Sing4Him
November 6th, 2008, 01:30 PM
Abu Hussein's invitation to Damascus
By Sami Moubayed
DAMASCUS - In the Muslim world, men take pride in their first born baby boy and they are often called "the father of X" for the remainder of their lives. In turn, first born boys are named after their grandfathers, and this explains why Syrians affectionately call Barack Obama "Abu Hussein" (father of Hussein).
He does not have a baby boy - just two beautiful girls - yet that doesn't really matter for the overwhelmed Syrians who woke up to hear the news coming in from Washington on November 5 that Barack Hussein Obama had become the 44th president of the United States.
As far as they are concerned, his father's name is Hussein and when Obama gets a baby boy, he is going to call him Hussein. That is the tradition in the Muslim world after all, and Obama comes from Muslim lineage in Kenya. Gamal Abdul-Nasser of Egypt was "Abu Khaled", Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is "Abu Hadi", Palestinian Liberation Organization head Yasser Arafat was "Abu Ammar" and for masses in the Arab world, Barack Obama is "Abu Hussein".
This terminology was coined by ordinary Syrians who watched the presidential race with enthusiasm - glad to see the end of President George W Bush.
All the same, Syrians have no illusions that the president-elect is going to be a savior for the Arabs. They hope that he will be more fair and even-handed when it comes to the Arab-Israeli conflict, and end the tension that started between Damascus and Washington under the Bush administration. They realize, however, that his election shows just how far America has come in terms of racial equality, and everybody in Damascus - young and old - is impressed.
In August, hosted by an American organization called Search for Common Ground, three Syrians went to Washington and met with think-tanks, newspapers and loyalists of Obama, discussing ways to move bilateral relations forward once Bush leaves the White House.
For the past 12 months, Damascus has welcomed a wide array of US officials who are either members of the Obama team or supporters of the new president. All of them came carrying a ............
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JK07Ak02.html
By Sami Moubayed
DAMASCUS - In the Muslim world, men take pride in their first born baby boy and they are often called "the father of X" for the remainder of their lives. In turn, first born boys are named after their grandfathers, and this explains why Syrians affectionately call Barack Obama "Abu Hussein" (father of Hussein).
He does not have a baby boy - just two beautiful girls - yet that doesn't really matter for the overwhelmed Syrians who woke up to hear the news coming in from Washington on November 5 that Barack Hussein Obama had become the 44th president of the United States.
As far as they are concerned, his father's name is Hussein and when Obama gets a baby boy, he is going to call him Hussein. That is the tradition in the Muslim world after all, and Obama comes from Muslim lineage in Kenya. Gamal Abdul-Nasser of Egypt was "Abu Khaled", Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is "Abu Hadi", Palestinian Liberation Organization head Yasser Arafat was "Abu Ammar" and for masses in the Arab world, Barack Obama is "Abu Hussein".
This terminology was coined by ordinary Syrians who watched the presidential race with enthusiasm - glad to see the end of President George W Bush.
All the same, Syrians have no illusions that the president-elect is going to be a savior for the Arabs. They hope that he will be more fair and even-handed when it comes to the Arab-Israeli conflict, and end the tension that started between Damascus and Washington under the Bush administration. They realize, however, that his election shows just how far America has come in terms of racial equality, and everybody in Damascus - young and old - is impressed.
In August, hosted by an American organization called Search for Common Ground, three Syrians went to Washington and met with think-tanks, newspapers and loyalists of Obama, discussing ways to move bilateral relations forward once Bush leaves the White House.
For the past 12 months, Damascus has welcomed a wide array of US officials who are either members of the Obama team or supporters of the new president. All of them came carrying a ............
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JK07Ak02.html