Photos

Sharing a couple of photo pages:

Always interested in Afghanistan, this delighted me.

Planning a trip to Baku, I came across recommendations for this photo resource.

Update: Some architecture photos from Dubai!

Reading for the long weekend

At least at home, we celebrate spring now. Here, the heat has come along too far for that already. As usual, quite a lot of articles and reports have caught my eye lately, which I share below.

Turkey/Armenia
Svenska Dagbladet continues reporting on the Turkish-Armenian gradual rapprochement, also republishing an interview with Hrant Dink made shortly before his death in 2007.

Afghanistan
Svenska Dagbladet talks to Swedish actor Mikael Persbrandt about his involvement with UNICEF in Afghanistan and other conflict areas.

BBC reports Afghan women protesting against new legislation. Eurasianet takes a look at the stakes in the Afghan presidential election.

UAE
This article from the National on citizenship in the UAE is not new, but still interesting.

BBC looks at the released abuse footage featuring a UAE sheikh. Human Rights Watch comments on the incident here, requesting action from relevant authorities.

The construction business looks at health and welfare of migrant workers.

Marc Lynch considers Islamist politics and the future for the National.

Iran
Brookings Institution looks at the Iranian economy in dire future straits. Peter Jones writes for Foreign Policy on lessons in how to conduct talks in Iran.

Wall Street Journal analyses the Iranian message in jailing journalists. BBC reports on allegedly Israeli (but actually fake-brand "Jaffa" Chinese) oranges sold in Iran.

IWPR has a new project aimed at Iran, Mianeh.net.

A very specialized resource on the sociology of African descendants in Iran is available (and I recently ran across some printed info on dito in Pakistan, leading me to guess the basis of both is slave trade).

Other Middle East
Middle East Online looks at Arabs view of the upcoming Iranian elections. Abdullah Al Shayji writes for Gulf News on Iran and the Arab world, too. RAND published a report on Saudi-Iran relations!

The National looks at Somalia's piracy issue and how (NOT) to grapple it.

MERIA has held a symposium exploring international perceptions of the Gaza war.

BBC looks at continuing tensions around Mosul.

BBC looks at "Orientalist" art on display in Sharjah.

Greg Gause in Foreign Affairs looks at the comeback of the "old" Middle East.

Svenska Dagbladet meets Algerian Maissa Bey and talks about women's role in society and her efforts for reading.

Bitte Hammargren writes for Svenska Dagbladet on restauration efforts in old Damascus.

UNAMI in Iraq releases this report on the prolifency of honour killings.

BBC meets clean-up efforts in poor districts of Cairo.

Internet freedom
Freedom House reports on Internet freedom in the world.

Dagens Nyheter compares two kinds of modern pirates in this editorial...

Index on Censorship announced freedom of expression awards 2009.

Miscellaneous…
Michelle Obamas style and share in her husband's successful first 100 days as president is highlighted by Dagens Nyheter as well as....

The image and mystic appeal of Cleopatra is explored in a book,, here reviewed by Svenska Dagbladet.

Dagens Nyheter takes a look at "fair travelling" and publishes Marianne Ahrne writing about travelling to India, visiting Sikkim.

Aftonbladet looks at Sweden's efforts in the 90's to encourage the comprehensive EU-enlargement which was realized 5 years ago.

The role of Finland in building signal-based intelligence archives in Sweden, currently much debated, is explored in svenska Dagbladet.

Shari' al-Muizz

Some slightly blurry photos of Shari' Al-Muizz li-din allah, in the dusk.

Womad Abu Dhabi - a report

WOMAD Abu Dhabi took place as planned this weekend. Having megastars perform for free within walking distance of my home, on the beach, was awesome - and the feeling of seeing longtime favourites such as Souad Massi, the musical heirs of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Khaled and Mohammed Mounir was a real experience.

Souad Massi was down to earth and intensely musical with her acoustic guitar. Khaled played for an hour almost before starting a hitparade when the concert was already formally to end - bringing a bhrangra Sikh drummer on stage to start up Abdel-Qader and then playing for 45 more minutes with all old favourites - finishing with Aicha which the audience sung for him. Mohammed Mounir was as dynamic and funky too, with an audience singing and dancing from the first notes.

All in all - it was awesome!

al-Hakim

Inside Bab el-Futuh, the mosque of Al-Hakim looms large. Al-Hakim, a Fatmid caliph, must be one of the odder figures of Egypt's long history.

Bab el-Futuh

Entering the medieval district from the north, slowly approaching Khan el-Khalili by way of Shari' al-Muizz.

April reading

My reading tips for now include meeting a lot of individuals, from several conflict zones (in different respects). Internet media freedom also feels like one of our days most current and relevant topics and is seen in several contexts below.

Afghanistan
The National meets Afghan villagers talking about their everyday security situation. BBC meets Afghans looking for jobs in Iran. Human Rights Watch looks at personal freedom of women in Afghan law.

Central Asia
BB has met the oldest person in Kazakhstan! IWPR discusses policing and dissent in Kyrgyzstan. Elin Jönsson's book on the 2005 massacre in Andzijan, Uzbekistan is given a prize named for Anna Politkovskaja.

Palestine
Dagens Nyheter has met one of the individual victims of the Gaza war who received perhaps the most international attention for her family's fate.

Other Middle East
Svenska Dagbladet interviews a Sahrawi activist for freedom and independence.

Emile Hokayem for the National discusses the regional security position of the UAE

The National also takes a loook at recent perceived negative media attention for Dubai and the UAE. The National also visited camps for expat labourers in Dubai.

In Saudi-arabia a discussion of female marriage-ages has begun.

Human Rights Watch takes a look at Baha'is in Egypt.

Arab Reform Bulletin looks at Bahrain and constitutional development.

Daniel Barenboim performed in Cairo, although without his Diwan Orchestra, reports the BBC. How activist's can use internet communication technology as exemplified recently is explored by Swedish Medievärlden. BBC brings up the same topic here.

Marc Lynch discusses encouragement and support for activists not least in the Internet context.

BBC meets Armenians in Lebanon, discussing the country's ethnic and political jigsaw puzzle.

MERIP on the civil war and political spectrum in Iraq. The legality of Kurdish security forces is explored by the BBC. BBC also meets gay Iraqi men finding out more about their lives and situation. also bloggers and internet activists in Iraq are given attention by the BBC.

Turkey
ICG has issued a report on Turkish-Armenian thawing relations. Speaking of this, Swedish Radio reports this today on the thaw (today is the remembrance day for Armenian victims in the killings of 1915 also). The National discusses the Ergenekon trial. Thomas Gür writes for Svenska Dagbladet on the role of the US visavi developments in Turkey. The National explores religion in Turkish politics. Ingmar Karlsson for Newsmill speaks out for Turkey's position in Europe but is certainly not unchallenged. Swedish radio follows prime minister Reinfeldt visits Turkish Kulu meeting Turkish swedes, reported also in Turkish media. Ülkü Holago for Svenska Dagbladet explores the meaning of Kulu for Sweden.

Sweden
Svenska Dagbladet reviews the recent reissual of a classic Swedish work of the prophet Muhammed, also (maybe less than) implicitly criticizing those attempting to understand rather than entrench...

Bitte Hammargren blogs about the Swedish political debate on Middle East affairs and responibility, as well as agendas...

Dagens Nyheter interviews lawyer and author Malin Persson Giolito about gender, career ambitions and life. The same paper looks at gender roles, child-raising and awareness about possibilities.

Dagens Nyheter (again!) visits a corner of Stockholm with strong personal meaning for me!

Streets of Cairo

These are shot from the car and may be a little shaky, but the lighting is fabulous, at the end of the day.

Red Cross for mothers

The Swedish Red Cross har periodic campaigns to "save the mother" - and now it is time again! Read about the campaign and help donate.

Friday update: the Swedish Red Cross has also announced the following nominees for a journalists prize, winner to be announced in late June.

Womad Abu Dhabi

Guess what is up within walking distance of my house this weekend?



Oh yes! Khaled, Souad Massi, Mohamed Mounir and other - here I come!

Minbar of Tulun

The direction of prayer is marked inside the mosque, next to the beautifully worked sermon platform.

Movie recommendations

I saw 2 amazing movies last week.

The first one was the French "I've loved you so long" with Kristin Scott Thomas in a lead role which must have been amazingly fascinating to study and perform.



The inner strength and outer stigmatization of the main character Juliette and the almost chamber drama format and quiet approach with very strong dialogue combined to make this film a real experience.


The second one was very different - Israeli animated "Waltz with Bashir" exploring what happened in the 1982 invasion of Lebanon and the massacres at Sabra and Shatila. Making an animated documentary is a really interesting experiment, but the ends scenes can only be shown in documentary archive film, finalizing the feeling of a fist in your stomach.



Much can be said about both - I will refrain from further comment and say: go see it!

Reminiscences of the desert

The very specific design of the minaret recalls the desert rather than downtown old Cairo!

Tulun centrepiece

Also the centre shrine (?) has a serene magnificence to it, despite or even because of the rather plain outside.

More vaults

Trying to give you a view of the serenity of the inside.

Rows of Tulun

Something about the interior fills me with harmony.

Picturing Stockholm

I take far too few photos of my own city (as well as of my friends...) so here I share an article on a book featuring someone else's photos of Stockholm - changing over the decades.

Tulun vaults

The vaults of Tulun are much of the appreciation of the site. The regular mosque tranquility is grand inside this vast and austere courtyard.

Ibn Tulun!

This is really my number one favourite mosque, definitely in Cairo but maybe of all...

Reading for Easter

As usual I have left it for far too long to collect links for a reading post.

BBC pondered the loss of a cosmopolitan Cairo. The plight of women in Egypt and how to fight daily harassment has also met attention. Later, Egyptian women bloggers were also highlighted. Images of Christians in Egyptian popular culture are reviewed.

Dagens Nyheter reports Amnesty's finds of warcrimes in Gaza. another article looks at the situation a number of weeks on, trying to sum up the results.

Svenska Dagbladet visited those Turks who are already citizens of the EU.

BBC discusses the meaning of Obama's Newruz message to Iran. Iran parties for newruz but substances have a dark side to them too. CSIS published a lengthy report on the likelihood and potential consequences of an Israeli strike against Iranien nuclear facilities. World Politics Review looks at Iran's special form of democracy.

Dagens Nyheter reviews a recent book of Tariq Ramadan on reform in islam.

Stratfor looks a Turkish-Russian power rivalry.

Massoud Qiam writes for Aftonbladet on freedom of expression (or the lack of it) in Afghanistan. The same paper looks at faceless Afghan women...

Palestinian Tamer Institute receives a Swedish prize for childrens books and reading.

BBC looks at the situation for shias in Saudi-arabia. Also a woman from the UAE tells her story after leaving her family for a different life the US. Svenska Dagbaldet discusses buying lingerie in Saudi-arabia. Ted Karasik of INEGMA looks at Saudi politics and the line of inheritance.

Eurasianet looks at the family rule in Azerbaijan.

Swedish-Lebanese journalist Laura Macdissi writes of her 2 years for the UN in Baghdad in a recent book. BBC meets Iraqis making humour of their everyday violence and hardship. IWPR looks at neighbourly relations in Baghdad.

Protests have been going up in Bahrain in recent weeks. In connection with the Arab summit, BBC tried to take a closer look at Qatar. The backside of Dubai's development is increasingly visited - but maybe the price paid by poorer regional neighbours when their citizens return home jobless is even more important in the short run?

Yavuz Baydar writes for Utrikesbloggen on the Turkish criticism on Fogh Rasmussen, ahead of his appointment to NATO.

Svenska Dagbladet looks at the mechanism of honor and how it subtly changes to conserve traditions met with western society.

Svenska Dagbladet reviews a book on pyramidal architecture and societal organization.

Sweden debated stereotyping of Russians after the national Eurovision final, both in Svenska Dagbladet and in Dagens Nyheter. Eurovision is politics, we can conclude just about every spring!

The National ran quite an amusing piece on switching languages and accents.

Svenska Dagbladet followed a Swedish adventurer in early-colonial Africa.

Dagens Nyheter reads recent classic books and finds common denominators in i e Pulitzer winner's.

Indoor lighting

Coloured light filtered into the rooms.

Carpets

Dagens Nyheter had this article on carpets last weekend. Not surprisingly, my favourite is the second among the photos, the Bakhtiari.

I quite liked this one that Metropol auctioned earlier this week too, a Baluch. I didn't bid for it, but the price confirms my opinion that auctions is where to look at carpets in Stockholm.

A friend showed me some newly purchased antique Afghan flatweaves recently also, beautiful pieces.

PS Update - oooops, forgot to tell you! Metropol has a special carpet-auction in the end of May, but no link yet...

Inside Amir Taz

A wealth of worked details...

Central Asia classics

I haven't even finished reading yet, but have to mention this Central Asia travel classic!