http://www.al.com/living/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/living/1165487448282260.xml&coll=2
Arabic calligraphy gives insight into Islam, Mideast Thursday, December 07, 2006 TARA BAHRAMPOUR The Washington Post WASHINGTON - The Arabic Calligraphy Workshop at the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center wasn't about the Arabic. The flier for the class said no knowledge of the language was required. Aishah Elinor Holland, the teacher, said sometimes when she teaches the one-day workshop, non-Arabic-speaking students fear that the graceful, swooping letters will spell something bad. "People are like, `Well, what is this letter? What is it that I'm writing?'" she said. Part of Holland's mission is to show these students there is more to Arab culture than what they read in the news - in this case, a fine art that has flourished for centuries across the Muslim world. "If they see that everyone whose name is Muhammad is not an Islamic terrorist, that's a start," she said. "During the war on terror, in this age, this is something totally non-threatening which is totally Arab-Islamic." Holland has thought about bringing a carpet and serving Turkish-style tea to help set the tone. But in last week's class held in downtown Washington, after starting to explain that the Arabic alphabet has 28 consonants, she realized that all 17 students had some background in the language - from the Army cultural instructor to the New England college student to a security analyst. "Wow, I thought that New York was cosmopolitan," said Holland, who usually teaches there. "So everyone in Washington knows Arabic? That's really cool." The students may have shared a language background, but they had different reasons for being there. "I spend all my time studying the negative aspects of Islamic-Arabic society - terrorism, all the hard stuff," said the analyst, Jesse Bannister. "This rounds me out." Rebecca Kusserow of Alexandria, Va., said she had traveled extensively in Arab countries in the 1970s and that the calligraphy had fascinated her. Elizabeth Ridout, who recently spent a semester in Oman with the School for International Training, said she had jumped at the opportunity because it was free. +++ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
