Comments on abufares said...the world according to a tartoussi: Desimplifying the Tartoussi Wedding

I remember about45 years ago I used to spend all s...

2007-12-29T21:35:00.000+02:00

I remember about45 years ago I used to spend all summer school vacation on the Syrian coast mountain, at a village called KENSEBA, I still remember the joifull and the graçe of wedding DABKE, with the men and women with the traditional clothing dancing gracefully, ,,,,,,,,,

It's really great place for wedding and honeymoon ...

2007-11-10T13:24:00.001+02:00

It's really great place for wedding and honeymoon destinations! I love it!

It's really great place for wedding and honeymoon ...

2007-11-10T13:24:00.000+02:00

It's really great place for wedding and honeymoon destinations! I love it!

Hi Kinano"Flashy and materialistic" or dull and ec...

2007-08-31T11:01:00.000+03:00

Hi Kinano

"Flashy and materialistic" or dull and ecclesiastic. That's what we have left to show after centuries of being of the most colorful and eclectic cultures.
...ikht hal zaman

The dark side of Globalization, I guess! Simplicit...

2007-08-31T04:03:00.000+03:00

The dark side of Globalization, I guess!

Simplicity is non-existent any more. Everything needs to be flashy and materialistic with no soul or spirit.

I pity the next generation

Kaya"People who dont know how to hold a fork , hav...

2007-08-30T13:26:00.000+03:00

Kaya
"People who dont know how to hold a fork , have parties with 3 forks on the table. Why?"

This is the only way the rest of us would know that they don't know how to hold a fork :-)

SAD, SAD, SAD...
Both of us should take it easy though. I'll try to cheer you up in my next post.

Ehwalla Ya Yazan Khetyarna.Let's hope that somehow...

2007-08-30T13:16:00.000+03:00

Ehwalla Ya Yazan Khetyarna.
Let's hope that somehow, someway, all hope is not lost.

This is a sad phenomenon that is taking place all ...

2007-08-30T12:07:00.000+03:00

This is a sad phenomenon that is taking place all over.
People who dont know how to hold a fork , have parties with 3 forks on the table. Why?
Because it shows that they spent so much cash.
The warmth of a hug and an embrace is replace with air kisses, and bitchy glances.
The poor men working in the middle east and under terrible conditions to make a dirham, and their families back home. Over fed and without morals or ethics.

You broke my heart with this post ya abu fares,ble...

2007-08-29T19:44:00.000+03:00

You broke my heart with this post ya abu fares,

bless you, and the few other people who still remember this mediterranean color of our towns.

Abu KareemThank you for dropping by.You know that ...

2007-08-29T09:41:00.000+03:00

Abu Kareem
Thank you for dropping by.
You know that there is a new pattern of marriage in small and medium Syrian cities. We, and I mean the average people of the sixties and seventies, are becoming extinct. A great percentage of us has left the country to settle in the Americas or in Europe. In places the size of Tartous and Lattakia we have become such a small group that most marriages within this socio-economic class are inter-city marriages. I'm reverting to my memory now and I believe that out of the last 5 weddings I've attended, 4 were between a Tartoussi and a spouce from another Syrian city (Lattakia, Homs, Damascus). If we don't do that we will suffer from inbreeding eventually.
Am I making sense or is this statistically insignificant. I have the gut feeling that there is a pattern here.

Hi Gray FoxIt's more important that people of your...

2007-08-29T09:31:00.000+03:00

Hi Gray Fox
It's more important that people of your generation realize the dangers and prepare to continue the fight. What remains of our way of life is seriously under threat.
You, of all people, should be able to do a great job.
Hit'em were it hurts most... in the balls.

Abu Fare,With the title of your post, I was expect...

2007-08-29T05:23:00.000+03:00

Abu Fare,

With the title of your post, I was expecting the typical funny and irreverant Abu Fares post. Instead, I got this no holds barred, slap-down of a social critique.

I loved it! It was powerful, elegant and as with everything you write, from the heart. I was cheering you on with every rhetorical punch.

Between the Nouveaux Cons, the Nouveaux Islamists, the Nouveaus sectarianists and the souless Nouveaux riche, the average Levantine is screwed.

Patience my friend is all we have. History proves that such extremism eventually self-destructs. Unfortunately, I am not sure it will happen in our lifetime.

well as you and your readers saida bunch of asshol...

2007-08-29T04:49:00.000+03:00

well as you and your readers said
a bunch of assholes are taking over this fucking world.
call it globalization , call it standardizing people of the earth , but the result that some new habits are coming to make everyone alike so money will go to those harvesters
and actually to make it worse , it's affecting everyone even in the latest fragile pieces of humanity and simplicity :(
but the good thing , that there are still people like you holding up to the remaining beautiful things in this world :)

Saint Ya SaintI knew how it was, well at least I w...

2007-08-28T18:37:00.000+03:00

Saint Ya Saint
I knew how it was, well at least I was conscious of my surroundings by the mid sixties. Men and boys were well mannered without the pretext of religiosity. Women were chaste without the need for a veil. Islam has been the major religion of the Levant for hundreds of years. Throughout its presence, it (Islam as a religion) did not impose a strict code of behavior on its own adherents or followers of other religions. What has become of us now? Where did this mass hysteria emanate from? Is it a natural response to the failed and impotent despotic powers controlling the entire Middle East since WWII? Has it gained more ground due to the unjustified meddling, raping, maiming and killing inflicted on us by the Crusading "Nouveaux Cons", to borrow Rime's excellent coin word?
Both of the above for sure. But how to get out of this situation? How to reverse the process of social demotion? I hope we find the answers before it's too late.

KJI always enjoy your thorough comments. When you ...

2007-08-28T18:24:00.000+03:00

KJ
I always enjoy your thorough comments. When you posted about guilt I was already in the process of writing this one. I felt then that there are so many parallel lines between our posts in spite of their apparent differences. Politicians and preachers in particular play the guilt trip so well, I wholeheartedly hate them for it.
What pisses me off is that under normal circumstances, politicians use their Machiavellian reasoning to step on the shoulders of the average person in their relentless climb to the "top". But preachers, damn it, get God Almighty involved to advance their status. Preachers too are slave to Money & Power. Albeit their stinky conscience and exposed tactics they still find believers, millions of them... And they are taking over the fuckin' world.

WassimThank you for dropping by.What light? Or hav...

2007-08-28T18:16:00.000+03:00

Wassim
Thank you for dropping by.
What light? Or haven't you heard about rationing electricity during this summer...

Les Nouveaux Cons! How appropriate! Would you plea...

2007-08-28T18:15:00.000+03:00

Les Nouveaux Cons! How appropriate! Would you please consider writing an article with this title. What more inspiration do you need?
I thoroughly enjoyed the mustache piece you've pointed out, although it's depressing to know that I have no chance of being kissed by 50% of American women. I hope I fare better in Latin America. Is that a healthy feeling Rime? I mean I'm not really waiting to be kissed but I feel a whole lot better knowing that my prospects are high ;-)

Syrian BritI feel privileged that you've commented...

2007-08-28T18:11:00.000+03:00

Syrian Brit
I feel privileged that you've commented on my post withing minutes after publication.
Thank you for emphasizing the obvious, Tartous indeed was no more than an alibi to express a thorny point of view.
Indeed the dual assault targets our entire culture and raison d'etre.
Unfortunately, it seems that we're losing the battle (I'm an optimist so I didn't confess final and full defeat yet).

Oh Abu Fares, you have opened a deep bleeding woun...

2007-08-28T15:40:00.000+03:00

Oh Abu Fares, you have opened a deep bleeding wound in my heart toward my people who lost their soul. You reminded me with the old, gone, and dead traditions in my dad’s village 25 miles outside Damascus where I spent maybe one year or less there in my childhood. In my memories Back in fifties I still remember that cute simple surreal place where boys and girls used to roam together herding sheep, wearing loosely traditional cloths, showing their hairs, laughing, talking and disappearing in the sight with no fear from their parents of making a sin. This wonderful place now is the most prejudice, fanatic place, where family lives behind closed doors, each family lives in five stories building, usually the father and his eight of more children married all in the same building.

When they said "money is the root of all evil" it ...

2007-08-28T08:43:00.000+03:00

When they said "money is the root of all evil" it was the best thing since sliced bread.

My dear Tartoussi, all what you speak of, the BS people, the power play, and, as Brit mentioned, besting other people, has all stemmed up from an evolved psychology of human beings.

As the world moved forward through the early 1900s and then early 1960s there has been a great socioeconomic change universally. With all countries either gaining from the Wars or losing, the world has become significantly financially divided. The governments that got the better end had no more reason to spend on making ammo and instead started creating ridiculous things to streamline our lives. The countries that got the bitter end of the bargain had its citizens evolve into thieves, greed and potential terrorists to cope with the harsh situations.

Years later, people decided that "we are all one". While it is a lovely concept - because, indeed, we were all one before the Wars - those very people decided that "one" means them and everyone should be the same. Coining "globalization" they set on a (dare I say) Crusade to convert each tradition to their own, in order to unify the universe under one "culture" and therefore the world will be an easier place to deal with.

This exposer was welcomed by a lot of people (certainly, the underprivileged would love to mingle with their counterparts), but there were people who resisted. Of those, some tried to maintain their culture by resisting outside influence (either by banning products, exposure, or simply preaching social standards). Others though took up the coat of arms and decided that nothing would resist this influence except by preaching rigorously the concepts that the country in question held dear.

Seeing that people were quickly embracing the now-global ways of life and ignoring tradition (also called takhallof) these people decided to use the effective weapon I talked about, guilt, along with the ever-popular "fear". Hence, the Neo-everythingYouMentioned groups came up and are now struggling.

But, like Syrian Brit said, everyone wants to best the other - which is the result of our psyche evolving due to globalization. Since "we are all the same" now, people do not feel different anymore, and hence the only way to stand out is to have "more" of the same thing. More money, more fame, more cars, more women, more parties, more more more.

The Neos also, previously united in their campaign, want to be distinguished as the "sole" NeoThing that should exist, so those, too, end up fighting.

The result is a world where old people are glad they are barely living in because they will die soon before it gets worse.

It's all going to hell in a handbasket. Will the l...

2007-08-28T02:31:00.000+03:00

It's all going to hell in a handbasket. Will the last person in Syria please remember to switch off the light?

As usual, my friend Syrian Brit shamelessly stays ...

2007-08-28T01:54:00.000+03:00

As usual, my friend Syrian Brit shamelessly stays one step (or more) ahead of me at all times, writing things I wanted to write myself. :)

I agree with both of you of course, and love the last paragraph. In fact, I call the Neocons (here and there, and not just the religious nuts) Les Nouveaux Cons as well. In French, it's much more insulting.

But I've come on a much more urging mission: Abufares, I couldn't help but think of you when I saw the title of this article, so I read it (in spite of my position on said facial hair) because of the delightful post you had written on the subject some time ago. Apparently, the reinforcements are coming. Enjoy.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/26/wtache126.xml

My friend Abu Fares,The depressing picture you pai...

2007-08-27T21:53:00.000+03:00

My friend Abu Fares,
The depressing picture you paint is true in other Syrian cities, as you note yourself.. It is probably no more true than in Damascus. where wedding parties have turned from a joyful celebration of the union of two lives, to a brash, unashamed competition to out-flash and out-spend evrybody else's party!..
The other extreme is also quite common.. and the stern religious weddings seem to take all the joy out of the occasion!..
What a sad, sad state we have reached...