An Arab Parliament, A Bahrain Power Struggle, 'Gulf Royalty and Street Names for Dummies'
A Provisional Arab Parliament has been operating under the radar.
The (Persian) Gulf calms down...A power struggle in Bahrain.
The confusing Gulf royalty and Steet names for dummies.
Incestuous street names and Gulf property grabs.
An Arab Parliament:
I discovered today that there is a Provisional Arab Parliament, but it is not headquartered in Strasbourg, to the chagrin of most it members. Its current president, a Kuwaiti deputy, claimed today that the Parliament will hold an emergency meeting dedicated to resolving the Gaza crisis- do I hear NOBEL? There used to be a Union of Arab Parliaments, and I had thought they would wait until there are actual parliaments in the Arab countries before going ahead and forming an “Arab Parliament”. There are no elections for this parliament, members are appointed by countries. I assume its members are appointed by existing institutions that pass for legislatures or by Arab governments- in most cases one and the same thing.
I also discovered that there is a Union of Parliaments for members of the Organization of Islamic Conference. The man said, with a straight face, that the Provisional Arab Parliament was attending the meetings of the Union of Islamic Parliaments as an observer. I am sure all this makes sense to someone.
Then there may be a Union of African Parliaments, or perhaps a Provisional African Parliament, which would complicate matters because half the Arab countries are African states, while all are Islamic states, besides half being Asian countries. Then there is Turkey, which is about 10% European, 90% Asian and perhaps 85% Islamic…but wishes to become 100% European without having to adjust its 20th nationalistic tendencies.
I also discovered that the Provisional Arab Parliament temporarily holds its ‘sessions’ in Cairo, until the time when it moves to its permanent site in Damascus- whatever that means.
I looked up the last available list of members, and noted that seven of the about 88 members (four for each country) are women, most of them from Arab states located in Africa.
A calmer Gulf, for now:
Gulf politics seem to be settling down, with tensions noticeably reduced from the levels of a few weeks ago. During the past few months, the (Persian) Gulf monarchies and Iran have sought to improve relations. The Sunni/Shi’a sectarian passions unleashed in the media, especially in the vast Saudi-controlled media, in the aftermath of Iraq’s elections and the Hezbollah-Israeli military impasse, have settled down- they were mostly contrived media campaigns to offset the surge in Hezbollah’s popularity on the (Sunni) Arab street. Many academics and literary figures from across the Arab world were recruited to pen columns in some Saudi-owned and Gulf newspapers that fanned sectarian flames- some of these columns and opinion pieces are still dribbling in, but the flow has decreased.
There were some outbursts of audible disappointment after the US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) came out and downplayed Iranian nuclear danger 'in the near term'. A few in the Saudi/Gulf media, especially on the extreme rightwing, were disappointed that a war would not come, but most sighed with relief.
The trend has been toward rapprochement, even as proxy political rivalries continue in Iraq, Lebanon, and even Gaza. There have been high-level visits on both sides: Ahmadinejad and Iran’s foreign minister have been making the rounds of the Arab shores of the Gulf, barely missing Mr. Cheney, Ms. Rice, and Mr. Bush.
Perhaps it has dawned on the Gulf media that Iran is not about to swallow up Iraq as it has been claiming, that it could not even if it wanted to: if it tried, it would only choke on it. Perhaps the Iranian mullahs have also realized that it is inadvisable to get entangled too much in the Iraqi morass. On the other hand, there is, finally, the realization by the neighborhood that political changes in Iraq are permanent, and that elective majority rule is here to stay- that Uncle Sam will not, cannot, turn the clock back through a coup.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah has not used its military muscle to sweep away the ineffective rump cabinet of Hariri and Saniora: in fact it has shown remarkable restraint after seven of its and Amal's civilian supporters were shot dead and more wounded by Lebanese army gunfire last weekend. Speaking of Lebanon: the army chief and candidate for president has said that the ‘victory’ over Israel was a victory by ‘the army and the resistance (i.e. Hezbollah)'- except that the Lebanese army was nowhere to be seen during the summer war of 2006.
As for Gaza, well, it is a hopeless case.
Gulf Name Wars:
Like the pine trees linin' the windin' road
I've got a name, I've got a name
Like the singin' bird and the croakin' toad
I've got a name, I've got a name
And I carry it with me like my daddy did...
The Late Jim Croce
In Bahrain, a family power struggle within a larger power struggle seems to be brewing. The Crown Prince Shaikh Salman Bin Hamad al-Khalifa has issued a decree adding 11 cabinet ministers to the Economic Development Council which he heads. This comes after a controversy of letters exchanged between the Crown Prince Shaikh Salman Bin Hamad al-Khalifa, his pater king Hamad Bin Issa al-Khalifa, and the prime minister Khalifa Bin Salman al-Khalifa. Shaikh Salman Bin Hamad al-Khalifa had complained to his father King Hamad Bin Issa al-Khalifa that the cabinet (i.e the prime minister his uncle Khalifa Bin Salman al-Khalifa) was not cooperating with the council, to the extent that some ministers had refused to join it. Reports indicate that the king Hamad Bin Issa has cracked the whip in favor of his son Prince Salman Bin Hamad, and it looks like the Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad has won this round against the hugely unpopular but powerful prime minister Khalifa Bin Salman al-Khalifa. A lot of bins, but hey, it's only names.
FYI: most Bahrain’s male ruling family members are named either Salman, or Issa, or Hamad, al-Khalifa of course. The repetitive names are confusing to outsiders, and to some insiders. This is the same in other Gulf monarchies, where usually three or four names dominate each family and hence street names. The UAE and Oman differ in this respect.
This royal narcissism in the Gulf monarchies creates problems in street names, which are mostly named after male members of ruling families, dead and alive, many with similar first names and the same last names- sometimes they are various combinations of the same three or four names. Imagine, say, XYZ Avenue crossing XYWZ Avenue, just one block south of XZYZ Avenue, just before WXYZ Avenue- get the drift? The incestuous street names are so similar that they confuse those who are not expert veterans- they even confuse me.
Considering that these guys also own most of the properties along those streets, that only adds insult to injury for the average Gulfie citizen. An accelerating trend in recent years has been to name whole towns and residential suburbs after princes and shaikhs- very confusing, besides the fact that it pisses me off just on principle.
The Saudi rulers long ago solved this problem by just naming the whole country after the family- why worry about piddling street names when you have eaten the whole thing?
There might be a need for a new “dummy” book to be titled “Gulf Royalty and Street Names for Dummies”. Alles Klar?
Cheers
mhg
m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com
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