrated vocalist whose religious divides. In a remote 7:00 pm | 18 Days (Film) Organised Programme on the Contemporary public stance against the authorities Middle Eastern village, Christians by: Leighton House Museum. Part Middle East. Tea and biscuits in support of people's legitimate and Muslims have lived side by side of the Nour Festival of Arts: October available from 5:30pm. Admission demands has turned him in to a all their lives, largely in harmony – November 2011. Doors open from free. Khalili Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. national hero. Various ticket prices. despite the odd outbursts of rage 6:30pm. Dirs Mariam Abou Ouf, T 020 7898 4490 E [email protected] Royal Festival Hall, Southbank between the menfolk. Various ticket Kamla Abu Zikri, Ahmed Alaa, W www.lmei.soas.ac.uk Centre, Belvedere Road, London prices. Vue West End, 3 Cranbourn Mohamed Ali, Ahmad Abdulla, SE1 8XX. T 020 7960 4200 W www. Street, London WC2H 7AL. W Sherif El Bandary, Marwan Hamed, 6:30 pm | Legends Series (Film) southbankcentre.co.uk www.bfi .org.uk/lff / Khaled Marei, Yousry Nassrallah, Part of Th e London MENA (Middle Sherif Arafa (2011), Egypt, 120 min. East & North Africa) Film Festival: 9:00 pm | Th is is Not a Film (Film) 6:30 pm | ‘Rise of Gulf Cinema’ A series of ten short fi lms that tell the Friday 14 October - Tuesday 18 Part of the 55th BFI London Film - Double Bill (Film) Part of Th e varied stories of the recent Egyptian October. In Th e Heliopolis Flat, Festival: 12 - 27 October. Dir Jafar London MENA (Middle East uprising that led to the overthrow of Dir Mohamed Khan (2007), Egypt, Panahi, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb & North Africa) Film Festival: President . Tickets: 118 min. Followed by an extended (2011), Iran, 75 min. A postcard Friday 14 October - Tuesday 18 £8/£6 conc. - Booking required T Q&A with the Egyptian director and from Panahi to the international October. Sabeel, Dir Khalid Al 020 7471 9153 W www.wegottickets. Jordanian born English actor Nadim fi lm community which has voiced Mahmood (2010), United Arab com/LeightonHouseMuseum. See Sawalha. Compered by London born outrage about the charges of anti- Emirates, 20 mins. and Hamama, listing for Saturday 8 October for Moroccan actor Nabil Elouahabi. government activities made against Dir Nujoom Al Ghanem (2010), venue and contact details. Tickets: £10. St Ethelburga’s Centre him in Iran, where he has been , 64 mins. for Reconciliation and Peace, 78 sentenced to six years in prison Followed by a Q&A with director, 8:30 pm | Once Upon a Time Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AG. E and banned from making fi lms for Nujoom Al Ghanem and Hermoine in (Film) Part of the tickets@menafi lmfest.com W www. 20 years. Various ticket prices. BFI Macura of Dubai One TV. Tickets: 55th BFI London Film Festival: menafi lmfest.com Southbank, Belvedere Road, South £10. St Ethelburga’s Centre for 12 - 27 October. Dir Nuri Bilge Bank, London, SE1 8XT. W www. Reconciliation and Peace, 78 Ceylan (2011), , Bosnia- 7:00 pm | Frontline Club Special: bfi .org.uk/lff / Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AG. E Herzegovina, 157 min. Once Upon a Focus on Israel - How will it tickets@menafi lmfest.com W www. Time in Anatolia follows the search respond to the Arab spring? Wednesday 19 October menafi lmfest.com by police, prosecutors, a doctor and (Panel Discussion) Organised the alleged culprit for the body of a by: Frontline Club. A look at how 4:00 pm | Th is is Not a Film (Film) man buried in the Anatolian steppes Israel and its people view the Part of the 55th BFI London Film Monday 17 October aft er a brawl. Various ticket prices. demands for democracy which are Festival: 12 - 27 October. See listing Vue West End, 3 Cranbourn Street, ousting friends in the region, such for Tuesday 18 October for details. 6:15 pm | Where Do We Go Now? London WC2H 7AL. W www.bfi . as President Hosni Mubarak, and (Film) Part of the 55th BFI London org.uk/lff / Israel's position on Gaza and the 4:30 pm | Anatomy of an oil-based Film Festival: 12 - 27 October. See in the light of changes welfare state: Rent distribution listing for Sunday 16 October for 8:45 pm | Mourning (Film) Part of taking place in the Arab world. in Kuwait (Seminar) Laura El- fi lm, venue and contact details. the 55th BFI London Film Festival: Tickets: £20/£15 conc. Th e Royal Katiri, Oxford Institute for Energy

32 » The Middle East in London » October-November 2011 Studies and SOAS. Organised decides not to follow through on her down when he encounters an act of Museum. Part of the Nour Festival by: Th e Kuwait Programme on plans to emigrate but opts to stay and shocking violence by an extremist of Arts: October – November Development, Governance and explore her family’s past. Tickets: Jewish group. Various ticket prices. 2011. Doors open from 6:30pm. Globalisation in the Gulf States, LSE. £8/£6 conc.- Booking required T BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road, Dir Oday Rasheed (2010), Iraq, 88 A seminar on Kuwait's distributive 020 7471 9153 W www.wegottickets. South Bank, London, SE1 8XT. W min. Rasheed (“Underexposure”) eff orts, their eff ectiveness and their com/LeightonHouseMuseum. See www.bfi .org.uk/lff / continues his exploration of daily impact on the population and the listing for Saturday 8 October for life in post-Saddam Iraq. Tickets: economy. Admission free. Graham venue and contact details. 7:00 pm | An Overview of the £8/£6 conc. - Booking required T Wallas Room, Old Building, LSE. T History and Development of the 020 7471 9153 W www.wegottickets. 020 7955 6639 E [email protected] Th ursday 20 October Parsi Priesthood in up to com/LeightonHouseMuseum. See W www2.lse.ac.uk the Nineteenth Century (Lecture) listing for Saturday 8 October for 7:45 am | Khaled al Khamissi, Organised by: Zoroastrian Trust venue and contact details. 6:30 pm | Turkey as a Model of Ahmed Mourad & Ahmed Khaled Funds of Europe and SOAS. Part of Democracy and Islam (Lecture) Towfi k (Reading/Discussion) the 150 years of Zoroastrian Studies Sami Zubaida, Birkbeck. Organised Organised by: Southbank Centre. conference on Saturday 22 and Saturday 22 October by: LSE Middle East Centre, Th ree leading authors from Egypt Sunday 23 October, see below for Contemporary Turkish Studies. discuss their work and off er details. Inaugural lecture by Dastur 10:00 am | 150 years of Zoroastrian Admission free. Venue TBA. T 020 fascinating insights into a country Dr Firoze M Kotwal, Zoroastrian Studies (Two-Day Conference: 7955 6198 E [email protected] W at the heart of geopolitical events High Priest. Admission free. Khalili Saturday 22 – Sunday 23 October) www.lse.ac.uk/middleEastCentre in 2011. Chaired by Paul Blezard. Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. T 020 8866 Organised by: Zoroastrian Trust Tickets: £8/conc. 50% off (limited 0765 E [email protected] W www. Funds of Europe. A conference 7:00 pm | Damascus with Love availability). Level 5 Function Room, soas.ac.uk / www.ztfe.com celebrating the 150th anniversary (Film) Organised by: Leighton Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, of the Zoroastrian Trust Funds House Museum. Part of the London SE1 8XX. T 020 7960 4200 Friday 21 October of Europe, established 1861. Nour Festival of Arts: October – W www.southbankcentre.co.uk Th e invited speakers are from November 2011. See listing for 3:30 pm | Policeman (Film) Part of an academic background in Saturday 8 October for venue and 6:15 pm | Policeman (Film) Part of the 55th BFI London Film Festival: Zoroastrian studies, but the contact details. Doors open from the 55th BFI London Film Festival: 12 - 27 October. See listing for conference is aimed primarily at a 6:30pm. Dir Muhammed Abdulaziz 12 - 27 October. Dir Nadav Lapid Th ursday 20 October for details. non-academic audience. Tickets: (2010), Syria, 95 min. When her (2011), Israel 112 min. A member £40/£30 conc. (OAPs & ZTFE father reveals a hidden secret, a of an elite Israeli anti-terrorist 7:00 pm | Quarantina (Film) members/ SOAS/LMEI Affi liates) Syrian-Jewish woman called Rima unit fi nds his world turned upside Organised by: Leighton House £10 students (to include lunch UNDERSTANDING THE QUR’AN Themes and Style MUHAMMAD ABDEL HALEEM

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NEW PAPERBACK INTRODUCTION EDITION TO THE QUR’AN M.A. DRAZ ‘Essential reading, this is a book that commends itself to anyone wishing an authoritative, balanced and intellectually engaging introduction to the Qur’an.’ – Muhammed Abdel Haleem, King Fahd Professor of Islamic Studies, SOAS, London 256 pages 234 x 156mm 9781845117894 PB £14.99

www.ibtauris.comOctober-November 2011 » The Middle East in London » 33 and refreshments). Zartoshty 7928 E [email protected] W their intricate designs. Admission with HIV who battles to overcome Brothers Hall, Zoroastrian Centre www.beshara.org free. Petrie Museum of Egyptian society's prejudices and receive for Europe, 440 Alexandra Avenue, Archaeology, Malet Place, London proper treatment. Various ticket Harrow HA2 9TL. T 020 8866 0765 6:00 pm | Gothic Egypt Trail WC1. T 020 7679 4138 E events. prices. BFI Southbank, Belvedere E [email protected] W www.ztfe. (Lecture) Organised by: Petrie [email protected] W www.ucl.ac.uk/ Road, South Bank, London, SE1 com Museum of Egyptian Archaeology. museums/petrie 8XT. W www.bfi .org.uk/lff / Part of the Bloomsbury Festival. 12:00 pm | Waves of protest: from Gothic Egypt considers some of 9:00 pm | Goodbye (Film) Part of Wednesday 26 October Tunisia to (Lecture) the myths and stories used in late the 55th BFI London Film Festival: Organised by: BM. A day of 19th century and early 20th century 12 - 27 October. Dir Mohammad 1:15 pm | Asmaa (Film) Part of the documentaries and discussion. horror; stories that led to Th e Rasoulof (2011), Iran, 104 min. 55th BFI London Film Festival: 12 - Th e ‘Jasmine’ revolution started in Mummy in 1932 and numerous Goodbye follows the trials of 27 October. See listing for Tuesday Tunisia and spread across the region fi lms since. Admission free. Petrie Noora, a pregnant lawyer in 25 October for details. as the Arab Spring while the Toxteth Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, whose license has been revoked, race riots, Liverpool 1981, followed Malet Place, London WC1. T 020 and her application for a visa 7.00pm | Women in Resistance: earlier demonstrations in Brixton. 7679 4138 E [email protected] denied. Various ticket prices. BFI Female Participation in the A look at what characterises a W www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/petrie Southbank, Belvedere Road, South Nationalist movement in South wave of protest and what happens Bank, London, SE1 8XT. W www. Arabia, 1937-67 (Lecture) Th anos aft erwards. Tickets: £3. BP Lecture Sunday 23 October bfi .org.uk/lff / Petouris. Organised by: British Th eatre, BM. T 020 7323 8000 W Foundation for the Study of Arabia, www.britishmuseum.org 10:00 am | 150 years of Zoroastrian Monday 24 October London Middle East Institute, Studies (Two-Day Conference: SOAS (LMEI) and British-Yemeni 2:00 pm | Th e Nightingale in the Saturday 22 – Sunday 23 October) 7:00 pm | TBC (Film) Society. Drawing from interviews Garden of Love: Th e poetry of See listing for Saturday 22 October Organised by: Centre for Iranian with female members of the Üft ade (Seminar) Adam Dupré, for details. Studies, SOAS. Part of the Centre's NLF and FLOSY, the lecture will Beshara School. Organised by: Th e monthly fi lm screenings. £2 payable explain how female anti-colonial Beshara Trust. A seminar on Üft ade 2:00 pm | Pot Jigsaw: Family on the door. Khalili Lecture Th eatre, activities helped shape a South (1490-1580), one of the greatest Activity Organised by: Petrie SOAS. T 020 7898 4490 E vp6@ Yemeni national identity and Ottoman Sufi masters. Admission Museum of Egyptian Archaeology. soas.ac.uk W www.soas.ac.uk/ changed the social and political free - Donations welcome. October Part of the Bloomsbury Festival. iranianstudies/ role of South Yemeni women. Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester Street, Try your hand at reconstructing Admission free. Venue G3, SOAS. London WC1N 3AL. T 020 8300 some broken pots and record Tuesday 25 October E [email protected] W www.societyforarabianstudies.org 12:45 pm | Goodbye (Film) Part of Centre for Iranian Studies, SOAS the 55th BFI London Film Festival: 7:00 pm | Unspeakable Love: www.soas.ac.uk/iranianstudies 12 - 27 October. See listing for Gay and Life in the Short Courses on Iran Sunday 23 October for fi lm, venue Middle East (Lecture) Part of the and contact details. Nour Festival of Arts: October Saturday 12th November 2011, 9.30am - 5pm – November 2011. Doors open 5:45 pm | Eff ects of Political 6:30pm. Brian Whitaker, Guardian Contemporary Political and Changes on Economic Policy and and author of Unspeakable Love: Economic Issues in Iran Business (Lecture) David Butter, Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle Economist Intelligence Unit. East (Saqi Books, 2006) and What’s Organised by: London Middle East Really Wrong WithTh e Middle East Speakers: Dr Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, Professor Ali Ansari, Dr Hassan Hakimian and Professor Massood Institute, SOAS (LMEI). Part of the (Saqi Books, 2009) in conversation Karshenas LMEI's Tuesday Evening Lecture with Saeed Kamali Dehghan, the Programme on the Contemporary Iranian journalist based in London The course explores the political system of the of Iran and examines some of the principal political and economic challenges that it is Middle East. Tea and biscuits and named 2010 Journalist of the facing. available from 5:30pm. Admission Year at the Foreign Press Association Saturday, 3rd December 2011, 9.30am - 5.00pm free. Khalili Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. Awards. Admission free - Booking T 020 7898 4490 E [email protected] required T 020 7471 9153. See The Art of Iran W www.lmei.soas.ac.uk listing for Saturday 8 October for venue and contact details. 6:30 pm | Life Aft er Death: Al- Course Fee: £125/£65 concessions Qaeda and the US ? 7:30 pm | Israel, the Arab Spring Lunch and refreshments are included. (Lecture) Fawaz Gerges, LSE. and Me (Lecture) Linda Menuhin, Organised by: LSE Middle East columnist and commentator. Please register early to avoid disappointment Centre. Admission free. Sheikh Organised by: Spiro Ark in Bookings: 020 7898 4430 / Zayed Th eatre, New Academic collaboration with Harif and the [email protected] Building, LSE. T 020 7955 6198 E Sephardi Centre.Tickets: £10. Th e [email protected] W www2.lse. Sephardi Centre, 2 Ashworth Road, ac.uk London W9 1JY. T 020 7723 9991 E [email protected] W www. 9:00 pm | Asmaa (Film) Part of spiroark.org the 55th BFI London Film Festival: 12 - 27 October. Dir Amr Salama. Th ursday 27 October A powerful and inspiring real-life story about an Egyptian widow 1:15 pm | Scientifi c aspects of the

34 » The Middle East in London » October-November 2011 Bronze Age tomb furniture from Organised by: Confl ict Research University of Durham, discuss the © EES Jericho (Gallery Talk) Caroline Group, LSE. O'Leary compares importance of the prize and the Cartwright, British Museum. how federalism has maintained role fi ction can play in promoting Organised by: BM. Admission free. state integrity in Iraq with the cultural understanding. Chaired Room 58, BM. T 020 7323 8000 W secessionism by consent of Southern by Margaret Obank, . www.britishmuseum.org . Chaired by James Hughes. Tickets: £5/£3 conc. International Admission free. New Th eatre, East Anthony Burgess Foundation, Friday 28 October Building, LSE. T 020 7955 6043 E Engine House, Chorlton Mill, 3 [email protected] W www2.lse.ac.uk Cambridge Street, Manchester M1 1:00 pm | Persian Postal History 5BY. T 0843 208 0500 W www. Across Two Centuries (Exhibition manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk & Lecture) A rare opportunity to EVENTS OUTSIDE view an award winning collection LONDON Saturday 29 October Seminar on The City of Naukratis: of Persia's postal history during the Multiculturalism in the Ancient World (See November events page Qajar period, followed by a lecture Friday 14 October 1:00 pm | Egypt under Th e 37) by the collector Björn Sohrne on Ramesside (Study Day) Arab Emirates and Yemen. Th e the subject. Tickets: £10 - Booking 2:45 pm | Persepolis (Th ree-Day Various ticket prices. Manchester result was eight new pieces of required. Th e Royal Philatelic Conference: Friday 14 - Sunday 16 Conference Centre/Days Inn Hotel, writing, which have been brought Society, 41 Devonshire Place, October) Organised by: University Weston Building, Sackville Street, together in Emerging Arab Voices. London W1G 6JY. T 020 7493 4766 of Edinburgh. An international Manchester M1 3BB. T 020 7242 Admission free - Booking required E [email protected] W www. conference that will assess the 2268 E [email protected] W www. T 020 7471 9153. See listing for iranheritage.org history, archaeology, and reception ees.ac.uk/events/index.html Saturday 8 October for venue and of the palace of Persepolis. Tickets: contact details. 8:00 pm | Th e Secret Concert £50/£25 students and the unwaged. Sunday 30 October (Lecture) Organised by: Ed Emery. Meadows Lecture Th eatre, A programme of Greek, Turkish University of Edinburgh, Medical 7:00 pm | Th e Voice of Santur Th ursday 3 November and Kurdish songs and instrumental Building, Teviot Place, Edinburgh (Concert) Organised by: Peyman 7:30 pm | Mourid Barghouti music performed by the SOAS EH8 9AG. W www.shc.ed.ac.uk/ Heydarian. A multicultural concert (Lecture) Organised by: Southbank Rebetiko Band. Tickets: £10. Arcola classics/PersepolisConference.htm of Persian, Kurdish, Greek and Tent, 2 Ashwin Street, Dalston, French music. Tickets: £10/£7 conc. Centre. Mourid Barghouti refl ects London E8 3DL. T 020 7503 1646 Saturday 15 October Holywell Street, Oxford OX1 3SU. E upon life in Palestine to mark the W www.arcolatheatre.com [email protected] W www. publication of his second volume of memoirs, I Was Born Th ere, I 9:00 am | Persepolis (Th ree-Day thesantur.com Was Here. Tickets: £15/£12/conc. Saturday 29 October Conference: Friday 14 - Sunday 16 50% off (limited availability). October) See listing for Friday 14 Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank 1:15 pm | Single slab to full- October for details. NOVEMBER EVENTS scale cartoon: changing styles Centre, Belvedere Road, London in Assyrian art (Gallery Talk) Sunday 16 October Tuesday 1 November SE1 8XX. T 020 7960 4200 W www. Lorna Oakes, independent speaker. southbankcentre.co.uk Organised by: BM. Admission free. 9:30 am | Persepolis (Th ree-Day 5:45 pm | Tunisia: revolutionary Room 6, BM. T 020 7323 8000 W Conference: Friday 14 - Sunday 16 realities? (Lecture) George Joff é, Friday 4 November www.britishmuseum.org October) See listing for Friday 14 Cambridge University. Organised 2:00 pm | Persian Culture as a October for details. by: London Middle East Institute, 7:00 pm | Saudi Arabia at the SOAS (LMEI). Part of the World Culture (Panel Discussion (Talk) Organised Friday 21 October LMEI's Tuesday Evening Lecture & Concert) Organised by: Centre by: Leighton House Museum. Part Programme on the Contemporary for Iranian Studies, SOAS and the Soudavar Memorial Foundation. of the Nour Festival of Arts: October 7:00 pm | Th e Secret Concert Middle East, Th e Middle East in Event to mark the tenth anniversary – November 2011. In 2011 Saudi (Concert) Organised by: Ed Transition: a new social economic of the Soudavar Memorial Arabia took part for the very fi rst Emery. A programme of Greek, and political landscape? Tea and Foundation. Panel chaired by time in the Venice Biennale and was Turkish and Kurdish songs and biscuits available from 5:30pm. Abolala Soudavar. Speakers: Philip represented by two female artists, instrumental music performed by Admission free. Khalili Lecture Kreyenbroek, Farhang Jahanpour, the sisters, Shadia and Raja Alem. the SOAS Rebetiko Band. Tickets: Th eatre, SOAS. T 020 7898 4490 E Elaheh Kheirandish, Gül Russell, Th is event brings the two artists to £10/£6 conc. Friends of Peterhouse [email protected] W www.lmei.soas. Robert Hillenbrand. With a concert Leighton House along with one of Th eatre, Peterhouse, Trumpington ac.uk of Persian music followed by a the co-curators of their exhibition, Street, Cambridge CB2 1RD. E reception at 7.00pm. Admission Robin Start. Tickets: £8/£6 conc. [email protected] W www. Wednesday 2 November free. Brunei Gallery Lecture - Booking required T 020 7471 thesantur.com 9153 W www.wegottickets.com/ 7:00 pm | Emerging Arab Voices: Th eatre, SOAS. T 020 7898 4490 E LeightonHouseMuseum. See listing Sunday 23 October Peter Clark in conversation [email protected] W www.soas.ac.uk/ for Saturday 8 October for venue (Lecture) Organised by: Leighton iranianstudies/ and contact details. 1:00 pm | International Prize for House Museum. Part of the Arabic Fiction Discussion Part of Nour Festival of Arts: October – Saturday 5 November Monday 31 October the Manchester Literature Festival: November 201. In November 2009, 11:30 am | Discover Mesopotamia 10 - 23 October. Past winners Raja the International Prize for Arabic through Storytelling on a ZIPANG 6:30 pm | Th e Federalization of Alem (2011) from Saudi Arabia, Fiction organised a workshop for Day Out Also at 3.30pm. Monthly Iraq and the Break-up of Sudan Bahaa Taher (2008) from Egypt, eight critically acclaimed writers event. See listing for Saturday 1 (Lecture) Brendan O'Leary, and former judge Paul Starkey, from Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, University of Pennsylvania. Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, the United October for details.

October-November 2011 » The Middle East in London » 35 1:00 pm | (Documentary) London SE1 8XX. T 020 7960 4200 An original member of the Silk Wednesday 16 November Organised by: International W www.southbankcentre.co.uk Road Ensemble, he appears here Coalition Against Violence in Iran in a rare collaboration with fellow 11:30 am | Talking with Gaza (ICAVI) in cooperation with Exiled Th ursday 10 November Iranian virtuoso Madjid Khaladj, (Lecture) Organised by: Chelsea Writers Ink. Sponsored by the tombak (goblet hand drum) artiste. Community Hospital School in Centre for Gender Studies SOAS. 4:00 pm | War, Politics and Trade in Various ticket prices/conc. 50% off partnership with Leighton House Short documentaries made by the the Roman (Lecture) Dario (limited availability). Purcell Room, Museum. Part of the Nour Festival Iranian Women. Th e producers Nappo, Universitat Autònoma de Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, of Arts: October – November 2011. will be present and a discussion Barcelona. Organised by: Palestine London SE1 8XX. T 020 7960 4200 Focusing on Chelsea Community and Q&A will follow aft er the Exploration Fund (PEF). Admission W www.southbankcentre.co.uk Hospital School's partnership with screenings. Tickets: £10/£5 students free. Stevenson Lecture Th eatre, the Jabalia Prep “A” School in Gaza, - Booking required. Khalili Lecture Clore Education Centre, BM. T 020 Monday 14 November the Nour Festival highlights aspects Th eatre, SOAS. E [email protected] / 7935 5379 E [email protected] W of a continuing project between the [email protected] www.pef.org.uk 6:00 pm | Herod the Great as Ruler two schools in which the students and Builder (Panel Discussion) explore and share lifestyles, cultural 7:00 pm | Th e Voice of Santur 6:00 pm | Painted Embroideries: David Jacobson, UCL; Nikos diff erences and comparisons of their (Concert) Organised by: Peyman Interwoven Th reads in the Kokkinos, UCL; Tessa Rajak, environments. Tickets: Museum Heydarian. A multicultural concert Orientalist Images of John University of Oxford. Organised by: admission applies. See listing for of Persian, Kurdish, Greek and Frederick Lewis (Lecture) Briony Institute of Jewish Studies, UCL with Saturday 8 October for venue and French music. Tickets: £15/£10 Llewellyn, Independent Scholar. the Anglo-Israel Archaeological contact details. conc./£6 SOAS students. G2, SOAS. Organised by: Th e Royal Asiatic Society (AIAS. A discussion in E [email protected] W Society. Admission free. Th e Royal memory of Ehud Netzer (1934- 6:30 pm | Revolution and Counter- www.thesantur.com Asiatic Society, 14 Stephenson Way, 2010). Admission free. Stevenson revolution in the Arab World London NW1 2HD. T 020 7388 lecture theatre, Clore Education (Lecture) Gilles Kepel, Institut Monday 7 November 4539 E [email protected] W Centre, BM. T 020 7679 3520 / 020 d’Études Politiques de www.royalasiaticsociety.org 8349 5754 E [email protected] W www. (Sciences Po). Organised by: LSE 6:30 pm | Th e Arab Uprisings: ucl.ac.uk/ijs / www.aias.org.uk IDEAS. What are the prospects mass protest, bordercrossing Friday 11 November for the (s)? Chaired by and history from below (Lecture) 6:30 pm | European Questions – Nigel Ashton. Admission free. Old John Chalcraft , LSE. Organised by: 6:00 pm | A celebration of the Turkish Angles: Europe’s nation Th eatre, Old Building, LSE. T 020 Middle East Centre, LSE. Part of the religion and culture of the Ahl-e states (Lecture) John Breuilly, 7955 6043 E [email protected] W Middle East Centre Arab Uprisings Haqq, also know as Yaresan LSE; Francis Jacobs, King’s College www2.lse.ac.uk lecture series. Lecture based on or Kaka’i, the People of Truth London; Umut Özkirimli, Bilgi fi eldwork conducted over the past (Lecture) Gol-Morad Moradi, University, Istanbul. Organised by: 6:30 pm | Dangers and fi ve years which will examine the Heildelberg University. Organised Forum for European Philosophy, Demon(izer)s of Democratization Arab uprisings with a focus on by: Gulan. With HE the former LSE with the LSE Chair in in Egypt: Th rough an Indonesian popular protest and “history from KRG Minister Of Culture, Mr Contemporary Turkish Studies. Glass, Darkly (Lecture) John Sidel, below”. Admission free. Wolfson Falakadeen Kakeyi. Admission Part of a series of events exploring LSE. Organised by: LSE Middle East Th eatre, New Academic Building, free. St Ethelburga’s Centre for how our understanding of Europe’s Centre. Admission free. Clement LSE. T 020 7955 6198 E d.c.akkad@ Reconciliation and Peace, 78 identity can be developed by House Room 202, LSE. T 020 7955 lse.ac.uk W www2.lse.ac.uk Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AG. T taking in a distinctively Turkish 6198 E [email protected] W 020 7351 6212 E [email protected]. perspective. Chaired by Simon www.lse.ac.uk/middleEastCentre uk W www.gulan.org.uk Glendinning. Admission free. Tuesday 8 November Wolfson Th eatre, New Academic 7:00 pm | New Light on Ottoman Saturday 12 November Building, LSE. T 020 7955 7539 E Goldsmiths’ Work (Lecture) 6:30 pm | October 1973 War [email protected] W www2.lse. Michael Rogers, Khalili Collection, (Lecture) Adam Howard, US 7:30 pm | Riyad Nicolas (Concert) ac.uk London. Organised by: Islamic Department of State's Offi ce of the Part of the Nour Festival of Arts: Art Circle at SOAS. Part of Historian and George Washington October – November 2011. Syrian the Islamic Art Circle at SOAS University; Keith Hamilton, FCO; pianist and composer Riyad Tuesday 15 November Lecture Programme. Chaired by Nigel Ashton, LSE. Organised by: Nicolas performs a repertoire by Doris Behrens-Abouseif, SOAS. LSE Middle East Centre and LSE contemporary Arab composers 5:45 pm | Western interventions in Admission free. Khalili Lecture Ideas. Admission free. Venue TBC. such as Jabri, Al Succari, Wadi and and Iraq in relation to Th eatre, SOAS. T 0771 408 7480 T 020 7955 6198 E d.c.akkad@lse. Al Hajjar. Tickets: £10/£8 conc. recent developments in the Middle E [email protected] W ac.uk W www2.lse.ac.uk Booking required T 020 7471 East (Lecture) Jack Fairweather, www.soas.ac.uk 9153 W www.wegottickets.com/ former correspondent, 7:45 pm | State of Emergency LeightonHouseMuseum. See listing Telegraph. Organised by: London 7:00 pm | Songs From Two (Reading/Discussion) Organised for Saturday 8 October for venue Middle East Institute, SOAS (LMEI). Continents (Lecture) Organised by: by: Southbank Centre in association and contact details. Launch of Fairweather's new book Leighton House Museum. Part of with Th e Poetry Trust. With A War of Choice (2011, Jonathan the Nour Festival of Arts: October Soleïman Adel Guémar, Luljeta Sunday 13 November Cape). Part of the LMEI's Tuesday – November 2011. Moris Farhi, the Lleshanaku & Amjad Nasser. An Evening Lecture Programme on prize-winning poet in conversation opportunity to hear three poets 7:45 pm | Kayhan Kalhor (Concert) the Contemporary Middle East. Tea with Mitchell Albert, the freelance from Algeria, and Organised by: Southbank Centre and biscuits available from 5:30pm. book and magazine editor. read from and discuss their poetry. in association with Nava Arts UK. Admission free. Khalili Lecture Admission free - Booking required Tickets: £8/conc. 50% off (limited Internationally acclaimed master Th eatre, SOAS. T 020 7898 4490 E T 020 7471 9153. See listing for availability). Level 5 Function Room, of the kemancheh (the Persian [email protected] W www.lmei.soas. Saturday 8 October for venue and Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, spiked fi ddle) Kayhan Kalhor. ac.uk contact details.

36 » The Middle East in London » October-November 2011 6:30 pm | Media Coverage of the 3:00 pm | Iran’s Endangered Arab Uprisings (Lecture) Brian Heritage (Lecture) Roya Arab, Whitaker, Guardian; Roger Hardy, musician and archaeologist. BBC World; Marwan Bishara, Al Organised by: Leighton House Jazeera. Organised by: LSE Middle Museum. Part of the Nour Festival East Centre. Admission free. of Arts: October – November 2011. Clement House Room 302, LSE. Talk based on an open letter sent T 020 7955 6198 E d.c.akkad@ to Public Archaeology magazine lse.ac.uk W www.lse.ac.uk/ which dealt with the dangers posed middleEastCentre to the ownership, interpretation, preservation and dissemination 7:00 pm | Title TBC (Film) of Iranian/Persian heritage by Organised by: Centre for Iranian the socio-political and economic Studies, SOAS. Part of the Centre's realities of the day. Admission free - monthly fi lm screenings. Admission Booking required T 020 7471 9153. free. Khalili Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. See listing for Saturday 8 October Here Comes the Rain (See October Events, page 32) T 020 7898 4490 E [email protected] for venue and contact details. W www.soas.ac.uk/iranianstudies/ 7:00 pm | Ziad Ghanem ‘First time Th ursday 17 November Tuesday 22 November Friday 25 November I cried in a Turkish bath ’ (Lecture) Organised by: Leighton House Time TBC | Current work at 5:45 pm | Afghanistan/Iran a 9:30 am | Middle East and Central Museum. Part of the Nour Festival Babylon (Lecture) Michael contemporary cultural and media Music Forum (Study Day) of Arts: October – November 2011. Seymour. Organised by: Th e perspective (Lecture) Baqer Moin. Organised by: University of London International fashion designer Ziad British Institute for the Study of Organised by: London Middle East - School of Advanced Study Institute Ghanem unveils a new selection Iraq (Gertrude Bell Memorial). A Institute, SOAS (LMEI). Part of the of Musical Research. Speakers of work created specifi cally for this unique opportunity to hear about LMEI's Tuesday Evening Lecture include: Rachel Beckles Willson, special evening event. Admission current work at Babylon. Admission Programme on the Contemporary Royal Holloway; Felicity Lawrence, free - Booking required T 020 free (Pre-registration required). Th e Middle East. Tea and biscuits University of Newcastle; Carolyn 7471 9153. See listing for Saturday British Academy, 10-11 Carlton available from 5:30pm. Admission Landau, King’s College London; and 8 October for venue and contact House Terrace, London SW1Y free. Khalili Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. Jacob Olley, SOAS. With Peyman details. 5AH. T 020 7969 5274 E bisi@ T 020 7898 4490 E [email protected] Yazdanian, fi lm music composer britac.ac.uk W www.bisi.ac.uk W www.lmei.soas.ac.uk from Iran and London-based Iraqi Monday 28 November oud player Khayam Allami (SOAS). 7:00 pm | Messages from Tahrir: Tickets: £10/free for students and 6:30 pm | Arab Nationalism, Friday 18 November Karima Khalil in conversation the unwaged. Room ST274/5, and the Arab Uprising with Anthony Sattin (Lecture) Stewart House (adjacent to Senate (Lecture) Sadik Al-Azm, University 7:30 pm | A Concert of Greek Organised by: Leighton House House), 32 Russell Square, London of Damascus. Organised by: Middle & Turkish Music (Concert) Museum. Part of the Nour Festival WC1B 5DN. T 020 7664 4865 E East Centre, LSE. Part of the Middle Organised by: Ed Emery. With of Arts: October – November 2011. [email protected] W http://music. East Centre Arab Uprisings lecture the SOAS Rebetiko Band. Tickets Writer and broadcaster Anthony sas.ac.uk/research-groups/middle- series. Al-Azm will refl ect on the TBC. St Ethelburga's Centre, 78 Sattin leads a conversation with east-and-central-asia-music-forum. eff ects of the Arab uprisings on Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AG. E photographer Karima Khalil who html#c1448 Arab nationalism and Islamist [email protected] W www. presents some of the evocative movements. Admission free. Sheikh thesantur.com images from her book Messages Zayed Th eatre, New Academic from Tahrir. Tickets: £8/£6 conc. Saturday 26 November Building, LSE. T 020 7955 6043 E - Booking required T 020 7471 [email protected] W www2.lse.ac.uk Saturday 19 November 9153 W www.wegottickets.com/ 11:00 am | Th e City of Naukratis: LeightonHouseMuseum. See listing Multiculturalism in the Ancient Tuesday 29 November 3:00 pm | Roads of Arabia – for Saturday 8 October for venue World (Seminar) Alexandra Villing, Archaeology and History of and contact details. British Museum and leader of 5:45 pm | Algeria in the Shadow the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia the Naukratis Project; Marianne of Revolution (Lecture) James (Lecture) Geoff rey King, SOAS. Bergeron, Naukratis Project; McDougall, Oxford. Organised by: Organised by: Leighton House Th ursday 24 November Patricia Spencer, EES; Ross Th omas, London Middle East Institute, SOAS Museum. Part of the Nour Festival Naukratis Project. Organised by: (LMEI). Part of the LMEI's Tuesday of Arts: October – November 2011. 6:30 pm | Excavating "Egypt" in the Th e Egypt Exploration Society. Th e Evening Lecture Programme on the In 2010 the Louvre held a ground- African American imagination ancient city of Naukratis was well Contemporary Middle East. Tea breaking exhibition titled ‘Roads (Talk) Organised by: Petrie Museum known from classical accounts as and biscuits available from 5:30pm. of Arabia’ on recent archaeological of Egyptian Archaeology. Th is talk the only place in Egypt where early Admission free. Khalili Lecture discoveries from pre-Islamic and explores the idea of 'Egypt' as a key Greek traders were allowed to work Th eatre, SOAS. T 020 7898 4490 E Islamic Saudi Arabia. In this talk imaginative touchstone for the black and live. However, 130 years later, [email protected] W www.lmei.soas. King discusses the implications that liberation struggle in the US, from the site and its history remain little ac.uk these new fi nds pose to cultural the 19th century through to the 'age understood. Various ticket prices. studies in the Kingdom and across of Obama'. Admission free. Petrie Th e Egypt Exploration Society, 3 Wednesday 30 November the Middle East. Admission free - Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, Doughty Mews, London WC1N Booking required T 020 7471 9153. Malet Place, London WC1. T 020 2PG. T 020 7242 1880 E contact@ 7:00 pm | Yalda – An Iranian See listing for Saturday 8 October 7679 4138 E [email protected] ees.ac.uk W www.ees.ac.uk/events/ Celebration of the Winter for venue and contact details. W www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/petrie index.html Solstice (Lecture) Organised by:

October-November 2011 » The Middle East in London » 37 Leighton House Museum. Part of the SOAS Rebetiko Band. Tickets: installed at the Egyptian Cultural artists and showcasing a range of the Nour Festival of Arts: October £10/£7 conc. Holywell Music Room, Bureau and Education Centre in unique and modern perspectives on – November 2011. Leighton house Holywell Street, Oxford OX1 3SU. E Mayfair. Admission free. Petrie the ancient Arabic script. Admission will be sharing the rituals of Shab-e [email protected] W www. Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, free. Lahd Gallery, 92 Heath Street, Yalda with an evening of fi ne thesantur.com Malet Place, London WC1. T 020 London NW3. T 020 7435 7323 delicacies complimented by music 7679 4138 E [email protected] E [email protected] W www. and the prophetic poetry of Hafez. W www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/petrie lahdgallery.com Admission free. See listing for EXHIBITIONS Saturday 8 October for venue and Friday 14 October Monday 31 October contact details. Saturday 1 October Until 17 December | Weaving the Until 5 November | Th e Bird Ghost Until 1 October | Emerging Arabic threads of livelihood: the aesthetic at the Zaouia – an 8-channel sound EVENTS OUTSIDE Artists Showcase at Hampstead and embodied knowledge of art installation by Seth Ayyaz Part LONDON Gallery Th e Lahd Gallery is Berber weavers An exhibition of the of the Nour Festival of Arts: October celebrating its fi rst year in London richly coloured, densely embellished – November 2011. Drawing on his Friday 4 November with a review exhibition showcasing and painstakingly craft ed carpets background in neurosciences, artworks from Sudan, Kuwait, from the Berber weavers of the Ayyaz’s work is concerned with 6:45 pm | Banipal Magazine (Talk) Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Sirwa, renowned for their wide embodied perception and how Organised by: Th e Poetry Trust. United Arab Emirates. Admission range of textiles and technical this resonates across psychological Part of the Aldeburgh Poetry free. Lahd Gallery, 92 Heath Street, knowledge and artistry. Admission and social spaces.Tickets: Museum Festival: 4 - 6 November. Two of London NW3 1DP. T 020 7435 7323 free. Brunei Gallery, SOAS. T 020 admission applies. Leighton House of Banipal magazine's founding E [email protected] W www. 7898 4046 E [email protected] W Museum, 12 Holland Park Road, editors, Margaret Obank and Amjad lahdgallery.com www.soas.ac.uk/gallery London W14 8LZ. T 020 7602 3316 Nasser, talk about Banipal’s work E [email protected] W www. over the years. Tickets: £6. Cinema Until 6 October | Shapeshift ers & Until 17 November | ‘Th eir Past, nourfestival.co.uk Gallery, Aldeburgh Cinema, 51 Aliens A chance to see the work of Your Future’ – Th e Bani Hamida High Street, Aldeburgh, Suff olk four contemporary Iranian artists Weaving Project, Makawir, Jordan Saturday 5 November IP15 5AU. T 01986 835950 E in a range of media including Opening reception for an exhibition [email protected] W www. sculpture, photography, painting (exhibitions runs from Tuesday 18 3:00 pm | Private Exhibition thepoetrytrust.org and drawing. Admission free. Rossi October) by Dr Sue Jones refl ecting Tour: 'Subtitled: With Naratives & Rossi Gallery, 16 Cliff ord Street, on a 25 year relationship with a from Lebanon' Organised by: Saturday 5 November London W1S 3DG. T 020 7734 6487 group of Bedouin Leighton House Museum with Th e E [email protected] W www. who have been involved since 1985 Association for the Promotion and 7:30 pm | Fergus Allen, Amjad rossirossi.com in a rug weaving project. A seminar, Exhibition of the Arts in Lebanon Nasser, Kay Ryan (Reading) Material Matters, to accompany the (APEAL) and the Royal College Organised by: Th e Poetry Trust. Until 29 October | Parviz Tanavoli – exhibition will take place earlier in of Art. Part of the Nour Festival Amjad Nasser joins Fergus Allen Poet In Love Exhibition of works by the day. Admission free. Constance of Arts: October – November and Kay Ryan for an evening of Parviz Tanavoli, a founder member Howard Resource and Research 2011. Guided tour of the fi rst readings and discussion. Amjad of the Saqqakhaneh School, Centre in Textiles, Goldsmiths, comprehensive show in London of will speak about the ongoing featuring ceramics, fi breglass and University of London, Deptford contemporary Lebanese art with experience of exile from his native bronze sculptures, paired with Town Hall Building, New Cross curator Juliana Khalaf. Admission Jordan. Tickets: £14. Jubilee Hall, contemporary drawings. Admission Road,London SE14 6AF. T 020 7717 free - Booking required T 020 7471 Crabbe Street, Aldeburgh, Suff olk free. Austin/Desmond Fine Art, Pied 2210 E [email protected] W 9153. Meeting point: Royal College IP15 5BN. T 01986 835950 E Bull Yard, 68/69 Great Russell Street, www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/constance- of Art (entrance hall). T 020 7602 [email protected] W www. London WC1B 3BN. T 020 7424 howard 3316 E [email protected] W thepoetrytrust.org 4443 E s.meshkati@austindesmond. www.nourfestival.co.uk com W www.austindesmond.com Th ursday 20 October Sunday 6 November Until 28 October | Tree of Life: Until 8 November | Arabic 7:00 pm | Th e Voice of Santur Visions from Gardens of Eden Part Calligraphy: Th e Art of the Written (Concert) Organised by: Peyman of the Nour Festival of Arts: October Word Featuring works from six Heydarian. A multicultural concert – November 2011. Exhibition by of Persian, Kurdish, Greek and Suad Al-Attar, the fi rst Iraqi female The Green Wave (See October Events, pages 29 and 31) French music. Tickets: £10/£7 artist to have a solo exhibition conc. Emmanuel United Reformed in Baghdad, the city of her birth. Church, Trumpington Street, Tickets: Museum admission applies. Cambridge CB2 1RR. E events. Leighton House Museum, 12 santur @ yahoo.com W www. Holland Park Road, London W14 thesantur . com 8LZ. T 020 7602 3316 E museums@ rbkc.gov.uk W www.nourfestival. Sunday 27 November co.uk

7:00 pm | Th e Secret Concert Th ursday 6 October (Concert) Organised by: Ed Emery. A programme of Greek, 6:00 pm | Sneak Peak: Petrie Turkish and Kurdish songs and Objects on the Move A chance to instrumental music performed by have an informal peek at the new displays of museum objects to be

38 » The Middle East in London » October-November 2011

LONDON MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE School of Oriental and African Studies

TUESDAY EVENING LECTURE PROGRAMME ON THE CONTEMPORARY MIDDLE EAST: AUTUMN 2011

The Middle East in Transition: a new social, economic and political landscape?

4 October The Gulf Arab States and the Political Economy of the Middle East: a moment of change? Adam Hanieh, SOAS Launch of Hanieh’s book Capitalism and Class in the Gulf Arab States (2011, Palgrave-Macmillan)

11 October Egypt: how far is it a revolution? Maha Azzam, Chatham House

18 October Covering Islam, Covering the Middle East: confessions of a practising journalist Roger Hardy Roger Hardy, BBC World

25 October Effects of Political Changes on Economic Policy and Business David Butter, Economist Intelligence Unit

1 November Tunisia: revolutionary realities? George Joffé, University of Cambridge

READING WEEK

15 November Western interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq in relation to recent developments in the Middle East Jack Fairweather, former Baghdad correspondent, Telegraph Launch of Fairweather's book A War of Choice (2011, Jonathan Cape)

22 November Afghanistan/Iran a contemporary cultural and media perspective Baqer Moin

29 November Algeria in the Shadow of Revolution James McDougall, University of Oxford

6 December TBC

5.45pm, Khalili Lecture Theatre, Main Building, SOAS

Admission Free - All Welcome

Tea and biscuits are available from 5.30pm

For further information contact: London Middle East Institute, SOAS (LMEI), University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H OXG. T: 020 7898 4330 F: 020 7898 4329 E: [email protected] W: www.lmei.soas.ac.uk October-November 2011 » The Middle East in London » 39 Persian Culture as a World Culture

WĂŶĞůĚŝƐĐƵƐƐŝŽŶĨŽůůŽǁĞĚďLJĂĐŽŶĐĞƌƚƚŽŵĂƌŬƚŚĞϭϬth anniversary of the ^ŽƵĚĂǀĂƌDĞŵŽƌŝĂů&ŽƵŶĚĂƟŽŶ

Friday 4thEŽǀĞŵďĞƌϮϬϭϭ ƌƵŶĞŝ'ĂůůĞƌLJ>ĞĐƚƵƌĞdŚĞĂƚƌĞ͕^K^

/ŵĂŐĞŽĨůĞŐĞŶĚĂƌLJƐŝŵŽƌŐŚŽŶůƵƐƚƌĞƟůĞ͕ůĂƚĞϭϯthĐĞŶƚƵƌLJĨƌŽŵƚŚĞ/ůŬŚĂŶŝĚŚƵŶƟŶŐͲůŽĚŐĞĂƚƚŚĞĨŽƌŵĞƌŽƌŽĂƐƚƌŝĂŶƐĂŶĐƚƵĂƌLJŽĨ^Śŝnj͕ ƉƌŝǀĂƚĞĐŽůůĞĐƟŽŶ 2-4.30pm: Panel Discussion Chaired by Abolala Soudavar

Pre-Islamic Heritage Prof. Philip Kreyenbroek Literary Heritage Dr Farhang Jahanpour ^ĐŝĞŶƟĮĐ,ĞƌŝƚĂŐĞ Dr Elaheh Kheirandish dŚĞ/ŶŇƵĞŶĐĞŽĨWĞƌƐŝĂŶDĞĚŝĐŝŶĞŽŶDĞĚŝĐĂů^ĐŝĞŶĐĞProf. Gül Russell ƌƟƐƟĐ,ĞƌŝƚĂŐĞ Prof. Robert Hillenbrand

4.30pm: Tea

7.00pm: Concert of Persian Music

ϴ͘ϬϬƉŵ͗ZĞĐĞƉƟŽŶŝŶƚŚĞƌƵŶĞŝ^ƵŝƚĞ

&ŽƌŵŽƌĞŝŶĨŽƌŵĂƟŽŶ͗ǁǁǁ͘ƐŽĂƐ͘ĂĐ͘ƵŬͬŝƌĂŶŝĂŶƐƚƵĚŝĞƐ KƌŐĂŶŝƐĞĚďLJ͗ĞŶƚƌĞĨŽƌ/ƌĂŶŝĂŶ^ƚƵĚŝĞƐ͕>D/͕^K^ ĂŶĚƚŚĞ^ŽƵĚĂǀĂƌDĞŵŽƌŝĂů&ŽƵŶĚĂƟŽŶ 40 » The Middle East in London » October-November 2011

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