The Scream.

So I suppose first off I should provide an update about the on goings politically here.  On Thursday, the day before my birthday, several thousand members of the Jordanian youth movement, calling themselves “March 24^th” set up a Tahrir Square-esque sit-in style tent camp in what is officially called Jamal Abdul Nasser Square.  From what I understand they were joined by allies from left-leaning opposition groups, as well as the Islamist movement (interesting bedfellows to say the least. Imagine if the Communist Party USA were actually bigger and were demonstrating with, oh I don’t know, say… Focus on the Family).  They completely shut down the square and said that they would stay there until they got the reforms they were demanding (resignation of the prime minister and director of intelligence, dissolution of parliament, and a new election law).  As I drove by on my way home form a joint birthday party the police and royal guard had cut off all the roads leading towards the square.

The situation started to get heated when pro-government (or I guess if you wanted to flip it the other way, anti-reform) protesters began throwing rocks at the sit-in.  Reportedly a lot of the youth were bandaged from being hit by stones thrown from the overpass and debris from construction sites nearby.  The protestors were there for about a day, but were driven out by riot police who intervened as the counter demonstrators clashed with the March 24^th movement. I’ve read a number of different descriptions of what happened, including one from a Cuban correspondent who described how the jubilation the youth demonstrators showed when water cannons first showed up, turned to chaos as they were turned on them.  Two people were reportedly killed, although the official line is just one.

Following the fatalities another 16 members of the “National Dialogue Committee” which was established when the last Prime Minister was fired resigned their positions on the originally 53 member panel to protest the security crackdowns on the pro-democracy demonstrators.  The largest opposition group, the Islamic Action Front, had already decided not to participate previously, and following the violence stated that: “The Islamist movement demands the resignation, or the sacking, of the government and the formation a national unity and reformist government that would win the people’s trust and protect their lives,” and “Any government that kills citizens loses legitimacy,”.

The left leaning members that resigned, from the Popular Unity Party and the Jordanian Communist Party issued a joint statement:
“What happened was not a clash between the ‘March 24 Youth’ and pro-government loyalists but rather a systematic action on the part of the authorities which should be responsible for the massacre,” and that ““This proves that any talk about political reform is nothing more than allegations that lack foundation, which means that our membership in the committee is an act of time buying while also misleading the Jordanian public.”

The Prime Minister issued a statement saying that, “We are not going to accept dialogue that is conducted from the streets.”  It’ll be interesting to see if he can continue to feign deafness should the movement continue to heat up, and should over a third of the established committee for dialogue continue to express itself through action through non-institutional channels.

I’m sure most of my readers are familiar with the revolutions occurring in Syria, Yemen, and Libya (especially given the commitment of American military forces in the latter).  I’m less sure of how familiar my audience might be with other demonstrations occurring globally over the past few weeks.  Yesterday in Great Britain hundreds of thousands of protestors took to the streets to protest massive cuts being made to critical discretionary spending there.  In Georgia thousands turned out to protest a proposed immigration bill similar to the controversial one in Arizona.  I’ve had a discussion before with a friend from Bates that the next “civil rights movement” in America is going to be over immigration and the rights of people who live and work within the country (and as some economic analysis shows contrary to conventional wisdom, actually help the economy), and I’d say that’s still a distinct possibility. 

Also I’d like to point out the massive reaction to anti-labor legislation in Wisconsin and other states.  For decades “organized” labor has merely been a nominal designation.  Union membership as a percentage of the labor force is pitiful and no life seemed to be breathing within the beast that brought you the weekend and the 8 hour day.  But following the introduction of such reactionary legislation, it would appear that there is a potential for a rebirth. Thousands turned out to protest the attack on public employees, and the support came from both public and private unions. The American Public shows that the cause isn’t lost either: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/us/01poll.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=poll+and+collective+bargaining&st=cse

So what do pro-labor, anti-draconian immigrant legislation, and anti-crippling austerity measure demonstrations in the West have to do with pro-democracy, anti-corruption, reform movements in the Middle East?  We had a lecturer the other day who equated the revolutions to a function of pan-Arabism and drew a historical lineage from the anti-colonial liberation movements seen in Algeria against the French.  He actually polled some of our Arab staff about their opinions on “Arab Unity” catching them off-guard a bit.  All of the movements within the Middle East have taken on individually nationalistic tones, and the discussion of pan-Arabism seems, to me at least, to only really crop up in fanatic imaginings of the fall of the region to radical Islamists and the establishment of a Caliphate. His allusion to national liberation movements of the past holds truth, however, not in the Arab identity of the revolutionaries, but in their struggle against illegitimate coercion and power. An opposition to what felt like an affront to humanity itself. This is the link between movements East and West, and North and South.

I fortuitously chose to try to tackle a book I had picked up in early high school but struggled with shortly before coming to Jordan.  I only got about half way through it before I needed to transition back to my pre-program reading assignments which I, naturally, put off till the last minute.  The book is Change the World Without Taking Power: The Meaning of Revolution Today by John Holloway. It was written in the early 2000’s after the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle in ’99, and the rise of the Zapatista movement in Mexico in 1994, which he describes as the “first post-modern revolution.”  Two things stick out in particular from the book.  One is the concept of “the scream,” which is, in essence, a visceral response to something that seems indescribably wrong or unjust.  But, though the scream is visceral, it has meaning, and actions taken within the expression of that scream can be intellectual, tactful, and not solely gut reaction, but enforced by the anger and the disgust. The other critical concept, or at least as far as I got… was that revolution should be rethought of as being a constant struggle against illegitimate power and coercion, as opposed to having the traditional end goal associated with classical Marxist-Leninist thinking of acquiring power.

(This idea has manifested itself in less traditional forms of protest and rebellion as well. If you’re interested, try looking up the World Social Forum, and what it’s designed to do as an alternative to the World Economic Forum.) 

The rights of workers to bargain collectively are being stripped, access to affordable education and innumerable social services are being cut to balance budgets, national and border security are used as scapegoats to gut civil liberties, soldiers are killing and raping civilians, people are being beaten and told they only have a voice on someone else’s terms. What binds these events isn’t the tragedy of their sad consequences (which are clearly distinct for different cases in their gravity), but the resultant anger that is being created.  People in Libya, Syria, the UK, the US, Yemen, Bahrain, and Jordan are screaming.  The world would do well to listen.

P.S.(I can do a whole other post on why anger can be a good thing and why it’s different from hate but, khalas, enough theory for tonight.)

OH Man... Oman. (That's ohoo man... not aaahhh' maan)

So after a week in Oman and a couple of days with the SIT program in Muscat, I find it necessary to say that I am SO glad I chose to go to Jordan.  Oman, despite feeling like a dream sometimes (I'll explain more later), is an incredibly beautiful country, situated at the mouth of The Persian Gulf, the Straits of Hormuz across from Iran, and bordering the Indian Ocean, Yemen, UAE, and Saudi Arabia.  The flight from Amman was roughly 3 hours and took us over Saudi Arabia, the gulf and Abu Dhabi.  We left at night, and as we passed over the gulf you could see all of the maritime traffic and oil rigs which stood out because of the area of reflection created by their massive floodlights.  This was the first time I'd exited a jetliner down a staircase as opposed to a jet way which was pretty cool.

The ride from the airport to the hotel took maybe half an hour to forty five minutes, and it became apparent quickly that Muscat was a sprawling city that covered much area, but without the skyscrapers of Amman or Dubai (The SIT Oman academic director pointed this out as an example of their leader, Sultan Qaboos', commitment to modern, but traditionally cognizant development.)  Our hotel, Naseem Hotel, was located in Muttrah, a working port city that is part of Muscat Municipality, but is a different city than the capital.  The hotel was right across the highway from a cruise ship port and a cargo port.

Sultan Qaboos' yacht. 

The first day we had a lecture from the AD of SIT Oman, and then got on a bus to head southeast. First we went to a Green Sea Turtle Reserve, which is one of the few nesting sites in the region.  We were led to the beach by flashlight wielding guards in disdash and waited for a signal that there was indeed a turtle nesting.  We saw the flashing lights and watched as a large turtle laid dug a whole and laid her eggs and then covered them up again.  The most amazing thing of the night was when some baby turtles began hatching and traveling down the beach to the surf. Post-turtles we headed back to a camp not far from the reserve where we spent the night in small straw cabins. 

In the morning we went to Sur, a fishing town on the Eastern coast. 

In Sur we visited a Dhow factory, where the traditional sailing vessels of the Arab World's trade heyday are still constructed, primarily for tour companies and wealthy patrons. 

After Sur we went to Wadi Shab, which as an incredibly gorgeous valley whose mouth is on the ocean and interior is lined with beautiful green-pooled oasis and caves. 

We had to cross the tidal part of the Wadi before we could continue the 15 or so minute hike through the valley.  The path is maintained heavily by the government, and steps are added in particularly treacherous parts of the path, but it was incredibly hot and turned out to be quite the workout on the way in. 

At the end of the hike was a small Oasis where we went swimming.  It was absolutely incredible. Think grand canyon filled with palm trees and gorgeous water. And you're floating in the middle of it. 

I think Wadi Shab was my personal favorite thing of the trip... it definitely set the bar high, but we did see/do some other cool stuff. 

Muttrah at Night.

Some pictures from a drop-off we had to do at a museum. 

Some rooftop goats.

Nizwa University

One particularly interesting thing we did was travel to a less developed city, Nizwa, and receive a tour of the relatively conservative campus from some of its students.  A graduate student at SIT Oman also works at Nizwa University consulting the administration on receiving accreditation internationally, and provided a little background on the University, which is actually a private non-profit institution, unique in the heavily public sultanate.  All of the students wear traditional Omani clothing, including dishdash, hijab, kuma (a traditional cap), and sandals.  Our groups definitely drew a lot of attention, but much of it was positive, with many smiles and "ahlan wah salan"s (welcome).  The campus was fairly basic, and the student from SIT Oman pointed out that many of them were like portable classrooms in the states.  The University is currently building another campus a few miles away. One of the most interesting things was going to what was essentially an activities fair, where clubs like photography clubs, many educational and special educational groups, and science groups got together and promoted their membership. I wasn't able to always identify the booths because the writing was often simply in arabic, but what the students were doing provided some hint. 

Also of note... the school is significantly majority female. 

Another interesting thing about our visit to the University came from a question I asked of the SIT graduate student during his talk.  I asked about the ethnic make-up of the school, how many are ethnically arab, east african, indian.  He replied that they are all Omani, which clearly did not answer my question.  The thing is, this is the perception in Oman, at least in the portions we were in.  Anyone possessing Omani citizenship is Omani, not Somali, Indian, Arab or whatever. This overpowering national identity comes from the fact that Oman is rather diverse, and has faced separatist violence in its southern border with Yemen (fomented by the Saudis) but strives to create a timeless national identity despite being a very young nation.  

Historical interlude: Major events in Omani history

1970: Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said takes power. (He overthrew his father) Throughout his reign he rapidly modernizes Oman. 

1962-1975: Dhofar (Yemeni border region) rebellion.

2007: Oman battered by Category 5 Cyclone Gonu. 

After we visited the university we went to Jabreen castle.  The castle was built in the late 17th century and was home to the Imam of the region, who was both a religious and political leader. 

Imam's tomb. 

After the castle we traveled to Misfat Al Abriyeen, which is a like a village frozen in time.  Despite the fact that there are cars and roads leading to it.  The inside of it is still traditional walking/donkey trails through an Oasis.  

The town and the walking trails were absolutely gorgeous, but I couldn't help but feel strange about our being there.  It is apparently a pretty big tourist attraction, but we didn't pay any admission.  As you walk through some of the trails many of the houses would have "No Photo" or "No Entry" signs up.  We were essentially walking through peoples backyards snapping photos and then leaving half an hour later. Some other students felt the same way, while others tried to brush it off.  In any event, I'm glad I did get to see how beautiful it was. 

On our last full day we took a trip to the Grand Mosque in Muscat that Sultan Qaboos had built several years ago, and a free afternoon, in which we took a trip to the beach, a pseudo-lecture/activity hybrid with SIT Oman, and then a free evening.  The Mosque is massive and can hold, I believe, 25,000 people.  There are guards walking around with pistols, and while one might think a Mosque would be immune to threat in 1979 even the Grand Mosque in Mecca was a target for fundamentalist terrorists who, in an armed group of several hundred, seized the Mosque and held it for several weeks until they were overwhelmed by Saudi military forces.    

Post-mosque was finally beach time.  I have to say, I'm terribly spoiled living perpetually within an hour of incredible beaches and coastlines.  Being on the water was definitely one of my favorite parts of Oman, and it was great to finally get into the salt water.  I can now say I swam in the Gulf of Oman, an extension of the Indian Ocean and the body of water that separates Iran from the Arabian peninsula.  The water felt terrific, and we saw a number of sting ray, though that kind of spooked some of the tribe (SIT tribe).  After some swimming we played some ultimate frisbee, and I got a sunburn worthy of an Irishman.  

Our exercise with SIT Oman included a brief discussion of the timetable behind the Arab revolutions and then a fake UN summit on the revolutions including representatives from the youth leading the protests, the old-guard of the Arab world (which I was in), the US and EU, the Arab League, and the UN security council.  We had to prepare statements and be ready for rebuttals, which was fun, but I felt as though I didn't really learn anything I didn't already know.  No one seems to know what type of government successful revolts will create, the old-school claim they bring stability, prevent the coming to power of Islamists, and prevent war with Israel and the US, the US can't make up its mind, the EU won't act without the US, and the Arab League and the security council can hardly develop or agree to a functional breakfast order, that's how helpful they are.  But these were all things I knew, so a standard lecture, or even a philosophical discussion in a more traditional manner of what our individual views on the issue are would've been more constructive. Again, I found myself appreciating good 'ol SIT Jordan.

I developed a pretty serious case of post-nasal drip over the last half of the trip, which was the harbinger of a bad head cold and cough for my final night.  While a bunch of students went out, I went back to the souq for some last minute gift shopping, did a little reading and then nabbed some sleep.  The first half hour of the flight was miserable on my sinuses but a double dose of acetometaphin and some sudafed had me in decent shape part way over Saudi Arabia. 

Everyone on the trip was stoked to be back in Jordan, and Amman in particular.  Oman was a great weeklong trip, but I definitely would've started to get bored. I'm pretty sure every cool thing the SIT kids there see, we saw in that week.  I mentioned earlier that Oman felt kind of like a dream.  Geographically it represented what I've thought of as an ideal sort of port city culture.  If you've seen The Truman Show, think of the town in that movie, I even mentioned that to some of the other students.  It just didn't feel real sometimes.  Everyone is going about their business, but it could almost be an act. In trying to figure out why it felt like that, I tend to lean on the lack of politics in the public sphere. Though there is a cult of personality around the Sultan, like King Abdullah in Jordan, the Sultan is incredibly private and does not make many public appearances like Abdullah. In Jordan, everyone seems to watch the news, and will talk to you about politics. In Oman, it just doesn't exist publicly.  This goes beyond simply not having electoral politics though, as much of any persons life is politically embedded beyond a conservative-liberal distinction.  We have a trajectory behind our thoughts and actions in society and our lives that is held together by some sort of belief system, however coherent or incoherent that may be from person to person, and it typically flushes itself out through public participation, civil society, religion, activism, or discussion between neighbors.  I was only in Oman for a week, but you definitely could feel the presence of such a thing if you were in Amman for that long.  I didn't see it in Oman.  

Now, what I am saying is that political thought and expression was not really existent in the everyday public sphere in Oman, which doesn't mean it is non-existant for Omanis.  This is evidenced by protests that have occurred within the country calling for economic assistance.  It would seem efficacy of political activity isn't immune to the people of Oman, it's just underdeveloped.  Understandable for a country in which apparently disappearances still occur.  If you're unfamiliar with the term you should wikipedia "forced disappearance."  Then check out "extraordinary rendition" for the American variety. Then, finally, imagine that being you or someone you love.  I apologize for the morbidity, but I'm unsure of my audience, and I am particularly passionate about this. 

On a happier note, spring break Oman '11 was filled with mostly being a tourist in an incredibly beautiful country that, had our trip continued to Egypt instead, I would have never have thought to have visited.  I actually said while we were swimming in the Oasis at Wadi Shab, "thank god Egypt had a revolution."  Inshallah that will be true for more reasons than that one.