C L O S E R

“The story line is not important. We have to take into account that reading itself is what’s lacking in Arab nations. Those nations do not even read the Koran. I say we must learn the love of reading from the West without saying that reading that book is a waste of time. Hundreds of thousands of [Westerners] stood in line to get a copy of the book and no one in the Arab nations even goes into a bookstore more than once a year. There’s no crowding in bookstores. People crowd around the television, and they’re highly skilled in wasting time on the Internet.”

These words, written by a reader named Khaled, were posted on the Al Jazeera Web site the morning the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series was released. J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” has yet to be translated into Hebrew, but the book’s official Arabic Web site, ar-hp.com, is already up, and it is possible to download all the Harry Potter books in Arabic there. The site also contains information about the author, the number of copies sold and news related to the book.

For example, one article reports that police in Pakistan defused a bomb set to explode next to the Karachi bookstore where the book was set to go on sale. Another article informed would-be viewers that Al Jazeera was about to air a television special about the Harry Potter phenomenon.

The site features links to forums for Arabic-speaking Harry Potter fans, advice on how to quickly obtain the book and an interactive trivia competition about the life and adventures of the boy wizard. Islamic religious decrees, or fatwas, on why it is forbidden to perform spells and the difference between regular magic and wizardry, are also included.

This is not the only Web site where it is possible to download the books in Arabic, and given the traffic on other sites with similar services, it appears that many thousands, though not millions, have taken the opportunity.

In Arab nations, most copies of the new book were snapped up by children in Beirut and the Gulf States, where the first Arabic copies were ordered online and received through air freight. Iranians also lined up to buy the book. This year was the first time Iranians were able to obtain the book at the same time as residents of other countries.

The fact that children (and adults) all over the world, including Arab nations, are reading the same book at the same time raised questions as to whether an Arabic writer could attract so many readers. In addition, it prompted residents of Arab countries to compare their own reading habits with those of other places.

A bookstore owner in Dubai quoted in the local newspaper Gulf News says he keeps about 10,000 titles in his shop but sells no more than two to five books each month.

Another Dubai bookstore owner says sales of Arabic books in his shop comprise only 8 percent of total sales. That means that most of his clientele read in English and French.

Salah, another visitor to the Al Jazeera site, also expressed concern regarding Arab reading habits. He says that proper promotion of reading among Arab youth cannot rely on just anything that falls into their hands, even if it bears the name Harry Potter.

“Literature,” says Salah, “must strive to achieve lofty aims rather than feed the illusions that nurture Western culture.” Salah calls on Arabic readers to return to Muslim texts, the Koran and its commentators.

An Internet surfer from California, identified as Marmour, suggests that Arabs unite to support the Palestinian cause and read sacred texts rather than the “drivel” that surrounds the boy wizard.

Razi, another readers’ forum participant, chimes in: “If our parents had accustomed us to reading when we were young, we would already have read a major portion of modern literature from all parts of the world, as well as works by acclaimed writers like the author of ‘Harry Potter,’ who would enrich imaginations.”

Razi continues: “I intend to encourage my children to read and hope that everyone does that. Together, we will change the world.”

“The story line is not important. We have to take into account that reading itself is what’s lacking in Arab nations. Those nations do not even read the Koran. I say we must learn the love of reading from the West without saying that reading that book is a waste of time. Hundreds of thousands of [Westerners] stood in line to get a copy of the book and no one in the Arab nations even goes into a bookstore more than once a year. There’s no crowding in bookstores. People crowd around the television, and they’re highly skilled in wasting time on the Internet.”

These words, written by a reader named Khaled, were posted on the Al Jazeera Web site the morning the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series was released. J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” has yet to be translated into Hebrew, but the book’s official Arabic Web site, ar-hp.com, is already up, and it is possible to download all the Harry Potter books in Arabic there. The site also contains information about the author, the number of copies sold and news related to the book.

For example, one article reports that police in Pakistan defused a bomb set to explode next to the Karachi bookstore where the book was set to go on sale. Another article informed would-be viewers that Al Jazeera was about to air a television special about the Harry Potter phenomenon.

The site features links to forums for Arabic-speaking Harry Potter fans, advice on how to quickly obtain the book and an interactive trivia competition about the life and adventures of the boy wizard. Islamic religious decrees, or fatwas, on why it is forbidden to perform spells and the difference between regular magic and wizardry, are also included.

This is not the only Web site where it is possible to download the books in Arabic, and given the traffic on other sites with similar services, it appears that many thousands, though not millions, have taken the opportunity.

In Arab nations, most copies of the new book were snapped up by children in Beirut and the Gulf States, where the first Arabic copies were ordered online and received through air freight. Iranians also lined up to buy the book. This year was the first time Iranians were able to obtain the book at the same time as residents of other countries.

The fact that children (and adults) all over the world, including Arab nations, are reading the same book at the same time raised questions as to whether an Arabic writer could attract so many readers. In addition, it prompted residents of Arab countries to compare their own reading habits with those of other places.

A bookstore owner in Dubai quoted in the local newspaper Gulf News says he keeps about 10,000 titles in his shop but sells no more than two to five books each month.

Another Dubai bookstore owner says sales of Arabic books in his shop comprise only 8 percent of total sales. That means that most of his clientele read in English and French.

Salah, another visitor to the Al Jazeera site, also expressed concern regarding Arab reading habits. He says that proper promotion of reading among Arab youth cannot rely on just anything that falls into their hands, even if it bears the name Harry Potter.

“Literature,” says Salah, “must strive to achieve lofty aims rather than feed the illusions that nurture Western culture.” Salah calls on Arabic readers to return to Muslim texts, the Koran and its commentators.

An Internet surfer from California, identified as Marmour, suggests that Arabs unite to support the Palestinian cause and read sacred texts rather than the “drivel” that surrounds the boy wizard.

Razi, another readers’ forum participant, chimes in: “If our parents had accustomed us to reading when we were young, we would already have read a major portion of modern literature from all parts of the world, as well as works by acclaimed writers like the author of ‘Harry Potter,’ who would enrich imaginations.”

Razi continues: “I intend to encourage my children to read and hope that everyone does that. Together, we will change the world.”

Stop discriminatie artsen
Publicatie: Nr. 29/30 – 20 juli 2007
Rubriek: Hoofdredactioneel
Auteur: Ben V.M. Crul
Pagina: 1243

Twee maanden geleden werd – midden in de nacht – een islamitische vrouw in partu een Nederlands ziekenhuis binnengebracht. Toen de mannelijke gynaecoloog haar wilde onderzoeken, werd hem door de echtgenoot van de vrouw de toegang tot de verloskamer ontzegd. Alleen een vrouwelijke gynaecoloog zou de bevalling bij zijn vrouw mogen leiden. De discussie werd door de man dreigend gesloten. Alleen doordat uw geïntimideerde collega ijlings (duur) vervoer per ambulance naar een nabijgelegen ziekenhuis regelde, waar wél een vrouwelijke gynaecoloog beschikbaar was, kwam daar ternauwernood een gezond kind te wereld. De inspectie, gevraagd om haar mening, gaf het veilige antwoord dat de beroepsgroep eerst maar eens zelf met een standpunt moet komen.

Een uitzondering? Helaas niet. Navraag onder ziekenhuisdirecteuren leert dat dergelijke taferelen zich steeds meer en in vele variaties in hun ziekenhuizen afspelen. Floris Sanders geeft in zijn column Veldwerk op blz. 1269 ook een staaltje van ‘weigeren vanwege geslacht’ weg. Met hem vind ik dat ontoelaatbaar. Een arts en ander personeel in de gezondheidszorg moet iedereen gelijk behandelen. Patiënten kunnen echter op basis van geloof – ook in acute situaties – eisen dat de hulpverlener beslist geen man, neger, homo, oudere of jood mag zijn. En wij artsen geven daar, vanwege de vrije artsenkeuze of intimidatie, nog aan toe ook.

Massaal wakker worden, collega’s, en vlug één lijn trekken voordat het te laat is. Stop met het toelaten van de discriminatie en seksuele insinuatie op uw professionele gedrag, zou ik zeggen. We leven hier wel in Nederland anno 2007 en niet meer in de middeleeuwen. Los van het prin­cipiële is het ook ondoenlijk om bij het samenstellen van diensten ook steeds ten minste een vrouw te moeten inroosteren.

Nu de inspectie zich op de vlakte houdt, zal de KNMG als vertegenwoordiger van de totale beroepsgroep inderdaad met een standpunt moeten komen.
De mening van Floris Sanders en mij is duidelijk: laat iedereen stoppen met het toegeven aan de druk om vanwege geloof of cultuur altijd een vrouwelijke hulpverlener te kunnen eisen. U kunt de KNMG alvast helpen bij haar standpuntbepaling: vul de poll in op www.medischcontact.nl en geef aan of u Floris en mij steunt of niet.

Ben V.M. Crul