Shippensburg University

I've been meaning to announce that earlier this month, I accepted a tenure track position at Shippensburg University in south central Pennsylvania. I start there in the fall as an assistant professor of history. I can't complain about Colgate, but it will be nice to be on the tenure track somewhere.

(Crossposted to American Footprints)

Iranian Sufis

RFE-RL reports on the increasing persecution of Iranian Sufis:

"The Nematollahi order is Iran's largest Sufi order, with reportedly over 2 million members across the country, including in major cities such as Tehran and Isfahan. Its members have come under increasing state pressure over the past four years; three of their houses of worship have been demolished. Officials accused the Sufis of not having building permits and of narcotics possession -- charges the Sufis reject.

"Dervishes say they're being targeted because of what they describe as the growing popularity of Sufism and also because they're considered a potential challenge to the power of Iran's clerical establishment.

"Some conservative clerics have called the Sufis a danger to Islam. Ayatollah Hossein Nuri Hamedani, a high-ranking cleric in Qom, said in 2006 that by not interfering in politics, Sufis weaken Islam. Hard-liners have also accused the dervishes of being used by foreign powers to create discord in Iranian society."

Experts quoted in the article portray this as the outgrowth of centuries of conflict between shari'a-based and mystical elements within Islam. The particulars of these current issues, however, are entirely shaped by conditions in post-Revolution Iran. People disaffected with the Shi'ite ulama establishment turn toward Sufism as something that seems less political and more spiritual. In doing so, they also reject the authority of the ulama, and thus can be portrayed as disloyal to the revolutionary state.

Lohaidan's TV Station Owner Fatwa

A while back, Sheikh Saleh al-Lohaidan, one of Saudi Arabia's top ulama, said owners of TV stations which broadcast immoral programming could be put to death. Writing in the Journal of Arab Media and Society, Andrew Hammond examines the incident in the context of competition for authority between the dynasty and religious establishment:

"The key phrase here was qada’an, through the judicial process. For Lohaidan there was no need for him to clarify this point further in his initial comments, since for the Saudi clerics the process is all there is; they could not conceive of a moral-criminal issue in any other fashion. In classic Sunni legal thinking, followed to the letter in Saudi Arabia, God’s justice is dispensed by His cleric-lieutenants on Earth who are to be found in Sharia courts ready to pass judgment based on the divine law. The Saudi ulama have the unique privilege in the Islamic world of presiding as judges in a Sharia court system – this is the very definition of the Islamic state in their eyes. But this did not prevent Saudi-owned “liberal” media from playing-up Lohaidan’s remarks because they fit their agenda of watering down the power of the Wahhabi ulama. Before long, the story was all over pan-Arab television networks such as MBC and its al-Arabiya news channel, owned by the brother-in-law of former King Fahd, and newspapers such as al-Watan, owned by Khaled al-Faisal, son of former King Faisal and nephew of King Abdullah."

Boycotting Israel

David Lloyd puts the case for boycotting Israeli academic institutions rather well:

"In response to the call from Palestinian civil society and from more than 500 courageous Israeli citizens, we urge a boycott of Israeli academic institutions, not only to protest their utter silence in the face of the ongoing destruction of Palestinian educational infrastructure, but also because we believe that the call for boycott, divestment and sanctions still can influence Israel’s public opinion and avert a catastrophic outcome. Boycott, by using the moral force of non-violent means, strengthens those elements in Palestinian and Israeli civil society that are seeking a just resolution to the conflict without resort to violence, ethnic cleansing or destruction. An institutional boycott neither targets individual scholars nor seeks to silence genuine dialogue. It calls for a moratorium on “business-as-usual” with Israeli institutions that have turned a blind eye to the destruction and disruption of Palestinian schools and universities and to the denial of academic freedom. Their institutional silence is the true death of learning and of intellectual exchange. It is Palestinian, not Israeli, institutions whose isolation must be challenged: For the former it is lethal, for the latter it can be short-lived."

However, this reply from Tenured Radical trumps it:

"Intellectual boycotts profoundly violate the idea that a scholarly community is defined by the free exchange of ideas: this is the essence of what makes scholars different from ideologues. That the free exchange of ideas has been inhibited by groups like AIPAC does not alter my belief that we must cherish this principle and oppose all efforts to undermine it on the left or the right."

It's true that boycotts can serve an educational function, but I don't see an educational one as having nearly the reach given the principle that would be compromised. There are better ways to address the occupation and conflict.

Pro-Khatami Sites Censored

Unspecified Iranian authorities are blocking two pro-Khatami web sites:

"Iranian authorities have blocked two websites promoting the presidential bid of Mohammad Khatami, reformists said on Saturday, in a first sign that powerful hardliners might seek to thwart his challenge to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the June 12 election...

"Yaari News, which Shojaei runs with other Khatami supporters, has reported on his candidacy, the reformist's views and growing support for his presidential bid. The other targeted website presented people's views on Khatami's candidacy.

"Shojaei said the government was also likely to have been angered after the sites reported that provincial officials abused people into attend a rally where Ahmadinejad was speaking in the city of Yazd on Wednesday."

Talking Back to Royalty

Carlyle Murphy reports on a televised rebuke to a Saudi prince:

"Saudi Arabia's national team had lost the 19th Arabian Gulf Cup to Oman, 6-5, because the players were underperforming. There was discord on the team. The coach had made bad moves. Their complaints went on and on. And no one could say that the three – a coach and two former national team players – were unqualified to assess the damage.

"Suddenly, word came that a VIP was calling in, demanding to talk with the critics. Prince Sultan bin Fahd, son of the late king, and head of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, had vowed to bring this year's Cup back from Oman.

"What happened over the next few minutes, and in the days that followed, became a chart-topper when Saudis gathered to chat. For the episode is one of those moments when a nation instantly recognizes how it has changed. And in this case, that involves the slipping away of unconditional deference to royals...

"Then the prince turned to former player Faisal Abu Thnain. 'We work day and night and you just sit here blabbering away on television ... I do not want to hear this talk again. I have tolerated you long enough. You must exercise self-restraint. And you must behave... If you have not been raised properly, we can certainly raise you ourselves.'

"It was this last sentence that shocked the viewing audience, for to accuse someone of not being well brought up is a deep insult in Saudi culture, on par with shoe-throwing in Iraq.

"Mr. Abu Thnain did not let the prince's comment pass. 'No, thank God, we have all been raised well and we know our limits and the repercussions of our actions,' he retorted before the prince hung up...

"'Faisal Abu Thnain made history by being the first Saudi citizen to talk back to a prince ... live and on the air and for this, we celebrate him,' reads a Facebook page honoring the player. Created shortly after the Jan. 17 incident, it has collected 2,927 fans."

I wish I could say that I thought this was actually going to be a turning point in relations between the Saudi royal family and their country's society, but it seems more like a one-off due to circumstances and the heat of the moment.

Armenia and Turkey

Whatever the situation in Karabakh diplomacy, Turkey and Armenia may soon restore relations:

"The foreign ministers of the two neighboring states have met frequently in recent months to try to build on an unprecedented Turkish-Armenian rapprochement that began shortly after Serzh Sarkisian became Armenia's new president in April 2008. His Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul, underscored the seriousness of the process in September when he paid a historic visit to Yerevan, where together he and Sarkisian watched the first match ever held between the Armenian and Turkish national soccer teams...

"Both sides have since sought to keep up the momentum in bilateral contacts. 'I won't be surprised if a resolution happens this year,' Turkey's Foreign Minister Ali Babacan told CNN-Turk television ahead of the January 29 meeting in Davos, Switzerland, between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Sarkisian. The latter described the talks held on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum as 'very useful' (RFE/RL Armenia Report, January 30).
The Armenian leader and his foreign minister, Eduard Nalbandian, held follow-up talks with Babacan at the 45th Munich Security Conference just over a week later. 'I think that we are moving down the right path,' Sarkisian said during a panel discussion there with several other international dignitaries, including Babacan. 'If things continue like this, I think that we will be able to talk about a different kind of [Turkish-Armenian] relations in the second half of this year' (Armenian Public Television, February 8). Nalbandian sounded equally optimistic. 'We are moving forward and drawing closer to the normalization of relations,' he told journalists in Munich (Armenian Second TV Channel, February 7)...

"A settlement of the (Karabakh) conflict acceptable to Azerbaijan has long been the main Turkish precondition for improving relations with Armenia. According to some sources privy to Turkish-Armenian dealings, Ankara is now ready to drop that precondition if Yerevan agrees to joint academic research of the 1915-1918 mass killing and deportation of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. In a 2005 letter to Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, Erdogan suggested that such a study be conducted by a commission of Turkish and Armenian historians. Kocharyan rejected the idea as a Turkish ploy designed to scuttle broader international recognition of what many historians consider the first genocide of the 20th century; but his successor, Sarkisian, has indicated that he is not against the idea in principle, prompting concern from nationalist elements in his coalition government."

This piece doesn't really address the Armenian side of the equation. Right now, Armenia is heavily dependent on Russia and Iran, and the former got a lot scarier about this summer's conflict over South Ossetia.

Sunnis and Hussein

Jane Arraf writes for The Christian Science Monitor about Iraqi Sunni participation in 'Arba'in, a mainly Shi'ite commemoration connected with Hussein's martyrdom at Karbala. This makes sense when you keep in mind that, contrary to a common view, Sunnis and Shi'ites haven't actually been at each other's throats for 1300 years, and far from Karbala being a clear parting of the ways, Sunnis revere Hussein as the grandson of Muhammad even if they don't believe, as Shi'ites do, that he was uniquely qualified to lead the community as an Imam.

(Crossposted to American Footprints)

What About Khatami?

I initially didn't post on Khatami's official entry into Iran's presidential race because the big question seemed to be whether he could win, and Iranian politics has a way of making predictions look foolish. Eric Martin, however, did some musing on whether he could succeed if elected.

Succeed at what? That's the question. His anti-corruption campaign threatened the clerical establishment more than his social and systemic reforms, so he might be able to pursue those as long as he agrees not to look to hard at the hands in the till. It's on foreign policy, however, where he could make his greatest impact. After all, as I said in comments, his feelers toward the U.S. during his earlier presidency were done in by the Bush administration, not Iranian hardliners.

Emirati 'Ajamis

Sultan al-Qassemi has an interesting post on the history of Iranians in th UAE.

Woman in the Cabinet

King Abdullah has appointed Noura al-Fa'iz as Saudi Arabia's deputy minister for women's education, becoming the first woman in the kingdom's cabinet. This was part of a larger reshuffle that saw many controversial religious hardliners dismissed from office.

(Crossposted to American Footprints)

Nagorno-Karabakh Deal?

I hadn't heard the details of this proposed deal on Nagorno-Karabakh:

"According to a Turkish journalist who traveled to Baku with Babacan, an outline agreement was reached between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Karabakh after several meetings at the presidential and foreign minister levels. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)'s Minsk Group, created in 1992 to encourage a peaceful, negotiated resolution to the conflict over Karabakh, has visited Baku and Yerevan in recent few months. According to reports, the Minsk Group has facilitated a tentative agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia concerning the return of seven towns in Karabakh that were seized by Armenia in 1991-1993 and remain under the control of Armenia. These provinces may be handed back to Azerbaijan within a designated period, and Azerbaijani refugees will be allowed to return their homes. The status of Karabakh will be discussed later, but for now Karabakh will be handed over to an interim government, and new corridors will be opened between Armenia and Karabakh, according to this draft agreement (Sabah, February 10)."

I can't tell if all Azeri refugees will be allowed back into Karabakh, or if that applies just to thosein the seven towns within the Armenian-controlled perimater. Discussing final status issues later hasn't worked very well with Kosovo or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but at least Armenia could get its borders open again.

UPDATE: Everyone involved is denying the story.

Israel's Election Deadlock

Israel's tentative election results are here. I say tentative because, as Imshin notes, absentee ballots remain uncounted, and are expected to lean right. If Likud picks up at least one seat, then Netanyahu becomes the logical choice to form the next government.

As it his, his position is very strong, but not as simple as the left/right block metrics would have it. On the one hand, the Arab parties and Hadash are included in the left, meaning that functionally it's down around 46 seats. However, the religious parties, especially Shas, can be bribed into almost any coalition. At the same time, Avigdor Lieberman has made it plain he wants to contend for the prime minister's spot in the next elections. He might conclude he can do that better as the one who works with the centrist Kadima and ultimately brings it down than he can as a second fiddle to Netanyahu in a Likud-led government.

All Livni's coalition, possibilities, however, are pretty narrow, and again, given the absentee ballot situation, we may yet wind up with Netanyahu getting the first crack at things. Matthew Yglesias cogently surveys the Israeli political scene:

"Likud used to be the main rightwing party. Then, under the government of Ariel Sharon in fragmented into a more pragmatic Kadima faction and a hardline-nationalist faction led by Bibi Netanyahu. Now, Israeli opinion has shifted so far to the right that Kadima, which was founded as a center-right party just a few years ago is now left of the public opinion’s center. And the far-right Yisrael Beitanu party is bigger than center-left Labor and dramatically bigger than left-wing Meretz. Meanwhile, Labor has itself shifted right. A politics dominated, on both sides, by nationalists—ranging from pragmatic nationalists to not-so-pragmatic nationalists to frothing-at-the-mouth-racist nationalists—is not so promising for the cause of peace."

(Crossposted to American Footprints)

Kuwaiti Politics and Economics

Abdullah Shayji takes a look at why Kuwait's democratic tradition is being devalued:

"As Kuwait heads once more for parliamentary elections in 2009—having held such elections just last year—repeated clashes between the executive and legislative branches are creating doubts about the Kuwaiti model, once a source of inspiration to many in the Gulf and beyond. The Kuwaiti parliament has begun to be seen as an institution obstructing the investment that the Emir hopes can further develop his country’s economy. The fact that the National Assembly has been dissolved three times in nine years, that four governments have stepped down and five others have been formed in less than three years, and that interpellation of ministers has often ended with the government resigning or the National Assembly being dissolved has stripped the Kuwaiti experiment of much of its appeal...

"For example, in order to avoid a confrontation between the government and the National Assembly, the Supreme Petroleum Council recently cancelled a multi billion-dollar deal with Dow Chemical to which the state-owned Petrochemicals Industries Co. had agreed in November 2008. The Popular Action bloc had declared it would insist on questioning the Prime Minister on the deal if it was not cancelled. Similar political pressures jeopardize other projects, including a $15 billion project to build refineries. The debate has heated up, and the government that resigned in 2008 singled out three reasons for the current state of affairs: the deteriorating level of dialogue, the arbitrary use of constitutional tools, and the inability of the government to work with the National Assembly in the current atmosphere."

This seems like a good time to think about the idea of a resource curse.

Hamas Thieves

UNRWA is suspending aid to Gaza after this:

"In a statement, UNRWA said 10 truckloads of flour and rice that had been delivered into Gaza on Thursday were taken away by trucks affiliated with the Hamas-run Ministry of Social Affairs. Earlier this week, Hamas police took thousands of blankets and food parcels meant for needy residents...

"'Hamas policemen stormed into an aid warehouse in Gaza City Tuesday evening and confiscated 3,500 blankets and over 400 food parcels ready for distribution to 500 families,' said UNRWA spokesman Christopher Gunness on Wednesday.

"'They were armed, they seized this, they took it by force,' Gunness said, terming the incident absolutely unacceptable."

My first instinct was that these actions were carried out by organized crime clans operating under the Hamas banner rather than as an organized Hamas activity. The explanations Hamas is offering, however, suggest the organization is trying to strengthen its grip on the territory by controlling the distributive framework. This is a common side effect of sanctions.

al-Qaeda in Turkey

Despite the bombings of a few years ago, I hadn't realized al-Qaeda was this strong in Turkey:

"The Turkish National Police (TNP) has recently been conducting operations against al-Qaeda members. In December police arrested 38 al-Qaeda members, 22 of whom were jailed. That operation revealed that the organization was planning to hit the Israeli, U.S., and British consulates in Istanbul (Sabah, December 20, 2008). On January 29 four al-Qaeda members tried to rob a post office in the Sultanbeyli district of Istanbul, but undercover police officers who were following the suspects intervened, and a gunfight ensued. One al-Qaeda member was killed and another wounded. Two others escaped (Sabah, January 29). In following days the police arrested 11 suspected al-Qaeda members. After the arrest it was revealed that al-Qaeda militants were organizing an attack on a rabbi in Bursa (Milliyet, February 3).

"Al-Qaeda has recently taken to robbing and stealing gold, money, and cars. A recent police action revealed that al-Qaeda members had stolen three cars and robbed a jewelry store and two trucks loaded with cables (Milliyet, February 3). It comes as no surprise that al-Qaeda members would steal cars or trucks for use in their attacks, but robbing jewelry stores and post offices is a new tactic in Turkey."

(Crossposted to American Footprints)

Ceci Sibony

Recent Colgate alum Cecy Sibony is spending a year on a Watson Fellowship studying Arab views of Jewish emigration from Arab countries. She started in Morocco, has been to Tunisia, is now in Egypt, and will eventually hit Jordan, Turkey, and Bahrain. Check out her outstanding blog.

Scholars as Symbols

From Daphna Ephrat's A Learned Society in a Period of Transition: The Sunni 'Ulama of Eleventh-Century Baghdad:

"Whether fact or fiction, stories about the 'cosmopolitan' scholar, a man whose sense of belonging to the wider scholarly community surpassed local allegiances, illustrated for their readers and listeners the unity of the Islamic community, the umma, and heightened a universal sense of 'being Muslim'"

Many college professors try to convey a sense that they belong to a wider discipline and scholarly community. However, could one take this a step further and suggest that by demonstrating for students that they are at home internationally, they create an image of a globalized world to which the students themselves are tied? Or does the bridging element fail, leaving the professor as a traveler between spheres which remain conceptually separate?

Syrian Crackdown

Syria seems to be cracking down on Islam-inspired political activism:

"While Syria, a country ruled by the secular Baath party, bans all opposition groups, human rights activists contend that Islamic organisations bear the brunt of the repression – and they say it is becoming worse.

"In November, SCHR published a statement by the Democratic Islamic Trend in Syria which said that security agencies had forced at least 12 individuals, including leading religious figures, to step down from posts in various Muslim associations, several of which have been dissolved.

"Meanwhile, Syria’s religious affairs ministry informed female teachers at mosques that they needed to obtain permission from the security services to teach or risk having their classes cancelled.

"'The regime has destroyed civil society in the country, prevented cultural growth and tried to show the world that Islamists are a more unruly alternative to the regime, in the hope that it can keep them under its control,' said a political analyst who preferred to stay anonymous.

"'Nothing scares this government more than political Islam, because they know that it can attract and mobilise citizens much faster than secular democratic movements.'"

Khatami In?

A former aide is predicting that Muhammad Khatami will run for President of Iran:

"Now after another prominent moderate, former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi, appears to have backed out, Khatami will almost certainly run, says former aide Mohammed Ali Abtahi.

"'My prediction is that within a few days President Khatami will announce his candidacy,' Abtahi said in a phone interview. 'Khatami cannot afford not to run. He has to run now.'

"Khatami, 65, has repeatedly been quoted as saying that either he or Mousavi would run as a candidate for the reformists, as those within Iran's establishment who hope to broaden democracy and moderate the country's policies call themselves. News reports over the last few days have indicated that Mousavi might not run."

Khatami has previously said that he would only run if given assurances that he could carry out his agenda. If such assurances have been given, I'd love to hear about it.

Israeli Campaign Ads

Lisa Goldman has a round-up of some Israeli campaign videos, most of which have English subtitles. The last one, from a party formed by the merger of a Holocaust survivors group with one seeking to legalize marijuana, is the sort of thing that could only happen in Israel.

(Crossposted to American Footprints)