Syria, the Cradle of Civilization

I have been twice to Syria and I have found some of the friendliest people in the world! I have discovered the myriad charms of this country and I have taken pictures of some breathtaking scenery.

The Old City is encircled by high walls and oval in form. The main access from the new city is via the covered Souq al-Hamadiyya. The souq leads us to the centrepiece which is the Umayyad Mosque. It is one of the most magnificent buildings of Islam. We have visited the Shrine of John the Baptist in the prayer hall of the Umayyad Mosque and the shrine of Hussein, son of Ali, and grandson of the Prophet. He was killed by the Umayyads at Kerbala in Iraq.

On the first day of our arrival, my two teenagers and I were already heading straight to the Old City and then right through the Souq al-Hamidiyya. We have walked through the spice souq, the gold souq, and we visited the Azem Palace.

Souq al-Hamiddiya is a long, covered market that leads into the heart of the Old City. It is a cobbled street lined with brightly coloured clothing, small family businesses that specialized in copperware, handmade furniture, carpet, and crafts.

We made sure to stop at the ice cream place called Bekdach! It is indeed the souq Al Hamadiyya highlight!! We have eaten an extraordinary ice cream made with sahlab (like semolina powder). The ice cream is gooey and elastic and it is topped with crushed pistachio nuts!! And it costs only 25 Syrian pound.

Inside the old city, we have eaten at Beit Jabri. It is a wonderful relaxing place nestled in the shadow of the Umayyad Mosque's eastern wall. We have ordered hummus, baba ghanoug, tabbouleh, bastoorma, chicken and lamb kebabs, barbecued on charcoal!! and it arrived on the table with the warm Khoobz el Arabi!

We have visited Aleppo, Bosra, Krak des Chevaliers, Homs, Hama, and Palmyra... and all by Bus!!
In Hama, we have visited the norias; wooden water wheels up tp 20m in diameter standing there since the 5th century. The Norias were built to supply water to places near the Orontes river. They are still in operation and I have seen young people jumping from the top of the norias and diving...incredible! The city of Hama is said that it dates to the 4th millennium BC.

All major cities have a local bus and microbus system which work perfectly well.

In Damascus, I have visited beautiful churches where I could listen to the Aramaic language (Jesus original language)!! It was amazing!

The Syrian people are genuinely friendly. They are always ready to help and my two boys made many friends in the neighborhood where we lived (Rukn ad deen). Rukn ad Deen is a popular area and the apartments are very cheap, no power cuts, no water cuts but we had only a fan! During the summer, the boys were feeling quiet hot with just a fan and 48 degrees outside!!!

The kindness of the people shows in many ways: the vendor at the market who will let you taste all his fruits before you decide to buy or not, the lady at the shop who will invite you in for tea and will have a real discussion with you, the young boy who will help you carry your water melons up to the 4th floor...
I have visited many areas in Damascus: Baraamike, Al-Muhaajireen, Mazzah, Jabel, Kafr souse... and many other areas but Rukn ad Deen was interesting because you could get very close to the population, have interesting discussions with them, have tea with them...

The Syrian people are hospitable. They invite you to their house and the men are separated from women. The women will serve you their best food and they will make you feel at home. The people are generous, warm, and friendly and peaceful!

It is indeed one of the most beautiful destinations in this planet!

Third Culture Kid? and Dave Calder Poem

This morning I was telling my teenager (16 years old!) that he was my sun, my rainbow, and that I love him. He wasn't really pleased about all these signs of tenderness but he he did not protest. It was at home (not at school of course ;) and his Dad was the only witness.

But later on, my husband told me: "You know, you were born in Niger, you grew up there, but you do not think like a person from Niger! You are not from there!"

Here again, "with a smile and a fist" I said to him that I am certainly part of Niger since I lived there all my life until I turned 20!
A "part of me says fiercely yes I am" and "a part of me feels no I am not" because "I belong where my parents belonged."

It was obvious that I was sad and my sadness was overshadowed by a sense of regret. For many people, their identity is strongly bound up with their country or where they live. But I have been immersed both in Niger, French, and Arab environments and as a result I have found myself between cultures, not fully identifying with any.

My husband was laughing because I told my son that he was my rainbow. He explained to me that If I was thinking like a Nigerienne, I wouldn't have called him my rainbow! Niger's climate is mainly hot and dry and people are dying of hunger. Rainbows represent the abundance of sun and the lack of rain. Therefore, a Nigerien would never call his child a rainbow!

My parents "moved for some reason you may never understand they move / from their own town / their own land / and I grew up in a place / that is never quite my home."

Pollock and Van Reken (2001) define a Third Culture Kid as a person "who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parent's culture" (p.19). But I have spent all my life outside my parent's culture!!!

The "third" culture refers to a created culture that is neither the "home" culture nor the "host" culture; it is the culture between cultures!

I have experienced multiple cultures which have influenced the development of my identity. I have built relationship to all of the culture, while not having full ownership in any. Although I did assimilate elements from the Nigerien culture, from the Arabic culture, and from the French culture into my life experience, the sense of belonging to a particular culture does not exist.

The poet said "and so you grow up both and neither / and belong everywhere and nowhere much the same / both stronger and weaker for the lack of ground / able to fly but not to rest."

This is my life as a Third Culture Kid who never quite fit in the three cultures yet managed to work all of them.

Therefore, I was a Third Culture Kid's Arab child raised in Niger and I had to deal with growing up between three different and most of the time conflicting cultures and traditions.

Some of you will say that there are many beneficial factors to being Internatioanl but it is very difficult to constantly hold the feeling that you do not belong to any country.

I would define myself as a global citizen who grew up in a culture other that my parents passport cultures. I grew up in a home that had integrated the norms of the three cultures into a new different culture, a blend of cultures which became ME!

I do share membership with all the cultures cited above, yet I also feel that I lack any true membership to one culture. Gordon (1993) said that adults like me may feel culturally separated from their parents' culture and we will seek comfort in others TCK like us, that is because for us "roots are not embedded in a place, but in people" (Gordon, 1993, p. 8).

I have not been able to develop an ethnic identity. According to Spence & Markstrom (1990), an etnic identity implies a "consciousness of self within a particular group."
To Phinney (2003), "ethnic identity is a dynamic, multidimensional construct that refers to one's identity, or sense of self as a member of an ethnic group."

But I have never been able to define an ethnic self-identification based on the perception and conception of myself as belonging to one specific ethnic group. Shannon (1988) said that "identity is not a single image but rather an ever-growing collage, a personalized patterning of multiple cultures."

According to Erikson (1959), adult Third Culture Kids had not resolved the developmental crises as successfully as their mono-cultural counterparts (Wrobbel & Plueddemann, 1990). Indeed, I had struggled with the developmental stages but also the cultural transitions ;)

I have grown up in highly cross cultural and mobile environments and I have developed my own voice which represents my Identity. I would never act the same as people in the home country, and most of the time I always had the feeling of being different. I am totally comfortable switching between three worlds and I am always trying very hard to explore the different cultures and find my place within them!

I have been living in Benin for 21 years and I got a Beninese citizenship after marriage. I have created a safe environment for my two children in order for their "Global Nomad" identity to flourish and grow without too many conflicts or clashes.



Berger, R. (1997). Adolescent Immigrants in search of identity: Clingers, eradicators, vacillators and integrators. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 14 (4), 263-275

Erikson, E. (1968). Identity youth and crisis. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc.

Gillies, W. D. (1998). Children on the move: Third culture kids. Childhood Education, 75 (1), 36-38.

Phinney, J. (2003). Ethnic identity and acculturation. In K. Chun, P. B. Organista, & G. Marin (Eds.), Acculturation: Advances in theory, measurement, and applied research (pp.63- 81). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association

Shannon, G. (1988). Making a home of one’s own: the young in cross- cultural fiction. English Journal, 77 (5), 14-19.

McCaig, N. (1994). Growing up with a worldview: Nomad children develop multicultural skills.

Wrobbel, K.A., & Plueddemann, J.E. (1990). Psychosocial development in adult missionary kids. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 18, 363–374.

Ground Zero Mosque

Is building the mosque close to Ground Zero insensitive to the tragedy of 9/11, as opponents say, and will it embolden and glorify the terrorists?

Or is this an issue of freedom of religion and tolerance as President Barack Obama and others project supporters contend?

The "Ground Zero Mosque" is the name given to a structure proposed for construction at 45–51 Park Place in Manhattan, New York City.

The official name of the project is Park51; it was given the title "Ground Zero Mosque" due to its location, which is approximately two blocks from where the towers of the World Trade Center stood prior to the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001—a location now termed "Ground Zero."

The "Ground Zero Mosque" project has been the focus of great controversy, both because of its location and because part of the development would include a Muslim place of worship.

On the morning of 11 September 2001, the towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan were struck by two commercial aircraft that had been hijacked by extremist Arab terrorists. A third hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., and a fourth—possibly intended to strike the United States Capitol Building—crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after the airplane's passengers attempted to thwart the hijacking. The most serious loss of life and property occurred at the World Trade Center site.

The founder of the company, Sharif El-Gamal, is a native New Yorker who converted to Islam as a young man. Though he originally planned to build condominiums on the site, El-Gamal was inspired by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, a leading American Muslim activist and religious scholar, to build a community center instead. Rauf, the leader of a New York City mosque for more than twenty years, is known for his moderate religious stance and openness toward other religious communities. He publicly condemned the 11 September terror attacks, and, in the aftermath of that tragedy, Rauf reportedly came up with a plan to construct a cultural center that would encourage people of all faiths to interact and discover common ground.

Rauf named his project Cordoba House, after the city of CordÓba, Spain. Located in southern Spain, the city was an important part of an Islamic empire that stretched northward into Europe from Africa, and flourished during the tenth and eleventh centuries. The city reflects a blending of Islamic and Western culture that highlights the positive influences of each.

The project was ultimately renamed Park51, after the address of the site; however, Rauf's planned worship center within the building retains the name Cordoba House.

First and foremost, Park51 is not a mosque, just as the famed Jewish Community Center at 92nd Street is not a synagogue but a cultural center that draws residents of all backgrounds and beliefs. (Rauf himself is a member of the Jewish Community Center of Upper Manhattan.)

In addition, the building sat unused for several years, and that other businesses in the immediate area—such as strip clubs and gambling establishments—are more offensive than a cultural center. The mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg has endorsed the project in the face of mounting opposition, contending that those people who protest the building of a mosque are ignoring the basic religious freedoms guaranteed in the United States Constitution. In addition, he has stated that the location near Ground Zero is a "very appropriate place" for building a mosque, to demonstrate to the world that America is a country that welcomes all faiths.

In August 2010, President Barack Obama stated that Muslims, like Americans of any other religion, have a right to build a mosque on private property regardless of location.

"But now the ugliness has become widespread. People are being assaulted because of who they are, and constitutionally protected attempts to build mosques are being thwarted out of fear and ignorance. Political and religious leaders must cease waffling on this issue and unequivocally support both the right of Muslim citizens to build a place of community and worship--open to all--and the appropriateness of building in proximity to a place where cunning and cruelty took the lives of so many." (2010 America Press, Inc. americamagazine.org)


"Ground Zero Mosque." Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection. Gale, Cengage Learning, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 26 Feb. 2011.

"New York mosque fight stirs all the wrong passions." USA Today 16 Aug. 2010: 08A. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 26 Feb. 2011.

"Mosque hysteria." America 13 Sept. 2010: 4. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 26 Feb. 2011.

Syrians need Democracy

SYRIA (Syrian Arab Republic), republic, SW Asia, bounded on the N by Turkey, on the E by Iraq, on the S by Jordan, on the SW by Israel, and on the W by Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea. Including the Golan Heights, which Israel occupied (1967) and later annexed (1981), Syria has a total area of 71,498 sq mi, (185,180 sq km).

In 2000, Hafez al-Hassad, Syria's ruler since 1970, died and was succeeded by his son, Bashar. In his inaugural speech, the younger Assad promised to push forward with democratic reform, including increased freedom of speech and modernization of the state run economy.

Syrian President Hafez al-Assad died after 30 years in power. His son, Bashar al-Assad was elected president in a national referendum in which he ran uncontested!

Hafaz al-Assad rose to power in Syria as an army officer backing a coup by the Ba'th party against the military regime in 1963. By 1966, he had consolidated his position as the nation's president, and purged the government of leaders who had initially helped to form it. Assad replaced many of these purged leaders with family relatives. Though a dictator, Hafiz al-Assad (the father) initiated several popular social reforms, including an expanded public education system.
He granted equal rights to women. During Assad's rule, Syria's foreign policy was dominated by a resistance to Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights, which the Jewish state had won in the Six-Day War.

Assad was 34 years old when he became president, Assad was studying in England in order to become an ophtalmologist. He presented new ideas in his speeches and he seemed to be willing to reform the country. But apparently all his effort at reform have been suppressed by the "Syrian old guard", established politicians in the government who are against change.

Bashar al-Assad is an inexperienced diplomat and he is unable to balance the competing demands of the public. Therefore, Bashar al-Assad pledge to pursue increased democratic reforms has never been fulfilled!

Southern Sudanese Secession

Is southern Sudan's secession from Sudan a good idea? Would the secession be mutually beneficial to both north and south Sudan?

I understand that the secession represents the will of the 99% of southern Sudanese voters who chose to vote for the separation in January 2011 election.

The two sides are separated by religion and by natural resources as well. 80% of Sudan's oil is located in the south. But most of the profits from Sudan's oil production are sent to the north!

Now that Sudan successfully secedes, nothing would stop the minority groups in Nigeria the Ivory Coast, or the Congo from asking for a secession too. Could the referendum in Sudan have a domino effect? I hope that the secession will not open a Pandora's box in Africa.

But we should respect the will of the southern people, of course, in wanting to form their own country. The southern Sudanese people have been ethnically marginalized and racially stigmatized.

In July, southern Sudan is expected to become an independent country.

Race and Ethnicity: We must combat Prejudice

According to Hermstein & Murray (2008), almost every year, researchers in the U.S. ask a representative sample of U.S. adults to rank racial and ethnic categories with regard to overall intelligence.

Survey research shows that people in the United States tend to view some racial and ethnic categories as more intelligent and trustful than others.

Social scientists consider any such differences a reflection of environment and culture rather than innate intelligence!

Do we have to downplay our ethnicity as a way to avoid prejudice and discrimination? I do not agree with that!

The fact that some of the terrorist attacks have been carried out by Arabs encourages some people to link being Arab or holding an Arabic name with being a terrorist. Of course, this attitude is unfair because it blames an entire category of people for the actions of a few individuals!

According to Ali & Juarez (2003), Ali, Lipper, & Mack (2004), and Hagopian (2004), People holding an Arabic name around the world have been targets of an increasing number of hate crimes and many feel that they are subject to "ethnic profiling" that threatens their privacy and civil liberties.

Charles Hamilton (1967) described institutional racism as "racism at work in the operation of social institutions, including the economy, schools, hospitals, the military, and the criminal justice system."

Racial profiling, in which police or others in power consider race or ethnicity to be, by itself, a sign of probable guilt, illustrates the operation of institutional racism.

It is difficult to hold an Arabic name today because people would always look at you with suspicious eyes! When you are asked at the immigration to "Please, wait here" or "can you follow me, please", your heart will drop straight down at high speed! oh yes just because of your name!!! You are called Fatma or your name start with Abdul and that is it! They will keep you longer at any immigration post and then with no explanations or apologies, you will be asked to continue your journey.

But how can you continue your journey after you had experienced racial profiling! All these experiences at the airports, at the consulates to ask for visas, or at the embassies are great examples of intolerance and prejudice.

But we all live together in the same world and it should be a world were people live together in it and not against each other.

That is why I believe that teachers can fight discrimination, prejudice, and racism in classrooms through educational programs designed to recognize cultural diversity and to promote respect for all cultural traditions.

In France, a law passed in March 2004 that outlaws the wearing of "conspicuous religious symbols" in public schools. The law has aroused immense controversy because it forbids Muslims female to wear hijab. In December 2003, people demonstrated in Paris to protest a law forbidding Islamic veils in French schools.

But what most of the people in France do not understand, women who wear the hijab made the personal decision to wear it. They explain that at the root of the hijab is the philosophy that a woman should be regarded for her personality, mind, and abilities rather than her physicality. Well, that is their choice and we have to respect it! According to Mariam Rahmani, "the Hijab encapsulates the spirit of independent thought."

But in France, most of the people view the Islamic Hijab as a symbol of male oppression. But believe me, most of the women who have decided to wear the hijab have chosen to do so. Legislation of the law in March 2004 in France had only succeeded in ostracizing the women who have decided to cover their head!

We are all living in the same planet so no one should suffer discirmination because we choose to live differently, wear differently, or hold different names!

China Pragmatic China

China ignores the International Monetary Fund and World Bank policies (such as lending practices and total privatisation).

But Unlike the West, China has made sure to ensure sovereignty, self-determination, and mutual respect and it always has given the other countries liberty to develop in their own ways and to make their own foreign policies.

We cannot deny that, even if China is seen as an undemocratic country, its citizens are able to read and write and most of them enjoy high standard of living and high life expectation.

China has indeed adopted a pragmatic approach. China invested in human resource with the purpose of producing productive and innovative labour force.

Democracy and the World

Democracy does not mean one man, one vote, one time,... right?

The new Arab generation is not motivated by religion or ideology, but by the aspiration for a peaceful transition to a decent, democratic, and "normal" government.

Arabs politicians who complain that Islamists are no democrats should be told that they are not DEMOCRATS either!

In 1991, the government of Algeria said that the ISF (Islamic Salvation Front) cannot be trusted and if they grab power, they could never be trusted to give it up again. Therefore, the government of Algeria cancelled the second round of the election in which the Islamic Salvation Front was going for a second round.

But look! who is still holding the power in Algeria?? Bouteflika! He is ruling Algeria with a tough hand since 1999, maintaining power through elections that we all know were rigged.

Mostafa Boshashi, head of the Algerian League for Human Rights, said: "Algerians want their voices to be heard too. They want democratic change.

Algeria has the eighth largest reserves of natural gas in the world, and is also oil-rich, but its youthful population suffers mass unemployment, a chronic lack of housing, and widespread poverty. Political corruption is also endemic.

Thousands defied a government ban to hold a pro-democracy rally in Algiers. They chanted "Bouteflika out!" - in reference to the country's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

About 30,000 police are reportedly deployed in and around capital, and extra police with water cannons are on stand-by.

Earlier this month, President Bouteflika said the country's state of emergency would be lifted in the "very near future". He said protests would be allowed everywhere in the country except in the capital.

President Bouteflika, when are we going to have democracy in Algeria? Algerians are longing for freedom and liberty. Algerians want a change of the system not a change in the system!

Maqam Shahid , the monument to the million martyrs of the war of independence, graces the heights of Algiers.

Youth of Algeria! your great grandparents made enormous sacrifices to create Algeria, a free Algeria. You must be ready to make great sacrifices to fight for DEMOCRACY! fight for a truly free country!

Elections in Republic of Benin

Benin is one of the 20 least developed countries in the world but I am proud to live in this democratic country. I have been living in Benin for 21 years.

Three weeks ago, my husband and I had been to the city hall in order to get our smart cards (finger prints, picture). Yes!! Benin has computerised its electoral list before President elections in March.

The Liste Electorale Permanente Informatisée (LEPI) is not a mirage for Beninese!

The Republic of Benin has decided to manage the secure biometric registration of voters. The program which targets all voting citizens, expects over six million people to be enrolled for the March 2011 persidential elections. The biometric registration is happening through a software which captures our demographic data, fingerprints, and digital photograph.

We are one of the poorest country countries on earth, but hey!!!! look at what Benin is doing for its citizens to help them be counted!

In Benin, the Constitution provides us with the right to change our government peacefully and the citizens of Benin exercise this right in practice through periodic, free and fair elections held on the basis of universal suffrage.

Altogether, 14 candidates will take part in the poll. They are Marie Elise Gbédo (lawyer), Mr Adrien Houngbédji (the opposition candidate), Boni Yayi (incumbent president), Abdoulaye Bio Tchané (chairman of the West African Development Bank (BOAD), Issa Salifou (MP), Antoine Dayori (MP), Cyr Kouagou, Kessilé Tchalla (former minister of Health in the government of Bini Yayi), Christian-Enock Lagnidé (economic operator), Jean Yves Sinzogan (economist), Salomon Joseph Biokou, Victor Prudent Topanou (former minister of Yayi), Joachim Dahissiho (MP) and Janvier Yahouédéou (MP).

The presidential election is the fifth since Benin’s accession in 1991 to democratic regeneration.

The Benin government has postponed until 6 March the first round of the presidential election from 27 February, official sources told PANA in Cotonou.

A dozen political parties and associations have formed a broad coalition dubbed ’Coalition ABT-2011’, to arouse the candidacy of the Chairman of the West African Development Bank (BOAD), Abdoulaye Bio Tchané, as president of the Republic of Benin in 2011, APA notes Saturday in Cotonou.

Benin officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located. The capital of Benin is Porto-Novo, but the seat of the government is located in the country's largest city of Cotonou. Benin covers an area of approximately 110,000 square kilometers (42,000 sq mi), with a population of approximately 8.8 million. Benin is a tropical, sub-Saharan nation, highly dependent on agriculture, with substantial employment and income arising from subsistence farming.

Gaddafi and Demo- Karasy

Gaddafi said that the best model for Africa is his own country!

At the New African Union meeting, Col Gaddafi circulated a letter saying he was coming as the king of the traditional kings of Africa.

Col Gaddafi has ruled Libya since 1969, when he came to power in a bloodless military coup. He has never faced an election.

Qaddafi, deconstructs the word “democracy”, alleging it is of Arabic origin and consists of two words: ديمو الكراسي “demo” (keep/retain forever) “karasy” (seats”)…in others words, he argues, democracy means that leaders should stay in power indefinitely.

Just like Gaddafi himself, Bouteflika, Mubarak, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali... the list is not finished but I have to go to work... to teach my Middle School students and High School students

to be continued...

Human Rights and China

"The Chinese government unswervingly pushes forward the cause of human rights
in China, and, in response to the United Nations’ call for establishing a national human rights action plan, has instituted the National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009–2010) on the basis of painstakingly summing up past experience and objectively analyzing the current situation." (Oxford University Press, 2009)

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, has made great efforts to promote human rights.

Qiu Jin, a pioneering feminist and revolutionary martyr, argued that women should have the same duties as men. She was married to the son of a wealthy family, but was dissatisfied with the marriage and fled her husband’s traditional-style household.

In 1904, she went to Japan, and there she began to promote equality between men and women. After she returned from Japan to China in 1907, she founded the Zhongguo n¨ubao (China Women’s Newspaper) which forcefully advocated women’s self-determination. As a
result of her involvement in a failed rebellion against the Manchus, she was executed that same year.

Qiu Jin called for women's self-determination. If women could earn money from their own work, they could escape situations in which they had to be subordinate to men and could gain men’s respect, and many problems could be discussed between friends, husbands and wives, and sisters. In this way, women’s aspirations and thinking would become more and more progressive.

In her essays, Qiu Jin never used the term ‘women’s rights’ (n¨uquan). In her ‘Mian n¨uquange’ and Jingwei shi, she makes many references to ‘equal rights of men and women’ and ‘natural rights’, yet these amount to no more than the assertion that ‘people possess rights from birth’, and are not related to ‘women’s rights’.

Sudo, M. (2006). Concepts of Women's Rights in Modern China. Gender & History, 18(3), 472-489. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0424.2006.00452.x

Democracy in the Middle East

Do Westerners have a different meaning of Democracy than Arabs?

Many Arab countries are seeking freedom through the right of elections in different countries like Kuwait, Bahrain, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt,.....

The original meaning of democracy comes from the Greek language-democraci, which means "the people," and krato which means the "power of the people".

Today in the West, the current meaning of democracy has changed from its original Greek meaning that emphasis on people power. In the West, democracy is understood as meaning the authority of the majority to make decisions.

Democracy happens when people can affect change with their vote. Well, in some Middle East and African countries, we still have a long way to go!

United States president Lincoln (1809-1865) defined democracy as: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.” This suggests a more active role of the citizens in government decision making because it is not just for the people, it is by the people. So, citizens have more access and influence on government actions.

Each nation has to develop its own type of democracy that is based on its own culture's experience and history.

Democracy is a form of government where a constitution is created that guarantees basic individual rights, political rights, independent courts of law, free elections, a transparent government, and a press and media that is free and open.

A free press means freedom of conscience for journalists and bloggers.

But most of the time people see a conflict between Islam and Democracy. Is there a conflict between Islam and Democracy?

According to Jamal (2006), "Islam is a monolithic, hierarchical faith devoid of individualism, liberalism, and political freedoms. But more important, these explanations assume that Islamic culture, Islamic interpretations, and Islamic religiosity all similarly stifle the democratic process and do so the world over." (Jamal, 2006, p. 53).

Then, as President Obama has suggested, in order to institute democracy, all people must be included, even Islamic fundamentalists

According to Ottaway, Schwedler, Telhami, & Saad (2005), Islamic fundamentalists "are substantial, they are on the ground, they are disciplined, and they are committed. They have been performing important social services for the poor and the needy, and they have managed to project an image of a corruption-free political force in contrasts to regimes that are plagued by corruption." (p. 11)

In Egypt and in Algeria, the governments are trying to scare the population with the Islamic fundamentalists threat in order to maintain their regime plagued by corruption.

Many Islamists scholars like Mazrui (2004) agree about the strong relationship between Islam and democracy. He states that "some Democratic principles have been part of Islam from the beginning."

Then, it is possible to have a secular-Muslim government. We can have democratic Middle East countries. We can have Muslim secular states!

A secular state involves a neutral stance toward different religious beliefs. A secular state has no preferential links with any religion in general.

We should not let the Islamists political parties to challenge secularism on Sharia based arguments but we should let the Islamist political parties have a voice in the Middle East countries.

We should develop a version of secularism which would not ostracize manifestations of religious beliefs from the public sphere.

This is what democracy is about.

Jamal, A. (2006). Reassessing support for Islam and democracy in the Arab world? Evidence
from Egypt and Jordan. World Affairs, 169(2).

Ottaway M., Schwedler, J. Telhami, S., & Saad, E. I. (2005). Democracy: Rising tide or
mirage? Middle East Policy, XII(2), 1-27

Sarsar, S. (2006). Quantifying Arab democracy: Democracy in the Middle East. Middle East
Quarterly, XII(3), 21-28

Scahill, J. (2005). Bush’s war against Al-Jazeera. Retrieved on April 4, 1-2, from
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=5634.

Teachers are Designers.

Teachers are designers!

An important act of our profession is the crafting of curriculum and learning experiences to meet specified purposes.

Teachers are also designers of assessments to diagnose students needs to guide our teaching and to enable us to determine whether we have achieved our goals. (Wiggins & MacTighe)

The saying says, "If you don't know exactly where you are headed, then any road will get you there."

But teachers who do not follow a proper syllabus and curriculum will not find the successful road!

We have to clarify the desired results of our teaching in order to lead the students toward success.

Diversity in Today's Classroom

Today's classrooms are filled with a rainbow mix of diverse students from nearly every continent, making learning environments rich with experience, culture, language and history.

Children are curious about the world around them and how they relate to it. In order to better understand themselves and others, an exploration of cultures encourages cooperation and relationships.

Celebrating both similarities and differences, children appreciate what each person has to contribute, viewing themselves as empowered, global citizens.

Social psychological tendencies such as in-group/out-group bias, attribution errors and "us versus them" conflicts can be understood based on simplistic, rather than complex views of the world.

During my Social Psychology course, I have learned that mere contact alone does little to diffuse conflict between groups focused on categorization of "us" and "them".

Experience is made up of the successive construing of events. It is not constituted merely of the succession of events themselves. A person can be a witness to a tremendous parade of episodes and yet, if he fails to keep making something out of them, or if he waits until they have all occurred before he attempts to reconstrue them, he gains little in the way of experience from having been around them when they happened. It is not what happens around him that makes a man experienced; it is the successive construing and reconstruing of what happens, as it happens, that enriches the experience of his life. (Kelly 1955, 73).

George Kelly's Personal Construct Psychology

Teachers must incorporate diversity in the classroom. During the lessons involving world explorers, teachers should include a project researching African, Mexican, Indian, and Norwegian explorers in addition to the typical lessons on Spanish, English, and Portuguese world explorers.

Further, teachers should select textbooks and supplemental books that reflect culture, gender, and diversity within the world. Books should include children of different cultures, religions, disabilities, socioeconomic levels, gender preferences, and race.

Moreover, the students should be assigned art projects using traditional art around the world as examples. For example, if the activity is studying patterns and use of color, the teacher may use examples from Sioux, Celtic, Burmese, and Massa peoples. Teachers can also use music to stimulate the interest of their students.