lakilsoft Enero 24th, 2009
CAIRO, Dec 31, (Agencies): Several Arab states have cancelled planned New Year celebrations in solidarity with Palestinians in the Islamist-run Gaza Strip who suffered a fifth straight day of Israeli bombardment on Wednesday. Egypt, Jordan, Dubai and Syria have all cancelled festivities including concerts by renowned Arab singers. As the Arab League met in the Egyptian capital to decide a political response to one of Israel’s deadliest-ever offensives on Gaza that has so far killed at least 390 Palestinians, the cultural message was clear. Egypt’s state-owned Al-Ahram daily reported that official events planned for New Year’s Eve had been shelved. “In solidarity with the painful events in the Palestinian territories and the massacres which Gazans are faced with… the ministries of culture and information have decided to cancel New Year’s festivities,” it said.
Cancelled events include a special concert by famed Egyptian singer Mohammed Munir set for Cairo’s Opera House, and a variety performance due to be broadcast on state television.
The planned New Year’s Day launch by state television of a new channel called “Nile Comedy” has also been postponed.
In the Gulf tourism hub of Dubai, the emirate’s ruler Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed al-Maktoum decreed that several planned concerts should not go ahead.
He gave the order “as a sign of solidarity with the brotherly Palestinian people and because of the death and destruction perpetrated on the Gaza Strip by the Israeli war machine,” his office said.
International Arab stars including Mohammed Abdu of Saudi Arabia, Iraq’s Kazem al-Saher, Nancy Ajram from Lebanon and Tunisian chanteuse Latifa had all been due to perform in Dubai over the New Year.
A concert by Colombian star Shakira in the neighbouring emirate of Abu Dhabi was still scheduled to go ahead.
The Syrian artists’ union said in a statement festivities would not take place, including a New Year’s Eve concert by famed singer Sabah Fakhri in a top Damascus hotel.
Hotels in Beirut, capital of neighbouring Lebanon, told AFP their events would proceed as planned.
In Jordan several five-star hotels and restaurants in the capital Amman and other cities including the ancient Nabataean city of Petra and the Red Sea port of Aqaba, cancelled New Year celebrations.
“The decision to cancel the celebrations has been taken in solidarity with our people in Gaza,” Michel Nazzal, head of the Jordanian Hotel Association, said in a statement.
Newspapers urged Jordanians to join a candlelight vigil in central Amman at midnight instead to express their support for Gaza.
“While the world is celebrating the new year, the people of Gaza are going to welcome it with bombs, fire and blood. Let us affirm our solidarity with them,” read an advertisement in Wednesday’s papers.
New Year’s Eve is one of the busiest times of the year for Dubai’s hotel bars and restaurants, which typically boast lavish dinner packages at steep entry fees. The iconic sail-shaped Burj al-Arab was offering one of the dearest: a gala feast followed by live music and dancing for 9,900 dirhams ($2,697) a person.
The hotel’s parent, Jumeirah Group, which is controlled by Dubai ruler Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, did not respond to requests for comment about possible changes to its New Year’s plans.
Bahrain News Agency said Wednesday afternoon that all New Year’s concerts will be canceled in support of Gaza following a directive by the tiny island state’s king. Hotels were also asked to abide by the ruling.
Fireworks exploded in a kaleidoscopic shower of light over Sydney’s shimmering harbor Wednesday, as the world’s first major city to ring in 2009 celebrated the end of a decidedly rocky year with cheers, beers and a sense of relief.
Spectator Randolph King, 63, of York, England, whose retirement fund was gutted in the global financial crisis, summed up the feeling of many across the world as 2008 came to a close: “I’m looking forward to 2009,” he said. “Because it can’t get much worse.”
Facing the end of a year that saw global markets come crashing down — taking the world’s morale with them — partygoers everywhere struggled to forget their troubles on what is typically a joyous night.
In the Philippines, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo spoke of hope for better days to come, while in Hong Kong, some admitted they were too depressed over their monetary woes to join in the revelry. And in Malaysia, the government — mindful of the shaky economy — opted against sponsoring any celebration at all.
In Sydney, the midnight pyrotechnic extravaganza, which organizers hoped would give revelers a brief respite from the global gloom, drew a cheering crowd of more than a million people. Fireworks zigged and zagged against the backdrop of Sydney’s famed Harbor Bridge and simulated rain, thunder and lightning built toward a booming “creation storm,” in keeping with the evening’s theme of new beginnings.
“It is about reflecting and looking at what’s happened in the past and moving forward,” the celebration’s creative director, Rhoda Roberts, said of the night’s “creation” theme, chosen in part to reflect the struggles of 2008. “It’s a time for the community to gather, to reflect, and also to move on and to simply have a little bit of joy and celebration in their lives.”
But in Hong Kong, where thousands were expected at popular Victoria Harbor for a midnight fireworks display, those who had investments linked to collapsed U.S. bank Lehman Brothers said there was little joy to be found.
“I don’t think there’s any reason for me to celebrate after knowing that my investment is worth nothing now,” said electrical repairman Chan Hon-ming, who had purchased a $30,000 Lehman-backed investment.
In India, many were happy to see the end of 2008, during which the country was rocked by a series of terrorist attacks in several cities culminating in a three-day siege in Mumbai in which gunmen killed 164 people.
“The year 2008 can best be described as a year of crime, terrorist activities, bloodshed and accidents,” said Tavishi Srivastava, 51, an office worker in the northern city of Lucknow. “I sincerely hope that 2009 will be a year of peace and progress.”
The year was also tough on India’s economy. Rising inflation and the global meltdown slowed the growth needed to lift hundreds of millions out of poverty, while stock exchanges plummeted, hitting the rich and middle class.
At midnight in Japan, temples rang their bells 108 times — representing the 108 evils being struck out — as worshippers threw coins as offererings and prayed. In Tokyo, dozens of volunteers stirred huge pots of New Year’s rice-cake soup, pitched tents and doled out blankets and clothing to the needy.
The “New Year’s Village for Temporary Workers” was set up for the first time this year to provide free meals and shelter in a park. About 100 people signed up to spend New Year’s Eve at the village, which held a countdown ceremony and was slated to stay open through Jan 5.
Japan has long boasted a system of lifetime employment at major companies, but that has unraveled this year amid the financial crisis.
“There’s no work,” muttered Mitsuo Kobayashi, 61, picking up a wool scarf, a coat and pants at the village, and stuffing them in his paper bag. “Who knows what next year will bring?”
In Thailand, after a year of near-daily protests — and six months in which demonstrations all but paralyzed the government — the country was finally calm on the last day of 2008 as loyalists of ousted ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra took off for a five-day national holiday. Many of the protesters come from Thailand’s rural northeast and have few opportunities to get home except for longer holidays like New Year’s.
Celebrations were muted in China, where fireworks and feasting are reserved mainly for the Lunar New Year, which in 2009 begins on Jan 26.
In Beijing, President Hu Jintao summed up the year’s challenges and successes ranging from the devastating Sichuan earthquake — that left nearly 90,000 people dead or missing — to the Beijing Olympics, calling 2008 extraordinary and unusual.
In the Philippines, President Arroyo looked toward the future.
“I pray for greater peace and stability,” Arroyo said. “I hope that we can all work together as a global community to weather these storms.”
Source
