Je suis un toubab?

Dakar, being the capital of Senegal and to some extent a regional West African capital (the Central Bank of the Community of West African States is here, as is the UN HQ) has a fair degree of internationalism. Though indigenous Senegalese comprise 99% of the country’s overall population, it is common to see non-blacks in downtown Dakar, not just as tourists but as residents as well. This is especially true for merchants of Lebanese extraction (mostly Shiites from South Lebanon) who occupy an enviable place as powerful businesspeople.

Most of these Arabs came to Senegal beginning in the 1930s, between the 2 World Wars when Greater Syria, as well as West Africa, were under French control. But even today, they are seen differently in the eyes of indigenous Africans, and not considered toubab (roughly translated: whitey).

So where does that leave me, as an American citizen of Arab extraction? They consensus seems to be mixed. Depending on how I am dressed, whether I am listening to my iPod, whether I am wearing sunglasses, and whether I am alone or in the company of others, I might be seen as a toubab or I might be seen as nar – the Wolof word for Arab (Wolof is the most prominent tribal language here).

Race is an issue here. Black Senegalese tell me, "oh, you don't have a thing to worry about if the police stop you in your car – they have a complex with white foreigners." On the other hand, a Lebanese friend who had some legal difficulties told me, "I could never get a fair judgment here, because of my skin color." No doubt, though, like many places in the world, discrimination in Senegal varies on a case-by-case basis.

Interestingly, the Senegalese President, the rather elderly Abdoulaye Wade, who strikes me as a very crafty diplomat, met his wife years ago while a student in France – she is a toubab of course. I found this interesting, and asked many Senegalese about whether it strikes them in any way that their head of state is married to a white foreigner. Former President Leopold Senghor was also married to a toubab. Does this indicate some kind of ethnic/racial identity crisis? The responses have been mixed. Someone forcefully made the point to me the other day when he suggested that it is because he married a white woman that Wade is President today. Some have supported the idea that it is an identity crisis and an inferiority complex that these African elites, who studied in France, felt the need to break away from their African roots in choosing mates.

But most seem to think this is a non-issue. I asked, what would happen in next year's hotly anticipated Presidential election if Wade's former right hand and Prime Minister, Idy Seck (who is married to a black Senegalese woman) decided to challenge his erstwhile colleague? Most seem to think that race would never become a campaign issue. I look forward to watching. And to figuring out if I'm ultimately a toubab or not.
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It's not the Pope, it's his translator

Pope Benedict XVI's September 12 speech at the University of Regensburg has generated some controversy, and provoked a largely negative response from Muslims around the world. However, the reaction has paled in comparison to that of the cartoon fiasco from several months ago. Why? Well, probably because the Pope is an intellectual, and though his speech did have some political overtones, as George Friedman elucidates, his remarks were very nuanced and not really suitable for media-ready sound-bytes. Honestly, how many of us thoroughly read and completely assimilated the entire content of the speech? There was nothing bluntly stated, as far as I can tell, and certainly nothing assailing Islam.

One colleague of mine, a fellow Arab-American Republican activist and a devout practicing Muslim, took umbrage with the speech, as he stated in the following email to a group of conservatives:

Let me start by saying that the stupid reaction of some Muslims to the ignorance of the Pope is unacceptable.

As for my thoughts about his comments...it is either ignorance on his part or a deliberate act to fuel a conflict between Islam and Christianity...I challenge him or anyone else to show me where in the Quran the words "holy war" are mentioned. IT DOES NOT EXIST.

First of all, he is right in the sense that the words "holy war" are written nowhere in the Koran. However, the word "jihad" is. Somehow, it has become an accepted fact that jihad translates to holy war. Suffice it to say: that is incorrect. I recall a great Star Ledger oped - a strident critique of terrorism - from last year by my friend Anisa Mehdi that addressed this topic.

Jihad is an Arabic word that roughly means "struggle" or "striving". Interestingly, it can also be given as a first name – someone named Jihad means "one who struggles" or "one who strives". There have been long books written about the various permutations of jihad and its historical overtones, but the word jihad is not uniquely Islamic. For example, during my last visit to Damascus, I recall a Syrian friend talking about the jihood (plural of jihad) of getting his factory up and running. In fact, plenty of Christian as well as Muslim Arabs have the first name Jihad.

But getting back to the Pope's speech, my friend was wrong to have characterized the Pope's remarks as ignorant. He cited the speech in English. However, the speech was given in German, and in the original speech, the Pope said, according the German section of the Vatican's website:

In der von Professor Khoury herausgegebenen siebten Gesprächsrunde (διάλεξις – Kontroverse) kommt der Kaiser auf das Thema des Djihād, des heiligen Krieges zu sprechen.

So he used the Arabic term. It was the English version on the Vatican's website (as well as the French and Italian versions), however, which improperly translated jihad as holy war.

In the seventh conversation (διάλεξις - controversy) edited by Professor Khoury, the emperor touches on the theme of the holy war.

Notice the explication used by the translator for the greek citation. Why was this not done for the arabic word جهاد‎ (jihad)? So the bottom line is: Cheers to the Pope for taking the high road and engaging the Islamic world in a sophisticated manner. Jeers to his linguistic team for their low-brow translation.

NOTE: I made an error in this post, which I explain in the comments section.
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Ahmadinejad joins me in Dakar

During my visit in April, Libyan leader Moamar Qadhafi came to Senegal for Independence Day, demanding reparations from France and suggesting that Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade should be president for life.

This time, still without a necktie, it's Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who descended upon Dakar en route to Cuba.

Wade has been a key intermediary between Iran and Europe. Why? Senegal is very pro-West; but also a Muslim nation.

And lookout America - he'll be in NYC for the UN General Assembly meeting that is coming up!
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Scott Rumana's Republican Report Card

It has now been about 3 months since the historic change of leadership in the Passaic County Republican Party, which swept Wayne Mayor and former Freeholder Scott Rumana into the Chairman’s slot in a decisive victory this June.

So...the "1st Marking Period" has ended, and Rumana earns a B+ for his performance so far.

First, the strong points. The increase in positive energy and enthusiasm among Republican activists has been dramatic. Ever since the election-night celebration at the Bonfire in Paterson, the sense of camaraderie has soared. Rumana's image has a lot to do with this. He has done a great job of showing GOP insiders that he cares about the well-being of the Party, and that he is willing to listen and cooperate with anyone who has positive contributions to make.

Another strong suit of Rumana's is the faith that he has placed in the democratic process. It is not easy to take over as captain of a sinking ship, plug the holes, try to recruit a new crew of good sailors, turn the ship around amidst rough waters and a rocky coastline, plus graciously bid farewell to VIP passengers and onboard new ones – all at the same time. When all 3 original Freeholder candidates dropped out, it would have been easy for Rumana to act like a dictator and strong-arm the Executive Committee into appointing staunch personal loyalists into the slots.

But he didn't do that. Each time, he sought out new candidates, presented their credentials to the Executive Committee, and actually convened the entire County Committee to nominate and approve the replacement candidates: Erik Lowe, Arturo Soto, and Keith LaForgia. Consequently, the Passaic County Republican County Committee (newly elected) has seen more activity in the past three months than in the past 3 years combined. This is outstanding.

However, not everything has been so rosy. Rumana has fallen short in his outreach efforts to key Republicans. Several elected officials have been disappointed in Rumana's failure to keep them abreast of changes or even presenting a specific plan of action for the medium term. Additionally, some observers seem to think that Rumana does not have his heart totally in the job, based upon his behavior at Executive Committee meetings. Others feel he has been indecisive and has lacked confidence, allowing himself to be bothered by critiques of those who would like to see him fail.

Certainly, cleaning up the mess left by the previous regime has not been easy, and there has been ongoing legal maneuvering. However, even those happiest to see change have remarked that gleefully sharing details of the legal minutiae has become tiresome. I was told that former Vice-Chair Jan Sandri, who ran for Freeholder in 2003 and is now the Little Falls GOP Municipal Chair, at the last Executive Committee meeting, basically said something to the effect of, "Can we move on now?"

Frankly, Sandri is right. Few were more vocal than I in castigating the previous leadership. But they've been soundly defeated, and yes, it is time to move on now. The time for bashing them has long passed.

Given these factors both positive and negative, Rumana would have earned a solid B. But at the end of the day, money talks. Word on the street is that the fundraiser held in late August brought in $35,000. That's a huge improvement when benchmarked against past performance. It's a major step forward and shows that Rumana has engendered significant confidence in the Passaic County Republican Party. Long overdue. We are on the right track.

ps: I was informed the day after posting this that the net intake from the fundraiser was not $35,000 but rather $50,000. By the way, the person who informed me of this also accused me of "grade inflation".
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