Gene Wilder as Rudy Valentine in "The World's Greatest Lover" (1997)

Popular Orientalism

Kufiya, Bahrain

I can't find the exact source of this. This is from the last week, photo by Matthew Cassel. A demonstrator hiding from the security forces.

Egypt Revolution 2.0 Music

Madu and Wa'il 'Amr (of Taxi Band) sing ("'Aalu magnoun", "They all said he's crazy") for the latest round of Egypt's revolution. I love that these guys are smiling so sweetly, at a time (last week) when a full-scale war was raging, around Tahrir. I love the kufiya (predictable). And I love the lyrics to the song. One great line among many: "'aalou magnoun illi yahlim, masr tib'a ahsan, min ghayr ma yiruh 'a tahrir" (they all said, he's crazy who dreams that Egypt can be better without going to Tahrir).



The song is a take-off on this ad, featuring major stars, for the Egyptian mobile phone company Itisalat. It starts off with the actress Yosra (who I adore, but who turned out to be one of Egypt's stars who sided with the Mubarak regime.) Mohamed Mounir, who has supported the revolution consistently, is shown bumping fists with Yosra at the end.



Here's a spoof they did of the ad before the revolution.



And another version, done during the revolution. "Everyone thought we were crazy, but here we are, millions in Tahrir."



Thanks to Nermeen for all this info.

I think Robin is correct, that the Itisalat ad is borrowed from this song by Fred Astaire, called, "They All Laughed." "They all laughed when Christopher Columbus said the world was round." Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald: many have covered it. Wonderful to see it get to Egypt Revolution 2.0.

and yes, even yet more Tahrir kufiyas

I got behind in my posting, due to Thanksgiving, and the misery of watching the University of Arkansas football team get "manhandled" by LSU. I'm now going to try to catch up.

Bernat Armangue/Associated Press

This is from the New York Times, Saturday, November 26. It shows a protester, injured in clashes with security forces, being carried away for medical care.

This photo, by Ali Garboussi, is from Al-Akhbar English. I love the way this gentleman has used the kufiya, and other scarves, to create a turban. This is from Tahrir, Friday, November 25.

This photo is also by Ali Garboussi, from Al-Akhbar English. Praying at Tahrir, Friday, November 25.

This photo, and the one below, are from an amazing photo album showing various ways that the fighters on Mohamed Mahmoud Street were protecting themselves. The photographer(s) is/are not credited.

From Maggie Osama's Photo Blog of Day 6 of the battle for Mohamed Mahmoud.

Mohammed Abu Zaid/Associated Press

This is a vendor on Tahrir, Thursday, November 24, selling gas masks to protesters. From the Brazilian newspaper, Folha.

Goran Tomasevic, Reuters

And from a photo album courtesy The Atlantic, showing a member of the security forces firing a shotgun at protesters, on either November 22 or 23. What's he doing in a kufiya?

AFP/Getty Images

Protester using kufiya to protect himself from teargas fumes. Tuesday, November 22.
From BBC Mundo.

Bahraini human rights activist Maryam Alkhawaja was on Tahrir Square in solidarity with the Egyptian democracy struggle on Saturday, November 26, and she tweeted this photo.

more kufiyas on Tahrir

I found this amazing photo via twitter on Thursday. It was posted by Rehab El-Bakry (@Rehab_Elbakry). She writes: "Don't know who this guy is but he was at front lines. Who says heroes need a cap?"

The original source appears to be Albaraa -- but I can't figure out, at this moment, what that is.

Gifts for the hols

I recommend these two items, from the very New York-based fine outfit ArteEast, doing its best to bring Middle Eastern culture to the metropole.

The Umm Kulthum brooch, for $130 cheap. Order it here.

Or the Art Papercups, which feature images of Um Kulthum (shown above), and, according to the website, Taheyya Kariokka. Essential for all your upcoming holiday festivities. Only $20. Order here.

Maryrs Street (Renamed by Tahrir)

Maryrs Street (Renamed by Tahrir), a photo by Zadokite on Flickr.

music on Tahrir: well, maybe

12:50 November 24, 12:50 Eastern.

music on Tahrir: not (but some rappers foresaw Egyptian revolution 2.0)

Ashraf Khalil, in a fine commentary in Foreign Policy ("The Second Republic of Tahrir") writes: "unlike January, this isn't a festival; it's a fight. That old revolutionary spirit may be burning bright in Tahrir again, but nobody there would think of holding a concert right now."

I've heard or seen nothing that would contradict this. No youtube vids of anyone singing or anyone broadcasting songs. But let me know if I'm wrong.

On the other hand, the blog Revolutionary Arab Rap informs us that at least two Egyptian rappers saw what was coming.

To wit, Ramy Donjewan, in "Message to Tantawi" (I posted about him previously):

The blood of my brothers is so expensive, so precious, O Tantawi.
And we will NOT be threatened.
And what happened before can happen again
if our demands are not implemented.

And Ahmed Rock, in a video released on November 16, just 3 days before round two started, called "No to military rule" (Yasqut hukm al-'askar):

They seem to have forgotten who we are! They think that we're still scared!
We saw death in front of us and we stood there smiling!
We'll remind them, if they forget, that we're the generation of revolutionaries!
No matter how much the oppression against us increases, we'll break down all jail cells!

(Chapeau to Revolutionary Arab Rap. Keep the translations coming!)

and more kufiya's on Tahrir

It turns out the three American exchange students at AUC who were arrested at Tahrir on Tuesday were wearing kufiyas, and gas masks, when apprehended. They were accused of throwing molotovs at the security forces. Here's the report on them from Egyptian State Television. And a report from CBS.



And here's another good shot from yesterday, by Mohamed Hossam Eddin, via Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Tahrir Kufiyas, November 21

Latest count that I've seen, 33 dead Egyptian civilians at Tahrir Square since the start of the fighting, on Saturday November 19. The revolutionaries refuse to retreat. Kufiyas are there too.

This photo is from Sarah Carr, posted today on Facebook. Here's her blog. 

Photo by JP Moore (Reuters), found here.

Photo by Tara Todras-Whitehill (AP), grabbed from here. This is from the 20th of November. The scene was much the same today, lots of people had to rest from the seemingly inexhaustible supply of tear gas that Egypt's security forces possess and are using very freely.

Cairo, Tahrir, Nov. 20

IMG_9120.jpg, a photo by Mosa'aberising on Flickr.

This guy has made his appearance at Occupy Wall Street too! Here. And here.

Sheikh Imam, The Ballad of Beans and Meat (lyrics, Ahmad Fu'ad Nigm, 1970s)

Sheikh Imam (1918-1995) was a leftist Egyptian singer, whose songs galvanized the progressive movement in Egypt, especially in the late 60s and the 70s, and particularly during the reign of President Anwar Sadat. He formed a duo with the great colloquial poet Ahmad Fu'ad Nigm (also written Ahmad Fouad Negm), who composed his lyrics. Sheikh Imam's songs (and Nigm's lyrics) were great favorites among the crowds at Tahrir during the insurrectionary days of January and February of this year. One of the songs that Ramy Essam was well-known for singing was "The Donkey and the Foal," with lyrics by Nigm. (I blogged about it here.)

One of his famous songs is "The ballad of beans [ful] and meat" (sometimes translated as, on the subject of beans and meat). It is in response to Sadat's economic policies, which involved an "opening" to the West and an attack on government supports for the poor, which had been a mainstay of Gamal 'Abd al-Nasser's policies. Today we would call Sadat's policies neo-liberalism. Sadat's officials urged the poor and working working classes to tighten their belts. Apparently at one time this involved arguing that they didn't need to eat so much meat, and that the staple diet of the poor, ful (fava beans) was perfectly adequate. (It reminds one of the efforts by the Reagan administration to classify ketchup as a vegetable -- to economize on school lunches -- and recent efforts by the Republicans in Congress to similarly classify pizza as a vegetable.) Sheikh Imam and Nigm saw this for what it was, and pushed back.

This video, usefully, comes with an English translation. A couple weeks ago I attended a talk on Arabic colloquial poetry by Prof. Clive Holes of Oxford, and one of the three poems he discussed was this one, by Ahmad Fu'ad Nigm. So below the vid, I've included his translation. (I hope he doesn't mind.)



Some big-wig in the government
Declared the other day
(Some "Dr. Muhsin" backed him up
In what he had to say.)
That scientists have proved it true,
Broad beans will do you good -
"Eat beans," they say, "and yet more beans,
For your health's sake you should!
Egyptian beans, especially,
Are bursting with protein,
No beans can touch these beans of ours,
There's fat in them, and lean!
Eat beans and beans! You'll feel as if
You've scoffed a joint of meat!
Beans make you sound in wind and limb
They'll fatten you a treat!
They're kind of, sort of, "vege-meat"
(Kebabs are so passé!)
So eat your beans, dear citizens,
Get high on beans today!"

"And add to that," said Dr. M
The medical concerns -
It's proven meat's a poison that
Brings on dyspeptic turns.
And even worse, research has shown
Meat eating causes crime,
Creates light-fingered layabouts
Who don't clock-in on time!
So summing up, Id have to say:
Meat eaters, one and all,
You're heading for a sticky end
In Satan's fiery thrall!"

But wait a mo', dear Dr. M
You well-fed hypocrite,
Your statements made 'officially'
Are just official shit!
They say the world needs brains like yours --
Well, give us your best shot -
If some madman like me blurts out
"Eat meat and die!" - then what?
You lot can eat your beans and live,
That's fair, don't you agree?
Don't try to pull the wool my friend.
Shove off and let us be!

More Tahrir Kufiyas

Today was the second day of fighting between the pro-democracy forces and the Egyptian security forces, supporting the hated SCAF. Here is a great summary of what has been happening, from Jack Shenker of The Guardian.

And here are a couple photos, courtesy a photo gallery published today in The Guardian.

Khaled Elfiqi/EPA

Here, demonstrators are fleeing from the attack of the security forces. They retreated, but later, they were back, occupying the scare. Notice all the kufiyas.

AhmedAli/AP

Here are the security forces, the CSF, on the attack. Notice the guy on the right side of the photo, who has accessorized his uniform with a kufiya. Did he grab it off of a protester, I wonder?

Long live the extraordinarily brave people of Egypt. Down with the SCAF.

Kufiyas: from Tahrir to the NY Times Style Mag to Occupy to Sheets Energy Strips w/ Stoudemire

Two friends kufiyaspotted for me today, and I found some of my own. Here's the round-up.

1. Amidst all the turmoil today on Tahrir Square, as the security forces attacked a few hundred camper-occupiers of the square, and in response, tens of thousands poured into the square to rescue it, to protest against the junta and its efforts to hijack the revolution and prevent the forward movement of democracy, and as battles erupted between the democracy forces and the thugs of the regime...

An enterprising salesman showed up in the evening to market his wares. It's autumn in Cairo, scarves are needed in the evenings, and especially, kufiyas, one of the insignias of the revolt, ever since January 25. (Here's the source.)

And there were plenty of photos from today of demonstrators in their kufiyas. Such as this one, courtesy The Guardian.

Khalil Hamra/AP

2. Then there is this, on p. 17, of the Sunday New York Times', The Winter 2011 Travel Issue of the Times Style Magazine. (A thousand thanks to Carolina for this.)

Interesting, no? Three designers (from Israel, Palestine, and the USSR), called threeAsfour, offering up designs from each of their respective traditions. Gabi Asfour (left, Palestinian) wears the Israeli design (based on the tiles of the floor of the Tel Aviv mayor's house), Adi Gil (center, Israeli) wears the Palestinian kufiya design, and Ange Donhauser (right, Russian, I guess) wears the Russian design. Although if you look closely you'll notice some kufiya patterns in the Israeli and that the Russian is wearing kufiya leggings. The line is called inSALLAm inSHALOm (pun on salaam and shalom and inshallah), and all the stuff is very, very, very expensive. (You can get a better view if you go to the link.)

Here is the website for threeAsfour, well worth checking out, and here is the very interesting video of their runway show, presenting the inSALLAm inSHALOm line at New York Fashion Week, September 2011. (They thank Sean Lennon at the end, so I suppose he had something to do with the soundtrack.)

threeASFOUR SS 2012 INSALAAM INSHALOM from threeASFOUR on Vimeo.

Check out the screencaps from the video:

This use of the kufiya in fashion has to be about the most interesting one that I've seen. It's telling that a Palestinian designer was involved. (And this, after I'd thought that the kufiya as high fashion phase had been over for at least a couple years. Is this the Tahrir effect?)

Notice that this uses the hand of Fatima, the khamsa (a symbol significant both for Muslims and Jews), and note the body suit and its kufiya pattern.

Note the blue evil eye symbols used cleverly here. And that under the sheer white dress the model is wearing, I guess, kufiya-patterned tights.

Kufiya patterned tights and hands of Fatima.

Red kufiya patterned dress over a kufiya patterned body suit on left. On right, more discrete black-and-white kufiya motif.

Here's a view from the back of that kufiya-patterned body suit.

Finally, the threeAsfour designers, after the show.

Finally, here's a piece from New York magazine on the emergence of threeAsfour from As Four (they lost the Tajik fourth awhile back). You learn that Angie once got into a fistfight with Cat Power (Chan Marshall). Nothing revealing about Gabi Asfour's Palestinian background, of course.

3. I've posted before about #Occupy kufiyas. Here's one from a demo I was at on November 17, to mark the 2 month anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, and in DC, to focus on the lack of funding for infrastructure, by marching from McPherson Square (site of Occupy DC) to Key Bridge, which links Georgetown to Roslyn, VA, and which needs fixing up. There were several kufiya wearers out that day (including me). This is my best photo of one.

4. Finally, Andie sent me this one. It's a new add for Sheets Energy Strips. On the left is NY Nicks B-ball star Amar'e Stoudemire, on the right (in yellow kufiya), Celia, a graphic designer. I haven't found the actual ad, just this. If someone can help me source this better, please let me know.

Kufiya virus spreads....

Another 'Glee' Kufiya

Glee is turning out to be the most kufiya-laden mainstream TV show ever. First, Mercedes wore a kufiya, in season one, as my readers will recall. And now, in the current season, Kurt (in the episode, "Mash-Off," first broadcast November 15, 2011).

He goes into the office of Coach Sylvester, to complain about the negative campaign ads she is running on TV against his dad, in a congressional campaign. Coach Sylvester gives him some advice about running his own campaign, for student body president. At one point, while dispensing with her wisdom, she even makes a reference to the scarf he is wearing, when she tells Kurt, "Have a seat, Yasir." (!)

It is some kinda weird kufiya gear that he is wearing, because it's not only the khaki scarf, but he seems to be wearing it over some kind of black-and-white kufiya shirt, as you can see from this photo, in this view from behind. (Fox doesn't have the episode up on the web, so I found the episode up elsewhere, with subtitles in Czech.)

Thanks to Noa for lettin' me know about this.

More help for the last kufiya factory in Palestine

Here's a piece from the BBC, on the last kufiya factory in Palestine, and how social media, to wit, a Facebook page called The Last Keffiyeh, has been set up to help garner orders from overseas. If you are on FB, please join. The publicity about the factory, plus the fact that efforts such as this have been established, seem to have given the Hirbawi factory in Hebron a new life. Go here to order yours. And wear it to your local occupy event.

Don't just read the article, but also watch the video, a good account by the BBC reporter who goes to the factory and also interviews Khalilis (Hebronites) to find out what they think. One thing I learned, besides the fact that orders from the US and Europe are helping to keep the factory going, is that the competition is not just from China, but also from Jordan and Syria.

John Lennon kufiya dress in Tel Aviv + Nakba

A friend who was in Israel in summer '09 sent me this, and I'm finally getting around to posting it. Look closely: John Lennon, rendered with a kind of green kufiya on his head. At least that's what I "imagine."

He also sent me this one, also shot in Tel Aviv, which says, well, everything.

#ows kufiyas #39.4

Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times

This photo is up on the New York Times homepage right now (9:15 a.m., EST, November 14). It illustrates an article about the problem of "noise," both from Occupy Wall Street drumming sessions, and World Trade Center construction, of NYC residents living near Zuccotti Park. Note the blue kufiya. Yeah.

Iconic Occupy Wall Street w/ 'V for Vendetta' Mask

You've probably seen this before, it has been reproduced multiple times. I can't even find the original source. If someone knows, I'd like to give credit, if possible.