The City I Love
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Well well, I have been tagged to talk about the city I love.
I don't know if small towns qualify, I assume they don't, so I will not talk (extensively) about my favourite town Shusha in Occupied Azerbaijan, with its breathtaking beauty and simplicity, its pulverized roads and empty streets, the few Ladas that are a luxury for the few inhabitants that have been able to appropriate them from the
Got carried away for a bit there, didn't I...
Back to the city I love... I suppose it'd have to be Las Vegas. OK, OK, I am joking. What were you thinking, geez, these people have the statue of Lenin in the heart of capitalism. They must've been truly pissed off to do something like that. Ideological bankruptcy calls for desperate measures and equally desperate symbolisms.
So it is Beirut...
- بيروت العروبة - The Beirut of (the dead) Arabism whose inhabitants insist that Arabism is alive and kicking while chanting "Allah, Hariri, Tarik Jdide" or "Allah, Nasrallah, wl Dahiye kella" or "Aounak jeyi min Allah?" etc etc. Lest you think we are not diverse, we also are home to a sizeable population of clowns who insist Beirut is (not was) Phoenician, and that Lebanon is god's chosen country. Not only did these people prove that god exists, they also know that it is god's chosen country. Tell me, how, how? can one not love this city?
- بيروت "أحبّ الحياة"ا - The Beirut of "I love life". Oh yes, you didn't know? We love life. Wallah.
- بيروت الدراجات الناريةا - The Beirut of motorcycles. If you want to know what it feels like to want to kill someone, all you have to do is spend a few hours (if that) on the roads of Beirut, and then you will want to run over every single motorcycle-rider you see. Another great product of a great (god's chosen, don't forget) country.
- بيروت "وقعت بالجورة اليوم"ا - The Beirut of "My car fell in the pothole today". Not only do we love life, we also like it rough... Life, or rides, I mean.
- بيروت المطبّاتا - The Beirut of speedbumps. That's right, we only recently discovered speedbumps, so we are experimenting with them on every street.
- بيروت أضواء وإشارات المرورا - The Beirut of traffic lights and signs. "It's red, what was red again? Green is stop, red is go, right? Yalla go! No one stops anyway!" or "ya Elie, turn off those traffic lights, and call them to send a 'traffic policeman' to take care of the traffic!"
- ا"فلّوا من بيروتنا"ا- "Leave our Beirut". Didn't you know? Beirut belongs to some Lebanese and not others. To find out if you qualify for ownership or not, please contact Walid Eido at home (+961) 1 782782 or at his office (+961) 1 982100. But be careful, if you scare him, he will sell his blood to buy weapons. Don't come back (if you live to tell the tale) and tell me I didn't warn.
- بيروت العنصريةا - The Beirut of racism. "I got me a Sri Lankan maid today", "I retrieved my escaped maid today", "dirty Syrians", "dirty Palestinians", and the latest trend but definitely not a new phenomenon, "dirty Shi'ite".
- بيروت "راحت الكهرباء\إجت الكهرباء"ا - The Beirut of "the power went off, the power is back on". We even love life (and especially so) under candlelight.
- Did I say Beirutis love life? Yeah, we are unique. Really.
- The falafel mixed with the (literally) breathtaking air of Beirut. You just can't not enjoy it.
- The cars that have passed the 'mecanique' test I don't know how. I think it's part of the I love life campaign.
- The 'jeeps' that are used for driving 'tests'.
- The non-standard-size official cards, a driver's license card being twice as big as the ID card.
- The $200 that I have to pay to get a Lebanese passport that Bush, Condie, et al would gladly use for toilet paper.
- The 'students' who come to university dressed up as if they are going to a wedding party.
- The 2-lane bridges that take more than 4 years to construct.
- The people who jump in front of your car trying to cross the street.
- The people who run across the highway, when the pedestrian bridge is only 2 meters away from them.
- Oh, we need "I love life" billboards to remind us that we love life. Yes, Beirut is so good that sometimes we forget that we love life. I mean, who wouldn't get carried away?
So what should I do now, tag other people with the same question? Sasa? How does it go?
Edit: I tag... um.. the guys (?) over at Remarkz (any taker? Bech? something fun for a change, eh? :P ), MFL, and Mr. Propagandist. :P
Labels: azerbaijan, beirut, i love life, lebanon, tagged
posted by Angry Anarchist @ 2/25/2007 04:00:00 PM,
21 Comments:
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At February 26, 2007 at 12:53 AM,
sasa said...
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Yes, yes, name some other bloggers who you think might write something as interesting as you have, about the city they love.
And this is my little thank you to you. -
At February 26, 2007 at 1:18 AM,
Angry Anarchist said...
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Thankss Sasa. :)
Btw, I noticed you posted the screenshot, I didn't know my corner ribbon covered the welcome text, it doesn't on my computer, on both Firefox and IE. Are you using some other browser? Or maybe another resolution? -
At February 26, 2007 at 1:25 AM,
sasa said...
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I'm using Apple's Safari (my Apple is my baby)...yes miss, it covers. It's like graffiti over your beautiful art.
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At February 26, 2007 at 2:00 AM,
bech said...
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hey didn't quite get this tag thing..
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At February 26, 2007 at 2:28 AM,
Angry Anarchist said...
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bech the only explanation is that it's too simple for us that's why we didn't understand it. :P
i'm too humble aren't i...
anyway, it's like this, someone 'tags you' with a question or topic, and you answer/discuss that, and in turn you ask some other people to discuss that, so it's sort of like sharing thoughts on something or reading others' experiences... -
At February 26, 2007 at 8:25 PM,
said...
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Yes, Shushi is desolate - but of course nationalism can only explain part of it. Perhaps the Azeri forces in Shushi launched artillery and rockets against the civilian population of Stepanakert below in a sincere effort to convince those pesky Karabagh Armenians that they had no reason to seek self-determination. They would have been protected as their brothers and sisters in another small town in Azerbaijan called Sumgait had earlier been.
Indeed on your next trip to Baku you could visit the thriving Armenian community there including the boarded-up historic Armenian cathedral in central Baku which may be turned into a mosque or a library or maybe a market - surprisingly there are not many Armenians left in a city which was largely built by them.
Finally you could visit the thousands of well-preserved ancient cross-stones in Julfa, Nakhichevan. Too late, apparently Azerbaijan does not believe in multi-culturalism or in preserving heritage sites.
Yes, had the Armenians only embraced their Azeri comrades, rejected “nationalism” and opted for an anarchist wonderland all would have ended well. History has proven this to them time and time again. -
At February 26, 2007 at 9:11 PM,
Angry Anarchist said...
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Oh for goodness's sake....
I will not even merit your reply with a reply.
Go bask in your victory, dude. It is indeed very glorious. I am sure the people living in Nagorny-Karabakh really appreciate your free spokesperson services.
Or listen to Karnig Sarkissian. Or something. -
At February 27, 2007 at 1:22 PM,
Unknown said...
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Great response!!
Technical question: how did post a picture in your template? i am trying to do it but i can't:'( -
At February 27, 2007 at 2:24 PM,
Angry Anarchist said...
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Hello my favourite Arabist ;)
Well it depends on the template, some templates have a header image, yours doesn't have it. You can always modify it but you need to do some coding for that, to get the sizes right, or you can get a new header-inclusive template ready-made and upload a pic on photobucket.com and link to it in the template. ;) -
At March 1, 2007 at 12:22 AM,
bech said...
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re the tag thing, sounds like a waste of time to me
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At March 1, 2007 at 12:24 AM,
Angry Anarchist said...
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Eh, whatever you say.
No one's holding a gun to your head or holding you as a human shield to use the more popular terminology. -
At March 4, 2007 at 1:01 PM,
Moussa Bashir said...
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brilliant.
nice touch with those numbers, like a perfectly tasty tartar or taratour on a falafel sandwich. -
At May 4, 2007 at 10:40 PM,
said...
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What a crock of bullshit (the part about Artsakh at least).
"I will not even merit your reply with a reply."
Because you cannot reply to him or her because your anti-establishment attitude shields you from acknowledging what happened to the Armenians in Baku and Sumgait.
Honestly, Beirut is the best place for you because you seem to have an appetite for the Orient and where else to satisfy that hunger?
I am glad you have renounced your Armenian-ness. Stick to and stay in Lebanon. Then again, who needs anarchists there anyway? -
At May 15, 2007 at 6:18 PM,
said...
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I'm an Anarchist who also happens to be an Armenian. And I'm not a nationalist, so please don't write me off as you did the other Armenian dude.
But I should say that the issue of Artsakh (Karabakh) is a lot more complex then what you portray it to be. It is one of those issues that cannot be resolved within the framework of Statism and binary logic, and in many ways it was ignited by Statism when both communities were introduced to this alien concept.
With all responsibility as an anarchist to an anarchist comrade, I have to say to you that your treatment of this extremely complicated issue is not fair. It wasn't just nationalism that drove ordinary people (school teachers, doctors, peasants, labourers etc) to take up Kalashnikovs (well, in the beginning they didn't have even that). Of course, there was an element of nationalism (on behalf of people from the Republic of Armenia), but for Armenians of Karabakh it was a very genuine concern for survival... Yes! Those ordinary civilians took up arms to defend their families. What else would you do if you knew that innocent people of the same ethnicity as you were brutally massacred in another city (Sumgait) indiscrimitely like animals only on the basis of their ethnicity, immediately after which the autonomous status of Nagorno-Karabakh is being taken away by the crumbling Azerbaijani soviet government, and the troops are being sent in? What would you do when you know that the armies are moving in, while Moscow is keeping a cold shoulder? What? Organise a protest in the capital of the Soviet Police-State? War is a dirty business, it's like cleaning the toilets... I hate micki-mouse Holliwood representations of what it is like to be in a war. The moment the first bullet flies past you Nationalism, Statism, pride all that bull immediately flies out of the window. That's when you fight for very simple and primordial things: Life, Family, Survival... a very basic survival. War is an ugly thing - if you ask me I'd much prefer a non-violent civil-disobedience action Ghandhi-style, but what if you're thrown into a situation when you know that that mode of resistance simply won't work, what if you were confronted with a very real treat of your death and death or your family and your community... what would you do? I mean what would you do when confronted with such (as Hannah Arndt would call) Banality of Evil. I'm not asking you to answer this question - it is more a rhetorical question which to ask the reader to understand what was at stake. I don't know what I would do simply because (thank God) I'm not in that situation... and that's my answer.
A good example from from history is the Spanish Civil War. When Fascists took over and they started coming after anarchists and communists, do you think anarchists should have just just waited untill the fascists come after them?
Though the Karabakh liberation war was supported by the public sentiment in Armenia, there were actually very few people who went and fought there. And do you know how many people went from Diaspora? 10! Other then that it was fought out by simple ordinary Karabakh civilians driven to desperation of having no other choice but to fight.
As for the mosque in Shusha it was not subjected to demolition because of fear of retaliation from Iran. It was presented for the same reason the old Persian mosque stood in Erevan throughout Soviet era. There are other reasons for that. Same reasons why empty mosques in Limassol are still standing, and same reasons why Azeri semeterys are still there -- because people know that when the war is over people will come back. Armenians are very picky about destruction or desecration of holy buildings, even if it is not of their religion. For them, quite simply, it's a Taboo (with a capital "T") -- the line that divides (what they define as) civilization and barbarism.
This is what I have got to say, as I look forward to the times when Armenian and Azeri communities can start living side by side again in Karabakh that is free from Azerbajani state, free from Armenian state and free from global capitalism.
PS: by the way Alexander Atabekyan - the prominent anarchist who was active throughout Europe, a close friend of Kropotkin, the person who organised Kropotkin's funeral (whic was attended by 2,400,000 anarchists), and the person who is regarded as the last anarchist in Soviet Union... he was from Shusha.
PSS: by the way, what prompted you to go to Shusha? I mean how come? What's the connection? -
At May 15, 2007 at 8:13 PM,
Angry Anarchist said...
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Իրաւ Սասունցի ես ???
Կը ներես--Հայերէնով հարցման նշան չեմ կրնար դնել:
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I have done extensive research on N-K, and have written a paper on it.
I will share with you some parts that I find relevant, hoping that it'd answer your points.
__
The struggle was initiated by a wave of letters and appeals sent by Armenian elites to Moscow in 1987, followed by a mass petition signed by more than 75,000 Armenians in the Armenian SSR and N-K. The text of the petition offers a clear indication of the mentality that drove the first mass-mobilization movement, which was a decisive moment in the course of the crisis. It was this that gave the Armenian national movement a boost, and this in turn led to the hardening of feelings on the Azeri side, and the subsequent increase in nationalist feelings , brought about by perceptions of threat and the belief that the Armenian quest for self-determination was merely a disguise for the dismemberment of Azerbaijan. The strongly (albeit diplomatically )-worded petition – besides giving one a clear idea of Armenian grievances regarding the demographic situation – provides an insight into the role that historical experiences have played in the exacerbation of the N-K conflict. Part of the petition reads:
"Every year the Armenian population of Mountainous Karabagh is decreasing, since impossible conditions have been created for the actual masters of the land. Despite this, the number of Azerbaijanis is increasing, i.e., the number of Turks in Karabagh and even in Stepanakert. And in Shushi, the former capital of Karabagh, the Turkish population is reaching 95% of the total population."
In the above excerpt – and indeed throughout the war – the melting of ethnic identities and/or generalizations occupied the forefront of mobilization/justification rhetoric on both sides. For example, in this 1987 petition, no distinction is placed between “Turks” and “Azerbaijanis”. The demographic element and the exclusivist nationalist rhetoric are also significantly present throughout. One such example is the phrase used to refer to the Armenians of N-K, namely “actual masters of the land.” In other words, if the Armenians of N-K are the actual masters of the land, then the Azerbaijanis, or rather the “Turks”, are the foreigners and occupiers. This in turn sets the stage for justifying and legitimizing certain actions in the future. Indeed such demonization is a characteristic of almost all conflicts.
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In January 1988 a fresh attempt was made through legal means: a 100,000 signature petition was forwarded to Moscow, calling for a referendum to determine the status of N-K. These were followed by critical developments. In February of the same year the parliament of N-K met to discuss the question of reunification. The meeting was held in the absence of thirty Azerbaijani deputies, and it was decided that the region would be transferred to Armenia without finding it necessary to seek the approval of the AzSSR. Following a chain of developments, demonstrations and strikes were suspended until March 26 of the same year with Gorbachev’s promise to an Armenian delegation to solve the problem of N-K. It was during this crucial period that anti-Armenian pogroms in Sumgait took place.
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So I am afraid you have it wrong... :) Sumgait events did not take place before, but rather after, Armenian mobilization. War is hell, but massacres are not justified. Nor is ethnic cleansing. All Azeri refugees must be abl return to their homes in:
1) Areas around N-K occupied. The occupation must end.
2) Occupied N-K. The occupation must end.
3) The Republic of Armenia.
No justice, no peace.
That applies to all.
God -- if he or she exists -- has no chosen people. -
At May 15, 2007 at 10:34 PM,
said...
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ես չ'գիդեյ որ դու Հայես: Եվ երևալով շատ լավ գիդես պատմուտյան ջամանակագիծը:
Look, Most of the things you say on this topic I agree with:
God (who exists) has no chosen people (it's a contradiction in terms)
And I agree with the right to return!!! - (something that many Armenian nationalists would reject) But not into a land that is under Sovereignty of Azerbaijani state or Armenian state for that matter.
I cannot understand how you can call yourself an anarchist and at the same time defend an integrity of a state - and especially a state that even in the midst of this fragile situation stiil pours nationalist and racist propaganda and fuels the hysteria on both sides.
From the way that I see it the victory of Karabakh armenians is a victory of the principle of self-determination of minorities, which many anarchist thinkers starting from Bakunin onwards advocated. You, on the other hand, by calling it an "occupation" seem to advocate the opposing (Statist) principle of State-integrity.
Yes, war is ugly - it places people in situations where they find themselves doing things that defy their conceptualisations of civilization. It instills HATE... sheer hate... and I totally condemn attrocities from both sides. (in case you think I justify any of it)
You know the history well, and you will know that yes, Amenian mobilisation started before Sumgait... in fact there were incidencts back in 1967 and in 40s and the discontent with the way that the Transcaucasian Republic (which was a very interesting and fruitful project) was disected in 1936. It even goes back as far as the history of etablishment of the first republics in 1918, while the issue of the status of Nakhichevan, Syunik and Artsakh was desputed in skirmishes even back then, untill the establishment of the Self-proclaimed Republic of Mountainous Armenia, which was later overtaken by the Bolsheviks. In fact if you look at it in this way, you'll see that the Karabakh issue was never settled, while Bolsheviks only froze it rather then resolving it. Yes, it goes back in history and reaction breads reaction, hatered breads hatered - ad infinitum. The point is to look beyond all that, rather then take sides.
I hate Armenian nationalism - it's discourse is perverse and ugly. But despite all that I look at Artsakh and I do believe that Artsakh people have a very genuine right to self-determination outside of sovereignty of any other state.
Caucasus is a very complex region: 37 ethno-lynquistic groups and an intersection of many cultures, civilizations and empires. Neither Sovereign Statism as a mode of political organization, which is largely a European invention, nor Republicanist Parliamentaris are frameworks that hold anwers for this diverse and complex region.
I think Caucasus should be disected into as amany regions as possible (Abkhazia, South-Ossetia, North Ossetia, Adjaria, Javakhk, Chechnya, Dagestan, Artsakh, Kabarda, Balkariya and many others) and out of that multiplicity a new tendency for mutual cooperation, respect, solidarity and coohabitation should emerge. If Imperialists didn't have their hand in every corner of this beautiful region, it could grow into a very beautiful alternative to EU. -
At May 16, 2007 at 12:08 AM,
Angry Anarchist said...
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I cannot understand how you can call yourself an anarchist and at the same time defend an integrity of a state
Where did you see me defend the integrity of a state?
Calling for an end to Israeli occupation for e.g. is also defense of the integrity of a state? In what way does end to occupation equal the beginning of another state?? Occupation is about forcing one's will and authority (in a specific territory) -- in this case it happens to be Armenians doing it. Did I say it must be replaced with Azerbaijani occupation?
I am not a Bakuninist.
Self-determination for groups must not turn into dictatorship and another form of authority -- which it inevitably leads to. Self-determination must be done by getting rid of the structures that prevent it, rather than merely replacing it with others that prevent others from doing the same. Or else you are just repeating the endless nationalism mumbo-jumbo.
Btw -- what I said about the Mosques is true, it was said to me by more than one Armenian in N-K. I can tell you that it was quite an eerie feeling, you could see the pride and hatred in their eyes , simultaneously. They were proud of having done it. They bragged about it. One was a woman, who worked first as a nurse in the Shusha hospital and aided fighters, then as an intelligence agent. I can't remember her name for the life of me..
The other was a man who wore military fatigues (his name was Samvel, if I remember correctly), he is a captain, and he has one of the largest houses in Shusha, I believe... the house used to belong to an Azeri family and was taken over. I went to their house...
A third man who said the same, was someone I met on the street of Shusha, who told me in Hayasdantsi (and not Karabakhtsi -- because that's difficult to understand) Armenian that they had destroyed the other Mosques except for this.
I am not making this up. This is what they said. If they are lying, that's another issue altogether. But I am not sure why they would lie. What agenda would that serve? -
At May 16, 2007 at 9:22 AM,
said...
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I wasn't talking about Israeli occupation - which really is an occupation, and I don't think paralles can ge drawn so easily. In case of Israel it was centrally controlled and planned aperation of the Army, which continues as Israeli state policy - while in case of NKR, war of liberation was fought largely by civilian brigades (fedayeen)... and if you look closely at the politics of the region, you'll see that there is a growing rift between Armenia and NKR. But by calling NKR an "occupation" and saying that Armenians of NKR should return to pre-1989 conditions, is another way of defending the same position which is the position of the Azeri State.
I understand that, of course, NKR is not the anarchist paradise of self-governing Hamaynqs, but a heavily militarised dictatorship with pseudo-democracy -- but I think ay least that's a start and as time goes by, I think things in that respect could and would improve. An impossible position both morally and politically would be to renounce all that and return to conditions of Azerbaibani state official proposals, which hold no guarantee. I think declaration of and recognition of NKR as an independent republic with all Azeri refugees given the right to return (as citizens of NKR) with Proper provisions that would guarantee their security and rights -- I think that position is the way forward, not only for NKR but also all other regions in caucasus.
As for the bragging and being proud, I know what you mean and I agree totally. We went to live in Lori for a while in the village of my cousin's grandfather, who was a famous writer. And I used to take long walks and talk to peasants to find ot about their everyday life and their problems with local oligarchs. One evening a guest (a local peasant) came over and the discussion went into the waters of the late 80s early 90s period and he was describing how a gang of four local youth rounded up a very old Azeri woman, put her in a barrel, poured petrol over her and burnt her alive. As the guy was telling this, there was thing bragging pride in his words and e was condemning the fact that the four guys were later arrested and all given a life-sentence. As I was listening I couldn't help by get this feeling of nausea - I really felt that I was going throw up any moment, and it was made worse by his bragging and pride about it. So I asked him to think a bit deeper about his attitude - that there is nothing to be proud about, that such act and also such atitude on his behalf amounts to a defeat of Armenians as a civilization. Few minutes later, I could see his face change and his attitude with it. What I'm saying is, maybe the attitude that you're describing is not for ever that it can be changed.... after all blind Nationalism is almost always a result of economic conditions and poverty of political conditions.
Look, there are not many Armenian Anarchists around, but there are hordes and hordes of Armenian Fascists. Why don't you come and join as in our new forum http://z6.invisionfree.com/hraparak -
At February 16, 2016 at 2:47 PM,
Unknown said...
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شركة مكافحة حشرات بالدمام
شركة مكافحة حشرات بابها
شركة رش مبيدات بجازان
شركة مكافحه حشرات بالاحساء
شركة رش مبيدات بالرياض
شركة كشف تسربات المياه بجازان
شركة كشف تسربات المياه بخميس مشيط
شركة كشف تسربات المياه بابها
شركة كشف تسربات المياه بالدمام
شركة كشف تسربات المياه بالرياض
In conclusion, we accept a request for comment that we are happy to strongly your page at a reception prism -
At February 16, 2016 at 2:49 PM,
Unknown said...
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شركة تنظيف بابها
شركة تنظيف فلل بابها
شركة تنظيف بالدمام
شركة تنظيف منازل بالرياض
شركة تنظيف منازل بابها
شركة تنظيف منازل بخميس مشيط
شركة تنظيف شقق بالدمام
شركة تنظيف بجازان
شركة تنظيف بالاحساء
شركة اركان المملكه
تسليك مجارى بالدمام
شركة تسليك مجارى بجازان
شركة تسليك مجارى بابها
شركة نقل عفش بالرياض -
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