Being Gay and African have for long been considered taboo in many African countries. Even in present day emotions runs high when it comes to homosexuality and in the past week attempts on the lives of homosexuals in Africa have been reported yet again. Having travelled to some of these intolerant countries I must say I enjoyed the diversity of people, cultures and stunning fauna and flora but in the same breath found the festering fear, hatred and concealed homophobia disturbing. I have always researched the country I am to visit stance on homosexuality to prepare myself for any potential problems I may encounter – an essential task for any gay traveler. Anyone planning on visiting Africa here is a brief breakdown of homophobia on the continent and also asks the question: Are you prepared to die because of what you are?

First with the good news, African countries where homosexuality is legal for both Gays and Lesbians are South Africa, Rwanda (for now), Réunion, Madagascar, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Central African Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Côte dl’voire, Cape Verde and Benin. Queerly, in some African countries homosexuality between two men are illegal but lesbianism is not. Therefore, for all our dykes out there it’s safe to visit Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Swaziland. Evidently two women engaging in sexual acts are far less “unnatural” and more palatable in these countries which led me to infer that these laws were drafted by chauvinistic heterosexual bigots harboring sexual fantasies about threesomes with a lesbian couples and repressing their own flaming homosexual desires.

In some African countries homosexuality is illegal but not strictly enforced. In these countries being gay is unlawful but would not necessarily see you end up in jail or fined. Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho, Seychelles, Mauritius, Comoros, Angola and Mali are such countries. Even though these countries don’t strictly enforce these laws it by no means suggest that gay travelers should take unnecessary chances or risks, best be cautious and discreet. In other African countries these laws are enforced and the penalties are less harsh, in a few the maximum prison sentences are up to 3 years. These countries include Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Guinea, Liberia, Burundi and Botswana.

African countries best to avoid on your travels where the prison sentences are more than 5 years are Libya (up to 5 years), Gambia (up to 14 years), Nigeria (up to 14 years), Senegal (up to 5 years), Cameroon (up to 5 years), Djibouti (up to 12 years), Eritrea (up to 10 years), Ethiopia (up to 5 years), Kenya (up to 14 years), Zambia (up to 15 years) and Zimbabwe (up to 10 years). In these countries the reality of imprisonment are very real especially for their citizens. How these nations believe that homosexuals will be rehabilitated of their sexual preference in prison boggles the mind. Yet each year homosexuals go to jail and each year the fear grows.

Life imprisonment and the death penalty for the “crime” of homosexuality are still enforced in Africa. It’s frightening that the sentence of life imprisonment is still upheld in Tanzania and Uganda. Even more horrifying is the fact that in Sudan, Mauritania and Somalia the death penalty for homosexuality are still a legitimate sentence and enforced. These 5 African countries must be the worst offenders of human rights abuses towards homosexuals in Africa. However, Uganda tops my top 10 list of worst offenders. Not only is life imprisonment not enough now they also want to enforce the death penalty. As many know Uganda has an Anti-Homosexuality Bill which they hope to pass in their parliament. This bill has also been called the Genocide Bill as effectively it calls for the eradication of all homosexuals and HIV+ people in Uganda. Should this bill pass the consequences are dire and many people will die because they are gay.

Africa still has a long road ahead moving from a dark continent of intolerance and homophobia to a continent of peace and unity; Slowly but surely countries are enlightened and its people’s eyes are opened to new possibilities and a brighter futures. Luckily, I live in one such country on the southernmost tip of Africa. Being a South African I can’t honestly say I am proud of our neighboring fellow Africans. I don’t approve of their ancient laws and practices victimizing and persecuting my fellow gay brothers and sisters. I don’t condone the silence of the international community when human rights abuses occur in Mother Africa. Change does not happen overnight and neither can it succeed in silence. So there you have a breakdown of homophobia on the African continent. Should you be travelling to any of these countries be safe and be warned.

This is one from my one and only visit to Egypt. I was walking along the street from the ship towards the town. There were several shops where people were selling their wares. One leather shop had two nice looking guys who were working there. One asked if I wanted to come in and look around. He wasn’t bad looking so I went in and looked around. There were actually several nice looking jackets. He said there are some others upstairs if you would like to look. Already he had rubbed up against me several times. We went upstairs and he showed me several jackets and asked if I would like to try one on. So I said yes.

Well he helped me put in on and when he was behind me he rubbed his crotch against my ass. At first I thought well maybe this was an accident. When I tried on the next one and the same thing happened I knew that he was after something. When he was helping me with another one I brushed my hand against the front of his pants. I could feel that he was either getting hard or was already hard. So I kind of casually rubbed my hand against the front of his pants some more and yes he was hard. He asked me if I liked what I felt and I said yes it feels very nice. He said that he could not do anything just then as his boss was due back, but asked if I could return either later that night, or the next morning around 10 as he would be alone with the other guy who was working with him then. I said I would return in the morning. But he let me feel his hard cock through his pants. It felt like it may be a big one – but you know that when it is hidden it is not really possible to be sure, especially when it was just feeling, not stroking it or grasping it through the cloth.

I went back at the mentioned time the next morning. He was working with his friend. He came up to me and said lets look at the coats upstairs. We went up and he then said that it would cost money if I wanted to do anything. I said, well I guess I will go. He is like, what do you mean. Yesterday you said you would like to do something. I said yeah I would, but I am not going to pay for it. He said come on just $40 dollars. I said no way, and started to walk towards the stairs. Ok he goes, how about $25? I said I am not paying anything. Please I just need to make some money he says. I told him I did not have that much money on me. Well how much do you have? I said only about $10. (Well that was partly true as I had $10 in one pocket!) Ok then he said just give me the $10. I still did not want to pay and I kind of hesitated.

Finally he said please just $10. So I said ok. We went to a part of the upstairs where no one who came up the stairs would be able to see us. I asked what we were going to do. He said you can either suck me or I will fuck you. Well that was an easy decision as I have told you before the only one who fucks me is someone who I have a lot of feelings for, and this guy was not one of those. So I told him to drop his pants, but he said no we just can take it out and you can suck it. I said at least undo the button and give me some room to work. So he did, but would not pull them down at all, just the button and zipper down and spread the jeans open. I was somewhat disappointed when his dick popped out – he had no underwear on. It was not as big as I had expected. So I started to suck on it, running my tongue under his foreskin and sliding the whole thing in my mouth. It was about 5 ½ inches long, and not too thick. I played with his balls, and tried to suck them, but he said – no just the cock and hurry before someone calls. Real romantic right?

So I said okay, but let me know when you are going to come, as I will not swallow. He said where am I going to come? I said I do not know, but it will not be in my mouth. He said ok I can come on the carpet. So I went back and really started to suck, playing with his nuts as I took the cock into my mouth. Soon he said oh yeah I am almost there. So I took his dick out of my mouth and jerked him about three times and he shot off. Not a big load, but fun to watch it shot. He shook his dick, cleaned up the come and said thanks. He did not even feel me or anything. I was so hard and said can you do anything for me. But he said no as his boss was due back. I asked about later, but he said no as the boss would be there all day. Oh well at least I had had some fun, even if I did not get off.

Hans had been attracted to Arab men for as long as he could remember. He always fantasized about what it would be like to serve one of those handsome masculine Arab men. Unfortunately Hans lived in a small village in Holland were not many Arabs were living, and so he decided to go on a trip to Cairo, all by himself, to explore sex with Arab men. Hans had never been in an Arab country before so when he arrived in Egypt he had no idea what to expect, when to expect it, and who to expect it from.. As soon as Hans arrived at his hotel a handsome staff member approached Hans and said: ‘My name is Mohammed. I will carry your luagage to your room. Would you follow me please?’. Hans felt drawn to the handsome Arab straight away and appearantly the feeling was mutual because as soon as they entered the hotel room Mohammed shamelessly revealed a HUGE Arab Monster cock. ‘You’re gonna be my slave bitch. Undress yourself, hurry up gay!’

It was only a matter of minutes before Hans found himself bound, gagged, blindfolded and being raped by Mohammed’s fist-thick Arab cock. After Mohammed dumped his first gigantic cumload in Hans’s whoreass he started to abuse Hans even more violently. ‘Did you think that I was done with you, sissy boy?’. Hans was about to answer that question when he felt how Mohammed rammed his big fist up Hans’s cum-filled boybutt. When Mohammed pulled back his Arab fist from Hans’s ass again he commanded Hans to lick the cum of his fist. ‘Lick my Arab cum bitch, eat it’. While Hans was eating the cum from Mohammed’s fist he felt Mohammed’s hard Arab horse cock entering his raped asshole again. Mohammed fucked Hans even harder and deeper this time and just before Mohammed filled Hans’s ass with a second cumload he pulled Hans’s head towards him by his hair and whispered in his ear: ‘I hope you’ll enjoy your stay in Cairo. I will be visiting your room every day and you better make damned sure that you will be here for me’.

More..

A crackdown in Egypt destroyed a vibrant gay community and sparked a worldwide protest.

For “security reasons,” New York police ordered the crowd of 30 or so demonstrators to move away from the steps in front of the gray, concrete building where the Egyptian consulate is housed. On that early May weekend the New York demonstrators in Washington, London, Toronto, Montreal, Paris, and Berlin were marching in front of Egyptian consulates and embassies. The protests, organized by Amnesty International and Al Fatiha, a gay and lesbian Muslim organization, marked the second anniversary of an Egyptian police raid on a floating disco on the Nile, the Queen Boat, frequented by gay men. The May 11, 2001 early morning raid resulted in the arrest and subsequent trial of 52 men suspected of being gay.

The Queen Boat incident won international attention, thanks to outside pressure, including that of Amnesty International activists. Even Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak took note.

Less well known, however, is that ever since the Queen Boat affair, Egyptian authorities have mounted a sustained attack against gay men and what was once an emerging gay community. “The raid marked the beginning of a two-year public campaign of harassment, intimidation, and detention of those perceived to be gay,” said Michael Heflin, director of AIUSA’s OUTfront Program. “Beyond those originally arrested, scores have faced police surveillance, entrapment, drawn out trials, and long periods of detention. Some were rejected by their friends and family, lost their jobs, or were tortured. All were subjected to profound public humiliation, often in the Egyptian media.”

Just back from Egypt, where he spent three months documenting the abuse of gay men, Scott Long of Human Rights Watch took the megaphone and told a chilling story of how the police tortured and killed one young gay man and then, in a transparent attempt to make the death look like a suicide, threw his body off a building.

There are no hard figures, but Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch estimate that in the past two years, police have arrested up to 200 men for “debauchery,” the official codeword for homosexuality. Not all meet such a horrible ending as torture and death, but it is fair to say that most of their lives are shredded by the stigma of being gay in Egypt.

At the rally, I picked up a sign in red, hand-drawn letters, saying “Stop Torture.” The group walked in a circle as a woman with a pink triangle on her black T-shirt led us in chants she shouted through a megaphone. I used both hands to direct my sign toward the men in suits and women in head scarves who peered from the consulate offices on the second and third floors of the consulate.

As I walked, I thought of “Ahmad,” one of many young gay Egyptian men I met while on assignment in Egypt for three weeks last December.

Ahmad worked at his family business on the outskirts of Cairo, hauling and selling coal. He came from a very conservative family. His mother and three sisters cover their heads with the traditional Muslim scarves. His brother studied at Cairo’s premier Muslim university. Ahmad himself prays five times a day.

And yet he was not torn between his religion and his sexuality. He had found a way, as many spiritual people of any faith do, to bridge the gap between the teachings of his religion and his sexual identity. What Ahmad struggled with was not religion, but loneliness and fear.

There was a time, he told me, when he had been able to escape the strict bounds of his family life and go into Cairo to be in the company of men like himself. He recalled visiting the Queen Boat, before it was raided. It was “incredible” he said, as was the sense of community. There were private parties so large “you would have thought all of Cairo was gay.”

These were havens for Ahmad not because, as Egyptian authorities have said, they featured public sex and devil-worshiping. These were havens because gay men could come together and meet and socialize and even talk about building their own movement, making their own place in Egyptian society—something that the government might well have found more threatening than devil-worship.

But in the past two years, all of that has essentially vanished.

Today, Ahmad lives in near-isolation from other gay men, fearing that if he is found out, he will be arrested, his family shamed, and his life ruined. He is lonely enough that he risks the occasional walk along segments of the Nile where gay men still dare to venture in hope of finding one another.

But, he told me, he feels gay life is over in Egypt. He has no hopes of ever finding anyone to love. He dreams of leaving the country, but cannot afford it. And so he is stuck in Egypt and trapped by fear and loneliness.

That is why I went to the New York rally, and that is why it is so important that we tell the Egyptian government that what it is doing is intolerable. It is especially important for Americans to speak out because Cairo receives Washington’s second largest foreign aid package. We need to tell our own representatives that it is unacceptable to continue to support a government that practices such blatant human rights violations against gay men. But there is more we as Americans, and as gay people, can and must do. Many of my fellow gay Arabs come to this country specifically for the freedom to be gay, something they would never have at home. Yet I know that many of my fellow gay Arabs have been made unwelcome by gay Americans since September 11 cast suspicion on all Arabs. That must stop.

I know also that this is a difficult time for every Arab in the United States. We’ve all lived in fear and under suspicion since Sept. 11. But my fellow Arabs must stop trying to tell gay and lesbian members of our community that this is not the time for gay issues. Now more than ever is the time for fair-minded Arabs in America to embrace their gay and lesbian members and to stop forcing us into a lie of invisibility.

And we in America who are gay and who are Arab have a responsibility to speak up and to counter the worst of all lies spread by our enemies both here and abroad: that we as gay Arabs do not exist.

Egypt

Ahlan-Egypt
8, el-Gorfa el-Togareya Street, Mansheya
Alexandria, Egypt
Tel: +20 3 4830138; mobile +20 18 5166579
email: info@ahlan-egypt.com

Schools in Luxor and Alexandria

Arabic Language Institute (ALI)
The American University in Cairo

Full contact details here.

Summer and full-year intensives. Modern Standard and Egyptian colloquial at all levels.

Arabic Language School
Situated in downtown Cairo

Full contact details here.

Intensive short courses in Modern Standard and Egyptian colloquial Arabic.

Delta University
Demiatta International Road Delta Academy
Al-Mansoura, Egypt

email: klacey@binghamton.edu; tgomaa@binghamton.edu

Fajr Center for Arabic Language
Branches in Nasr City, Dokki and Ma’adi districts of Cairo.

email: info@fajr.com
Full contact details here.

Classical Arabic – various courses

Hedayet Institute
24 Road 107, Hadayek El Maadi
Cairo, Egypt

Tel: +202 5272190; +202 3583915
info@hedayetinstitute.com

Serves students visiting from abroad and the larger expatriate community in Egypt.

International Language Institute
PO Box 13 Embaba
4 Mahmoud Azmi Street
Madinet El Sahafeyeen
Cairo 12411, Egypt

Tel: +202 346 3087
email: ili@arabicegypt.com
Working hours: (Sunday to Thursday 9.00 am till 4.00 pm (GMT +2 hours)

Summer and full-year courses. Modern Standard and Egyptian colloquial.

IQRA Institute
Cairo
Tel: +201 011 68111
cairo@iqrainstitute.com

Languages Abroad
School in Mohandiseen district of Cairo

Contact via website

Jordan

CIEE Arabic Language Programme
Amman, Jordan

Contact via website

For students who already have a solid foundation in Modern Standard Arabic and seek to attain proficiency in the language.

CIEE Intensive summer Arabic programme
Amman, Jordan

Contact via website

For students who have a strong interest in developing a solid foundation in Modern Standard Arabic and seek to begin or accelerate their language proficiency

IQRA Institute
Amman

Contact via website

Languages Abroad
School in Amman

Contact via website

SIT Study Abroad (World Learning)
Amman, Jordan

Contact via website

Summer intensive field-based Arabic language immersion programme

University of Jordan Language Centre
University of Jordan
Amman 11942-Jordan

Tel: +962 6 5355000 ext. 23701, 23707
email: lancen@ju.edu.jo

A six-level intensive programme in Modern Standard for speakers of other languages: beginners (two levels), pre-intermediate, intermediate, upper-intermediate, and advanced.

Kuwait

Arabic Language Unit (Kuwait University)
PO Box 2575
Kuwait City 13026
Al Asimah
Tel: +965 481 0325

Year-long programme in Modern Standard. Number of places is limited.

AWARE Centre
PO Box 1613, Safat
Kuwait 13017

Tel: +965 533 5280
email : info@aware.com.kw

Lebanon

Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies
American University of Beirut
PO Box 11-0236 / CAMES
Riad El-Solh / Beirut 1107 2020
Lebanon
Tel: +961 1 350 000 Ext. 3845
email: cames@aub.edu.lb

Summer programme at six levels.

IQRA Institute
Beirut
Tallat Alkhayat, Beirut, Lebanon.
2044-6805 Beirut
PO Box: 113/5086
Tel: +961 368 4376
email: beirut@iqrainstitute.com

Saifi Institute
Chawkatly (Valli &Valli) Building, 3rd floor
Saifi – Charles Helou Ave.
Beirut, Lebanon
Tel: +961 1 560738; mobile: +961 70 832099
email: kifak@saifiarabic.com

Specialises in teaching Lebanese Arabic dialect and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) to non-native speakers working, studying, visiting Beirut

Morocco

Al Akhawayn University
Arabic and North African Studies Program (ARANAS)
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane
PO Box 104 Hassan II Avenue
Ifrane 53000, Morocco

Tel: +212 535 86 20 12
email: arabic@aui.ma

AmeriSpan
School in Fez

Contact via website

The Arabic Language Institute in Fez
B.P. 2136
Fez 30000
Morocco

Tel: +212 35 62 48 50
email: info@alif-fes.com

Three and six-week courses in all levels of Modern Standard Arabic and colloquial Moroccan Arabic throughout the year.

The Arabic School of Morocco
6, Rue Arabie Saoudite, Avenue Hassan II
Temara Centre – 12000
Morocco

Tel : + 212 19 37 90 38
email : info@arabicschoolmorocco.com

Dar Loughat
Place Moulay Mehdi 8, Rue M’hammed Benaboud
Tétouan, 93000, Morocco

Tel: +212 66 66 8 77 88
email: info@cclc-morocco.org

Courses in Modern Standard Arabic (written and spoken) plus Morccan colloquial

EasyGo Languages
School in Fez

Contact via website

Intensive Arabic Studies Programme (Tangier)
King Fahd Advanced School of Translation
Abdelmalek Essadi University

Modern Standard (at intermediate level), with elementary and intermediate Moroccan colloquial.

Languages Abroad
Schools in Fez and Rabat

Contact via website

Languages in Action
Schools in Fez and Tetouan

Contact via website

Oasis Language School
Bd My Rachid, 75
Ouarzazate 45 000
Morocco

Tel: +212 224 885155

Qalam wa Lawh
3 Ave. Ahmed Balafrej
Souissi, Rabat
Morocco

Tel: + 212 537 75 57 90
email: arabic@qalamcenter.com

Three levels of Modern Standard Arabic and colloquial Moroccan Arabic.

Sprachcaffe
Rabat – Souissi district

Contact via website

Subul Assalam Centre for the Arabic Language
Meknes way, Lotissement Al Hadika, Lot no.Q4/008
Fez, Morocco.

Tel: +212 5 35 63 18 62
email: info@sacalfez.com

Syria

Arabesk Studies in Damascus

Contact via website

Arabic Teaching Institute for Foreigners [Damascus]
Villat Sharqiyah, al-Mazza
Damascus, Syria
PO Box 9340

Tel: +963 11 613 2646; 613 3151
email: arabicinstitute@mail.sy

Beginning and intermediate classes in Modern Standard.

French Institute
Institut Francais d’Etudes Arabes Damas (IFEAD)
PO Box 344, Damascus, Syria

Contact via website

Modern Standard and Syrian colloquial. Intensive summer courses.

IQRA Institute
Palestine St.
Damascus, Syria

Tel: +963 9 366 6239
email: damas@iqrainstitute.com

IRAMES Group
Muhajerin 63, Afeef,
Sheik Muhiddin Bin Arabi
PO Box 36320
Damascus, Syria

Tel: +963 11 33 25 056; +963 11 334 14 25; mobile 093 520 480
email: maxos@hmaxos.com;hmaxos@yahoo.com; hmaxos@gmail.com; hmaxos@hotmail.com

Arabic language and cultural studies – cultural immersion programme. Spoken and written Arabic.

To Learn Arabic
Maher Alenezi
PO Box 31811
Damascus, Syria

Tel: +963 9 4444 0884
email: info@tolearnarabic.com

Tunisia

Bourguiba Institute of Modern Languages
47 Avenue de la Liberté
1002 Tunis

Tel: +216 71 832 418; +216 71 832 923
email: iblv@iblv.rnu.tn

Intensive summer courses and non-intensive courses the rest of the year. See review.

Learn Arabic in Tunisia
(Languages In Action)
School based in Sousse

Contact via website

Yemen

Badr Language Institute
PO Box 58049
Tarim, Hadramaut, Yemen
Tel: +967 5 418 370

Classical Arabic in a traditional Islamic environment

British Yemeni Arabic Institute
PO Box 16204
24 Hadda Street, Sana’a, Yemen
Phone/fax: 967 1 417 527
email: allardyce@y.net.ye

Center for Arabic Language and Eastern Studies (CALES)
Mahmood Basha Street
PO Box 15201
Sana’a, Yemen

Tel/fax: (967) 1-222275
email: cales@ust.edu or info@calesyemen.com

Languages Abroad
School in central Sana’a

Contact via website

Modern American Language Institute (MALI)
PO Box 11727
Sana’a, Yemen

Tel:: +967 1 441 036 (Saturdays to Wednesdays, 6 am. to 3:30 pm GMT)
email: admin@arabicinyemen.com

Saba Institute
Saila, next to the Mahdi mosque
PO Box 5481
Sana’a, Yemen
Tel: +967 1 273 200; mobile: +967 733 068714
email: contact@saba-institute.com

Sana’a Institute for the Arabic Language

PO Box 5734
Sana’a, Yemen

Tel: +967 1 284 330
email: info@sialyemen.com

Standard Arabic, Yemeni colloquial, specialist courses (e.g. medical, political Arabic), Arabic for Muslims, summer courses, calligraphy.

Yemen College of Middle Eastern Studies

PO Box 3671
Sana’a, Republic of Yemen

Tel: +967 1 270 200
email: PAL@ycmes.org

All levels of Modern Standard and Yemeni colloquial.

Yemen Institute for Arabic Language
PO Box 26023,
60 Street,
Sana’a, Yemen

Tel: +967-1-403204
Mobile:+967 777 499 474
YIAL Facebook group
email: info@yialarabic.com; yialarabic@gmail.com

Nine levels ranging from beginner to advanced. Written work from textbooks make up 50% of the programme, while lectures, other materials, and periodic activities account for the rest.

The Assyrians have a long history dating back to biblical times. The rise of Assyria, a kingdom in northern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) began around 1350 BC. At its height (730-650 BC), the Assyrian empire controlled the Middle East from the Gulf to Egypt, but it collapsed in 612 BC.

Today, there are about two million Assyrians living in Iraq, 700,000 in Syria, 400,000 in the USA and about 500,000 in the rest of the world.

They have their own language and alphabet.

They are almost all Christians: Chaldean church 45%, Syriac Orthodox 26%, Church of the East 19%, Syrian Catholic 4%, others 6%. See list of Assyrian religious links.

The Berbers lived in north Africa long before the arrival of the Arabs, and their culture probably dates back more than 4,000 years. Berber states known as Mauritania and Numidia existed in classical times.

Between the 11th and 13th centuries, two great Berber dynasties – the Almoravids and the Almohads – controlled large parts of Spain, as well as north-west Africa.

Today, there are substantial Berber populations in Morocco and Algeria, plus smaller numbers in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. In Morocco, about 40% acknowledge a Berber identity, though many more have Berber ancestry.

Berbers are identified primarily by language but also by traditional customs and culture – such as the distinctive music and dances.

There is a tendency in Morocco to regard the Berbers as backward, partly because their culture is strongest in the less-developed rural areas. Many of the children in these regions drop out of school because they are taught in what, to them, is a foreign language – Arabic. The language barrier often remains a problem throughout adult life, especially when dealing with officialdom.

Berber is not officially recognised in Morocco, though French (the old colonial language) is. There was some pressure in 1996, when the constitution was being revised, to have Berber recognised. There are a few Berber programmes on television – mainly as a token gesture. For more about this see the Berber manifesto.

Linguistically, Berber belongs to the Afro-Asiatic group, and has many dialects. The three main dialects used in Morocco are Tachelhit, Tamazight and Tarifit. Collectively, they are known as “shilha” in Arabic.

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Tachelhit (sometimes known as “soussi” or “cleuh”) is spoken in south-west Morocco, in an area between Ifni in the south, Agadir in the north and Marrakech and the Draa/Sous valleys in the east.
*

Tamazight is spoken in the Middle Atlas, between Taza, Khemisset, Azilal and Errachidia.
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Tarifit (or Rifia) is spoken in the Rif area of northern Morocco.

Berber is basically a spoken language, though there have been (and still are) attempts to gain acceptance for a written form. A Berber alphabet, probably derived from the ancient Punic script, has existed for around 2,500 years.

This romantic-kitsch story goes from Paris to Marseille, from Amsterdam to Morocco via Jean Genet’s grave in Larache, and on to Tangiers. The movie tells the story of an Algerian-French heterosexual young man beginning a sociology study of gay islamic homosexualities and discovering gay love with a young French steward.

User Reviews:

I saw this film last night as part of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Film Festival 2004. It is an extraordinary thesis on islamic homosexuality and a love story. The story concerns a heterosexual french algerian muslim student, Karim, who after seeing a story on television about gay men in Egypt decides to do a video thesis on homosexuality and islam. In the process he discovers his sexuality and falls in love with a gay arab man (Farid) that is one of his interviewees. The movie is about an issue rarely explored in any great detail in cinema and the movie covers and explores many sensitive topics with such skill.It is also a movie full of sensuality and tenderness. When Karim goes to Morocco with Farid we see a part of the country and culture rarely seen. And through Karim, Farid and all his interviewees in ‘Tarik El Hob’, a sensitive and powerful masculinity and culture rarely explored in cinema. For this avid moviegoer this film was groundbreaking. A must see.

ROAD TO LOVE is an obviously very low budget independent French film that introduces the audience to the theme of homosexuality as it is manifested among Islamic/Arab men. Writers Rémi Lange and Antoine Parlebas have created a script so natural, so sensitively real that at moments the film feels like a documentary (each of the young actors in the story bear their own names, the technique of storytelling is basically video interviews), but the impact of the move is quietly profound, without a trace of the saccharine or the gush of Hollywood films dealing with gay subject matter.

French Algerian Karim (Karim Tarek) is a student in Paris and spends his time with his girlfriend Sihem (Sihem Benamoune). He happens to view a television program about the gay life in Egypt in the 20th century, a life that allowed gay relationships and even marriages so along as the men gave up the lifestyle when they eventually married women. His interest in the subject results in a sociology project of interviewing gay Arab men to explore contemporary gay lifestyles. After a few aborted attempts (Karim is not sufficiently comfortable with the subject matter to gain the trust of his interviewees) Karim encounters Farid (Farid Tali), a gay, well-adjusted, quietly seductive handsome Algerian lad who not only agrees to be interviewed, but also finds ways to assist Karim with his project. Chemistry develops and the two depart Paris to visit Marseilles and Morocco and Karim discovers why the subject of choice fascinates him so! The beauty of this film lies in the honesty in which it is written, directed, acted, and edited. Not only are we allowed to explore a subject matter few of us knew (Islamic homosexuality history and social mores), we are also presented with one of the more tender love stories on film – tender because it is not overt but rather because it is so naturally evolved. The actors are excellent and though they feel as though they are first time, off the street recruits, they find the core of the script and make the story beautiful. In French and Arabic with English subtitles.

beautiful, rich, you really laugh and have tears well up and so forth. heartbreakingly sweet acting. saw it a couple of days ago and am still processing it lots to think about. really interesting in it’s relation to genet and how fictional the film is, very I think… I mean the whole story is I think related to that “you look like your sister in this light boy I could go for your sister right now” thing. only reappropriated by romance lol romantic beyond all possibility. I felt so sad after I saw it but then I met a guy at a gas station breaking several months of being fed up with the menfolk. a weird coincidence anyway this is really a magical movie. and I met the director too and he’s really sweet. I want to buy the DVD and read the screenplay.

oh maybe I should mention the actors are all so hot without looking plastic in the least. Je fais le freak out par que ce film est si formidable.

it occurs to me this could be the most deliriously romantic movie I’ve ever seen. meaning like more potent, worse, if you will, than any hollywood movie. and you can’t do anything but just lap it up…

I liked this movie, if for no other reason than its pure exoticism. The story of a Algerian student making a documentary as a University sociology class assignment frames the familiar story of a young male discovering his attraction to men. It’s a slender premise, but adequate for the story to be told.

It was interesting to me that the student, Karim, sees homosexuality as a kind of surrender. There is a lot of anxiety about who is active and who is passive, as if there is no middle ground, or as if gay men sodomize and exclude all other sex acts. I suppose this is because Karim’s interest is piqued when he learns of the pre-1940 same sex marriages in his culture. He seems only to be able to accept his gayness in this context of faux heterosexuality.

I liked the video-cinema-verite style–it added to the immediacy of the story. I liked watching the relationship develop between Karim and his admirer. And I liked the introduction to Algerian culture. As another reviewer mentions, the actors are attractive and real: there are no bronzed pecs and abs here. That alone makes this gay-themed film exotic . . . .

Egypt’s great director

The notes below were issued by Channel Four television to accompany a season of Arab films shown on British TV in the late 1980s.

YOUSSEF CHAHINE, director of some 40 films, is probably the most independent of Arab film-makers, producing what he thinks is important, even at his own expense, and raising issues that disturb.

Born in 1926, son of a Syrian lawyer and a Christian family in Alexandria, Egypt, Chahine attended the prestigious Victoria College. He dreamed of the cinema and theatre, watched Hollywood musicals, and in 1946 left to study drama in California. Chahine’s early films in Egypt included Raging Sky (1953), begun while Farouk was still King and dealing with a peasant farmer’s challenge to a feudal landlord. But the first truly indicative film of his style and preoccupations was Cairo Central Station (Bab al-Hadid), in 1958.

Chahine himself plays the central character, Kenaoui, a simple-minded man, beneficently employed as a newspaper-seller. He cuts pictures of women from magazines for the station hut he lives in, but a living focus of his sexual frustrations is Hanouma (played by the popular actress Hind Rostom), who sells lemonade and is engaged to Abou Serib (Farid Chawqi), porter and trade union organiser. With unthinking but affectionate playfulness Hanouma exacerbates Kenaoui’s frustration and adds to his confusion which leads to tragic death. Egyptian audiences, used to simpler melodramas, were disturbed and rejected the film. It was not seen again for some 20 years.

In 1963 Chahine made Saladin (original title: El Nasser – defender/deliverer – Salah ed-Dine), an epic, three-hour film in CinemaScope named after the 12th Century Sultan who, as the film begins, is preparing to liberate Jerusalem from its Christian Crusader occupiers. It was scripted by Naguib Mahfouz and the poet and progressive writer, Abderrahman Cherkaoui, and a parallel between Saladin and President Nasser is easily drawn. Saladin is shown as an educated and peaceable man – at one point he is asked to give clandestine medical help to Richard (the Lion Heart), shot by an arrow, and later he tells him: “Religion is God’s and the Earth is for all … I guarantee to all Christians in Jerusalem the same rights as are enjoyed by Muslims.”

A novel by Cherkaoui, serialised in 1952, formed the basis of The Earth (1968), noted particularly for its image of the peasant farmer – “eternal ‘damned of the earth’” – which broke with “the ridiculous image the cinema had (hitherto) given him” (Khaled Osman). There followed a further collaboration with Mahfouz on The Choice (1970), ostensibly a murder investigation story involving twin brothers, but with the underlying theme of intellectual schizophrenia. In 1976 he made The Return Of The Prodigal Son, a “musical tragedy”, but four years earlier had made one of his greatest films, The Sparrow (1972), both co-productions with Algeria. A journalist and a young police officer meet while investigating incidents of corruption. They and other people of the left pass through Bahiyya’s house, whose name represents the idea of the mother country and is invoked in Cheikh Imam’s song at the end of the film. After Nasser’s announcement of the defeat in the war and his subsequent resignation, Bahiyya runs into the street, followed by a growing crowd, shouting “No! we must fight. We won’t accept defeat!”

In Alexandria, Why? (1978), Yehia, a young Victoria College student, is obsessed with Hollywod and dreams of making cinema. It is 1942, the Germans are about to enter Alexandria, thought preferable to the presence of the British. Yehia’s cousin is gay and ‘buys’ drunken British soldiers. Jewish friends are forced to leave and decide to settle in Palestine. In An Egyptian Story (1982) Yehia is a flim-maker, going to London (as Chahine had earlier) for open-heart surgery. He has a brief affair with a taxi driver. As a result of the operation, he reviews his life: moments of Chahine’s own films are replayed against their autobiographical and social historical context. Memory is very important to Chahine’s most recent work —whether of the “city of my childhood, Alexandria, between the two world wars tolerant, secular, open to Muslims, Christians and Jews” or of a more distant past: such as evoked in Adieu Bonaparte (1985), based on the cultural aspect of Bonaparte’s expedition into Egypt (1798). “Out of this marvellous confrontation there was a rebirth of Egyptian consciousness, of its past … which belongs to humanity.”

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in Egypt are coloured by the fact that the very existence of homosexuality is barely acknowledged by Egypt’s ruling administration and much of the public. Homosexual acts are thus covered by general legislation governing public morality. In the 21st century, this legislation has been subject to stricter interpretation, and consequentially homosexual men live under continual threat of persecution and imprisonment.

The taboo with regards to homosexuality is extremley powerful, which produces a number of social issues of concern to some human rights groups.

Criminal Laws

Egypt is influenced by the civil law system. As the criminal code is silent on the subject of private, adult and consensual homosexual acts, and cross-dressing, they are not de jure illegal in Egypt. However, since 2000 certain laws have been used to impose what amounts to a de facto ban on homosexuality and cross-dressing.

In 2000, police arrested a Egyptian gay couple and charged them with, “violation of honor by threat” and “practicing immoral and indecent behavior”. Their lawyer asked that the charges be dropped because homosexuality is not a crime, but the judge refused on the grounds that two men had in fact “offended” religious and moral standards [1]. The incident became a media sensation, promoting various public figures to view homosexuality as a product of Western decadence and demand that the government execute homosexuals or sent them to a mental institution to be reformed [2].

Within a year, the Egyptian government began a public crackdown on Egyptian gay men by raiding private parties, arresting the guests and charging them with various laws, including violating the the “Public Order & Public Morals” code, enacted in the 1990s to combat “Satanic” and “lewd” expressions, as well as engaging in prostitution and “violating the teachings of religion and propagating depraved ideas and moral depravity.” [3].

The first of these raids was at a Cairo boat party, where all the Egyptian gay men, fifty-two, were arrested and charged with violating these vague public morality laws. The “Cairo 52″ were arrested and tried on vaguely worded laws such as “violating the teachings of religion”, “propagating depraved ideas”, “contempt of religion” and “moral depravity.” Due to logistical purposes, a copy of the Egyptian Penal Code is not easily attainable by foreign persons of interest, or interest groups who cannot read Arabic. The Human Rights Watch has translated and published portions of the penal code online[1].

The Cairo 52 were defended by international human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International. However, they had no organized internal support, plead innocent, and were tried under the state security courts. Members of the German parliament and the French President called upon the Egyptian government to respect the human rights of its LGBT citizens.[2][3] Twenty-three of the defendants were sentenced to prison with hard labor, while the others were acquitted.[4] More men have been arrested in various raids on homosexuals, although foreigners tend to be released quickly.

In many recent situations, the men are being arrested for meeting or attempting to meet other adult men through various Internet chatrooms and message boards. This was the case on June 20th, 2003, when an Israeli tourist in Egypt was jailed for homosexuality for about fifteen days before he was eventually released and allowed to return to Israel.[5] On September 24, 2003, police set up checkpoints at both sides of the Qasr al-Nil Bridge, which spans the Nile in downtown Cairo and is a popular place for adult men to meet other men for sex, arrested 62 men for homosexuality.[6]

As of 2007, crackdown continues[citation needed]. In 2004 a seventeen-year-old private university student received a 17 years sentence in prison including 2 years hard labor, for posting a personal profile on a gay dating site.[7]

The Egyptian government’s response to the international criticism was either to deny that they were persecuting LGBT people[8] or to defend their policies by stating that homosexuality is a moral perversion[9].

Gender Identity

In the 1990s Sayed Abdullah was the first Egyptian to legally undergo a sex-change operation becoming Sali Abdullah [4]. While the law appears to provide for sex-change operations and obtaining new legal documents, the issue of gender identity generally remains taboo.

In 1998 the Egyptian government formally banned the music by Israeli transsexual, Dana International, from being aired or sold in the nation [5].
[edit] Recognition of same-sex relationships

Egyptian Law only recognizes a marriage between a man and a woman. Same-sex marriage, civil unions, or domestic partnerships are all prohibited by law. Reports suggest that if such a relationship becomes public, the police may use it as evidence in a criminal indictment for the various laws against immorality.
[edit] LGBT Rights Advocacy

No national or local law provides civil rights protection based on sexual orientation or gender identity. No Egyptian political party or interest group has formally supported enacting such laws or otherwise endorsed LGBT-rights.

Egyptian human rights organizations are reportedly afraid of defending LGBT-rights given the level of prejudice and hostility involved Egypt’s “Human Rights” Groups. No Egyptian politican has expressed support of LGBT-rights, instead politicans have called for the execution of homosexuals or their segreation from society into prisons and mental institutions until they are reformed.
[edit] Living conditions

Until 2001, the Egyptian government refused to recognize the existence of homosexuality,[10] and now does so only to brush off criticism from human rights organizations and foreign politicians.

Most Egyptians see homosexuality and transgenderism as forbidden and detestable acts, even before the Egyptian government started using the national security courts and various laws against indecency and immorality to arrest groups of LGBT people at nightclubs, private events, and in online chatrooms. Most LGBT native Egyptians and foreigners live in the closet, and any gathering of LGBT people is entirely underground.
[edit] Media

LGBT-themes are not prohibited per se, although they can prompt controversy from religious conservatives, which can lead to a government crackdown. Recently, LGBT themes have appeared in some Egyptian films.

Controversial films such as “Uncensored” (2009), “Out of Control” (2009), “A Plastic Plate” (2007) and “The Yacoubian Building” (2006) all received controversial and threats of censorship for depicting characters who were gay, lesbian or bisexual [6].

HIV/AIDS

The pandemic first reached Egypt in the 1980s, although public health effort were left to NGO’s until the 1990s.

In 1996 the Health Ministry set up a national AIDS hotline. A 1999 “Egypt Today” cover story dealt with the AIDS-HIV pandemic in Egypt and the fact that it commonly seen as something caused by foreigners, homosexuals, or drug users. The article also mentioned that there was talk of a LGBT organization being created to target the Egyptian LGBT community, and while a same-sex safer sex brochure was published, the organization was never created[11] and ignorance about the pandemic is common.

In 2005 the Egyptian government started to allow for confidential HIV testing, although most people fear that being tested positive will result in being labelled as a homosexual and thus a de facto criminal. Some Egyptians have access to home test kits brought back from the United States, but most Egyptians lack accurate information about the pandemic and quality care if they do become infected[12].

In 2007 the Egytpian government aired an educational film about AIDS-HIV in Egypt, with interviews from members of Health Ministry, doctors and nurses.