As major media outlets tried piecing together scattered battlefield reports from Libya, and the possibility of a US-led intervention, others were buzzing with satirical and sartorial perspectives….
A R A B I C A ارابيكا
By Kristen Gillespie
LIBYA LITE
As major media outlets tried piecing together scattered battlefield reports from Libya, and the possibility of a US-led intervention, others were buzzing with satirical and sartorial perspectives….
*The inevitable YouTube clip “Hitler Gaddafi” has arrived, with the voice of a Gaddafi rant running over footage of an Adolf Hitler speech. “He is a crazy person,” one person commented.
*Al Arabiya posted a feature called “The clothing of Gaddafi: Strange accessories and a variety of designs.” The network featured a video montage of Gaddafi’s dubious yet often unforgettable duds, including a clip of the Libyan leader from last week looking in the mirror and posing in the moments before a speech. He is seen buttoning and unbuttoning the top of his ensemble and modeling each look. “It would be difficult to separate the Libyan leader from his physical appearance,” the article noted. “The changes in his clothes reflect the changes in his ideas.”
ARAB UPRISING: JOBS
*The Gulf Cooperation Council is considering a “Marshall Plan” to improve living conditions and job prospects in Bahrain and Oman, Kuwaiti paper Al-Qabas reported, citing “high-level sources.” Both countries face high rates of youth unemployment, which has helped spark uprisings against the regimes in other Arabic countries.
ARAB UPRISING: STOCKS
*Recent protests rocking the Gulf states have sent regional stock markets on a downward spiral. The BBC Arabic reported that Saudi Arabia’s market touched its lowest point since November 2008 with the headline: “Saudi Arabia’s stock market drops amidst fears that protests move to kingdom.”
ARAB UPRISING: POWER
*A new Facebook group calls for the creation of a constitutional monarchy in Jordan, which could effectively strip King Abdullah of his ultimate authority over any and all matters of state. The group’s mission statement echoes the demands of the street protesters and organized opposition. The formation of a constitutional monarchy will “enable the Jordanian people to recover the sovereignty over their homeland, and so the king shall be head of state…and should be spared day-to-day running of the country.” The king’s role would be relegated to serving as a “reference, a balance between different powers and a guarantor of security.”
KICKER TWEET
*@Randa_Mohammad asks: The Sheikh of Al Azhar Islamic university was handing out fatwas on Libya as if they were handfuls of jasmine, yet where were you, Sheikh, when Egyptians were in Tahrir Square…?”
March 2, 2011
photo credit: illustir