Janet Jackson and Nancy Ajram

Lebanese superstar Nancy Ajram made a rare appearance in the Egyptian parliament the other day.   According to al Sharq al Awsat, the Parliament was arguing over a proposal to lower the tax rate on parties and events targeted at Arab and foreign tourists when one grumpy MP launched into a tirade:

"This would only increase the interest in the parties of Nancy [and others] who appear on our satellite television screens with clothes which reveal more than they cover, and which agigate the boys, and arouse their base instincts!"  The tax cut should be opposed, therefore, "in order to protect the young men in the Arab world!" 

The young men in the Arab world were not available to comment;  they appeared to all be off watching Nancy Ajram videos or something.

(More serious arguments were raised about why pricy events for foreign tourists should get a tax cut when millions of young Egyptians couldn't find work;  but that's another, far less entertaining part of the story).

Nancy, major threat to Arab national security

Meanwhile, in Kuwait (according to al Arabiya), three Islamist MPs lashed out at the government today for failing to protect the morals and values of Kuwaiti society because the Minister of Information was permitting the airing of music videos and allowing musical performances over the holidays.  One suspects that Nancy Ajram had something to do with this. 

Why, just last year Nancy Ajram caused major problems in Bahrain, as five Islamist MPs "tabled an urgent motion in the Bahraini Parliament to ban the Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram from performing in Bahrain citing her act as provocative, indecent and debaucherous."

This Nancy Ajram problem appears to be out of control!    

But what might seem like a problem can also be seen as an opportunity.  Because if anyone knows the all-consuming importance of scantily clad women singing on television, it's the Bush administration and American conservatives.  After all, it was only their forceful response which saved this great nation from the mortal threat posed by Janet Jackson's harrowing Super Bowl display. 

Janet, unbelievably major threat to American national security (I got the most work-safe picture I could find on google image search!)

If the Bush administration always seemed an unlikely candidate for promoting democracy in the Arab world, here we may have found an area of governance for which Bush's team is a natural source of advice and inspiration:  better censorship of female entertainers whose clothes reveal more than they conceal!   

Michael Powell, an Arab nation turns its agitated eyes to you. 

Of course, the Islamists might not actually need any advice or help on this one... but I'm sure they would appreciate the moral support.   Christianists and Islamists of the world... who ever said there was no common ground?

UPDATE:  why, yes -  I am completely swamped under grading with little prospect of finishing in time for Christmas.  What about this long, time-consuming to produce, and slightly addled post tipped you off?

NOTE:  Foreign Dispatches prefers Haifa Wehbi to Nancy Ajram.   Since he says that he rarely agrees with me, I offer this in the spirit of a temporary harmonic convergence:

Haifa Wehbe, also a threat to Arab national security.

It's like Britney vs Christina, or perhaps the other way around (Nancy's official website says that she's been possessed of an "innocent sensuality" since she started performing at the age of 4;  Haifa's clothes seem to do quite a bit less concealing than do Nancy's.  Both of them make pretty forgettable music, in my opinion).   Merry Holidays!

Comments

[Stacey]

Shades of last year's controversy over Elissa at AUC. The parliament may be objectively more important, but when your most openly American cultural institution jumps on the bandwagon...Elissa (another of the Nancy Agram/Ruby ilk) was lined up for Spring Fling, but at the last minute the concert was cancelled by the student union. I don't know the truth of the matter - the SU claimed that she made last minute, unreasonable demands. But the student newspaper had been running literally weeks of articles calling for such an immoral (and popular) figure to be removed from the line-up...Given that this occured alongside an ongoing row over increasing the size of the prayer space on campus, everyone just rang this up as an Islamist victory.

[Chan'ad]

Brace yourself for a sudden increase in traffic Abu Aardvark. I get a ridiculous amount of hits on my blog from people searching for "nancy ajram sex video", or "nude nancy ajram pic",... you get the picture. And these hits come from as close as Bahrain, to as far away as Fiji or Madagascar. Quite the phenomenon she is.

[Njorl]

Hmm. Seems like Janet's outfit conceals more than it reveals. I mean, she is covered fro toes to neck for the most part - just a small area is exposed.

[the aardvark]

Chan'ad, now I'm curious! Did you blog about Nancy Ajram (too lazy/busy to look for myself)? Presumably not with a nude picture, right? Was this related to the little frenzy that Mahmood wrote about? Is there any Arab country which hasn't had a Nancy Ajram national security crisis?

[Chan'ad]

Aardvark, I didn't write a full post about Nancy Ajram. I just mentioned her name in a post about the Star Academy concert being cancelled, and then my hit counter went crazy.

But it is astounding that Arab regimes are angered more by popstars than they are by terrorists. If only Bin Laden would realize this.

[idook]

Should Osama start his own band (The AK-47s) or what? Come to think of it, I'm sure somebody somewhere in the Internet has set his tirades to disco music. But his recruiting dept needs to work on the imago thing. Hire more nubile young dancers and less dour hairy guys.