KFC - Round Two

Last night I was walking with a British friend of mine by the KFC and noticed a 'protest' of sorts: posters, banners, a guy with a megaphone and a substantial police presence standing guard. Despite what I expected to be an 'anti-american' flavor of this protest, I couldn't help but walk into the crowd and ask the protesters a few questions. As I've reported on this blog before, Syrians have been so forward about distinguishing their political views as aimed towards American policy and not as an attack on the American people; thus, i felt totally safe and without concern walking into this 'gathering'. I was also wearing my Syrian Flag scarf, literally 'wrapping myself' in Syrian nationalism - so I thought, correctly, that it would be no problem.

Most of the protesters were university students and I sought out a group of them and started asking some questions about what they were protesting; why they were protesting; what group the were involved in and what they thought about KFC coming to Syria.

Side Point I: Fighting my inner-nature and overwhelming impulse to confront with open debate and exchange, I wisely limited myself to asking questions. I cannot and do not "take the gloves off" in matters of politics - sometimes this makes me sad.

Side Point II Conversations like this are NOT the place to practice my Arabic. I don't want to be misunderstood or misinterpreted. Plus, I can control the conversation if i stick to English. Some occasions require such linguistic advantage. I can get all the Arabic I want out of other exchanges less fraught with politics and police and emotions.

Anyway, a group of Syrians - both guys and girls - seemed more than happy to entertain my questions. To the question - of which I knew the answer and expected the standard talking points for - Why are you protesting KFC? They responded with something like this: "We don't want any money to go to the American government who gives money to Israel and kills our people in Palestine and Iraq". I then asked them if they knew that the company was Kuwaiti and most of the money would go to the Gulf, they replied that they know that a certain percentage of the profit goes to the company. This was good, confirming that I was dealing with fairly informed and educated protesters. They asked me where I was from and I told them: America. They then told me, nearly falling over each other and in several different ways, that they love the american people and they didn't want to hurt my feelings or for me to see this as a personal attack on americans. Then they pointed out my Syrian scarf and seemed very pleased that I was wearing it. "Syria is my home this year" I told them. I then asked: "So then you guys are also for boycotting all american products, right" And they nodded and said yes. I said "Pepsi and Coke and Microsoft?" They roundly agreed until I got to Microsoft, saying: "Science and technology is different - we need and want our country to progress!" And then a girl whipped out an Arabic edition of "Scientific American" and showed it to me. I was polite and told them that avoiding KFC is a good thing to do because: "This is part of the reason that some Americans are very very fat". They were all very kind and sweet. While we were having this conversation someone who was wearing a leather jacket and had shinny shoes on stood close by and listened. I knew that he was much more concerned with what the Syrians were saying than what I was saying. . . thus I couldn't ask questions that could potentially moved them away from from nationalist talking points and thus get them into trouble.

A Survey of Arab Television: Part I - News

One of the most noticeable - and from a purely aesthetic standpoint, unfortunate - elements of the Damascus skyline is the absurd amount of satellite dishes. Television is ubiquitous in Syrian life. Every business seems to have a t.v. . . . either to keep the owner/employees entertained when things are slow, or as entertainment for the customers. Only uber-fancy and more traditional restaurants seem to be (thankfully) without television. What are Syrians watching? What are the choices for entertainment? What's the deal with TV in Syria? Well, I'm going to break-down a few things that I've noticed in this SURVEY OF ARAB TV!


Q: What are the options ? What are people watching?

A: While I'm far from the Syrian branch of Nielsen, I'd put things into four major groups of entertainment/genres that seem to be often watched in both the public places and private homes: News, Music Videos, American Films, Arabic Soaps. This post will deal with 'News'!


1. NEWS OPTIONS:
Two major news channels seem to dominate here (and for local politics, people tune into Syrian Television): Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabia. Sadly and for reasons unknown, I don't get Al-Arabia on my satellite system. While people like Donald Rumsfeld have gone on record attacking Al-Jazeera for being an anti-American propaganda machine, I'm quite skeptical of such assertions as well as doubtful that Mr. Rumsfeld has actually seen much Al-Jazeera. Granted, Al-Jazeera is very critical of American Foreign policy - I see this as more of a reflection of viewer demographics and less as some deep-rooted attempt to turn the Arab viewing audience against the United States. I mean, one has to sell advertising, don't they? As with American media and the division between left-right oriented news outlets, I have a sense that people gravitate toward news channels that reinforce already held beliefs. God forbid that anyone should hear facts or arguments that are inconvenient to their political bent
The award for most unwatched channel appears to be the American-government run/supported channel "Al-Hura" which has two channels: one openly broadcasted from Iraq and appears to cover her exclusively. The other has a something vaguely appearing to be 'programming'. The title itself is a bit over the top. The Bush administration, never shy about engaging in "Politics and the English Language" and seemingly incapable of nuance, evidently settled upon the name Al-Hura: meaning 'Freedom' . . . . . This is so tacky and pathetically obvious, in title alone, that I wonder how this idea passed early 'screening' stages. According to my Syrian friends, no one watches this channel, and if they do they don't tune in for news. In fact, Syrians are fond of saying that if what they are seeing in Iraq is democracy: they don't want it.
Anyway, back to Al-Hura. Now, I don't know much about creating viewer pleasing programming; however, an hour-long documentary on Geisha Culture in Japan followed by News that seems to have some NON-Arabic Speaking representative from the American Government just doesn't sound like a recipe for success.
The picture here is of Secretary of State Condi Rice giving a speech at Georgetown University concerning a call for an increase and re-deployment of American diplomats. Al-Hura is covering this - this is fine in and of itself, many Arabic News organizations spend quite a bit of time covering the words and deeds of the US government. Where, however, Al-Hura differs from other networks, is that they cover these speeches LIVE and in their entirety - including, in this case, questions from Georgetown undergrads praying that one insightful (yet) softball question on C-SPAN and Al-Hura will secure them a dream job at the State Department.
I'd be shocked if American news networks covered this entire speech, especially if a high-speed and potentially violent car chase is in progress on the highways of Southern California. Sure, the Bush crew wants to bring democracy to the Middle East - I don't want to touch that issue on this blog - however, is it necessary to bring the really really really boring part of democracy to the Middle East? Winning hearts and minds is easier when it doesn't produce sleep. However, one saving grace is that Al-Hura re-broadcasts NBA games with Arabic sportscasters: and those guys do a pretty great job, actually. It's a shame that this program is only on weekends.


NOTE: Propaganda is most effective when:
1. Actually watched by the target audience.
2. Features exposed or partially exposed breasts.
3. Is accompanied by direct force.


I've also found - and perhaps I'm wrong on this and I don't have the data to back this up - but in watching a fair amount of Al-Jazeera, I find that they aren't covering the 'War in Iraq' nearly as much as they cover Palestine. In fact, I've been surprised at how relatively small the coverage the Iraqi war receives on Al-Jazeera. Part of this, I imagine, is related to the fact that it just isn't safe for them to send reporters into Iraq and unlike, perhaps, American news organizations, they may not be granted as much access and protection from American Forces. Granted, this is merely speculation on my part, which is itself part and parcel of having a blog: irresponsible and sanctimonious speculation.

Okay, readers, next post will be about 'fun TV' . . . . . . . . . . so break out the party-hats

Kentucky Fried Damascus – The Colonel Comes to Syria

Today I could smell the 'spicy-style' KFC chicken a full block away from the new, shiny, fast-food place to arrive in Damascus. Yes, the Colonel has landed and unlike the normal Syrian distain for/ignorance of the concepts of intellectual-property and copyright law, this is a REAL KFC. (Syria has many places that openly rip-off western/american companies and chains – a place called 'Pizza Hot' that sells a similar product; a place called 'Subway' that is a sandwich place and nothing close to the chain; inhouse-coffee, which has shamelessly ripped-off the color-scheme and aesthetic of Starbucks. Furthermore, any average joe/khalid/ahmed can open a Harley Davidson, Diesel, or other kind of Western brand-name clothing/gear store by hiring someone to make a sign that proclaims this affiliation – can you smell the lawsuits? I love the smell of litigation in the morning, it smells like . . . . . . democracy!?!?!)

Anyway, KFC in Syria is a big deal. WHY? Well, to the best of my knowledge, KFC is now the first and only American-based company to open its doors in Syria. Owned (I think) by Pepsi – a product that I've heard was banned in Syria until recently due to alleged ties to the State of Israel – the KFC here is owned and operated by a major middle east franchise company based out of Kuwait and responsible for (according to what I've been told) Hardee's, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell in Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and other Arab countries.

Oh, dear reader, if you are unaware of my family 'roots' . . . . well, they go deep into a wonderful soft serve, fast-food franchise that gives the makers of Crack and Paxil a run for their money. Obviously, I find the interaction of fast-food and politics particularly interesting.

So? What was the 'scene' at KFC? How are the Syrian masses reacting to this new business venture? Well, on one of the most important days of the Islamic calendar – the first day of Eid . . . . . . I stumbled into the KFC and found that the target market of KFC in Syria differs greatly from that in America. Parked outside included la parade of luxury vehicles – Land Rovers, BMW, Benz , a Porsche or two. The people parked inside included veiled and unveiled women, some with fur coats and south-east asian maids in tow. Their hands were greasy and mouths full of chicken while they spoke with their equally overdressed husbands: who smoked, wore designer sunglasses, and fumbled around with cellphones and spicy-fried-chicken thighs. Another demographic was groups of hip and wealthy teenagers who went crazy on their dinner combos and sucked down Pepsi and 'slaw' . . . . I've never felt 'under-dressed' for a KFC in my life . . . . . until I went to Syria.
Make no mistake – this isn't merely the opening of another fast-food restaurant, but rather an event ripe with political and social symbolism. I want to applaud the Syrian government, actually, for opening itself up for such investments. With all of the international attention directed toward Syria these days, it would be easy for the government to fall-back upon safe-historical precedents and shut out the rest of the world. Granted, this 'opening' may work as part of a stragedy to fight Syria's current plight – or perhaps the wheels were in spin far before such problems started - I don't know. I do know, however, that the spicy chicken is a winner.

(I'm waiting for my far-lefty friends in Seattle to start e-mailing me in mass about the world-wide evils of fast-food . . . .)

The Political Death of Sharon

So last night I was at an internet cafe, looking over some recent world news headlines and I noticed "Sharon rushed to hospital" . . . of course, I did a double-take, thinking "didn't I just read that a few days ago?" Yes, this was his second visit and I had a sense that 'two strokes' in two weeks means that this might be big news. So rather than sleeping I stayed glued to the TV, going back and forth between Arabic News channels and BBC World. . . . . . Obviously, this is huge news in the region and many Syrians are talking about it. So, what is the vibe on the street? What is going on? Well, as always, it is hard to tell what Syrians are actually thinking but here's some quick reflections. I've not heard sorrow nor regret and I've even heard some happiness - however, I think that discussion of Sharon PRIOR to this recent event is quite revealing.

Oh, for dear readers that would like a bit more of a background on the man called the 'bulldozer' by his own people can check out this bio. Prior to last night, I've discussed prospects for peace with many Syrians - some of whom are displaced Palestinians themselves - and I was surprised to hear that while Sharon is universally hated and cursed by Syrians, many seemed to think that he might be the only person who could get Israel to make peace. Perhaps they were encouraged by the recent pull-out from Gaza. Perhaps the birth of a new Israeli party gave them hope. I don't know, honestly. Forgive him for the Sabra and Shatila massacre? Never. But a number of Syrians I spoke with were willing to say and think that perhaps the person you thought most unlikely to make peace is often the only person capable of delivering peace. Was this the case with Ariel Sharon? It looks like we will never know.