The arrival of Ramadan also brings in so many special Ramadan shows. These shows can be soap operas, comedies, documentaries on Islam and much more. The shows are typically aired on Saudi Channel 1 and 2, in addition to MBC, Al Aribiyah and LBC. And the shows are usually in Arabic. However even a non-arabic speaker can follow along relatively easy if watching one of the many comedies.
Tash ma Tash is known as the overall favorite Ramadan show and most widely followed. Tash ma Tash actually took a break and did not have any new shows last Ramadan. However Ramadan 2007, Tash ma Tash had a number of spellbinding and thought-provoking shows. Tash ma Tash is back in full swing for Ramadan 2009 and stirring up a lot of discussion and controversy with this years programs.
Most people in the Arab world know about Tash ma Tash. I’d like to introduce you to another one of my favorites which also seems to air each Ramadan, which is Reyah and S’keena. This program is actually a true story focused primarily on two sisters who lived in Alexandria, Egypt. These sisters along with their husbands and a few other accomplices found themselves not living the kind of life that they wished…ie, not enough money. So they prepared elaborate schemes to lure female victims in to their home during which they would murder them and abscond with the jewels which the victim was wearing. I do not want to give away more than that but I find it a spellbinding story. Furthermore if one visits Alexandria today you can still see the original house which was home to Reyah and S’keena.
This video, (in Arabic) also gives you a taste of the show.
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I loved Tash ma tash it reminded me of some Latin shows I used to watch in Puerto Rico. I had it translated to me from Arabic but in some things no translation is necessary because you understand through body language and what is going on during the skit.
and for those who do like Tash ma Tash but do not have access to arabic channels, I’m happy to say you can view it through the MBC website!!!!
Yes, Tash ma tash is one of my favorite…but I wish it had English subtitles so that the huge expat community watching could follow along more easily.
@Rose Colored – or alternatively Tash ma Tash can also work as an incentive for a non-arabic speaking expat to want to learn arabic!
Wow another fan of Reyah and S’keena! I don’t watch many soap operas, but this one kept my attention. I admit, at first I watched it for the gorgeous Somaya Al Khashab as S’keena, but the excellent writing, music and acting (especially the ever stellar Abla Kamil as Reyah) kept me watching.
This year, the pickings are slimmer, but I like the Syrian comedy “Sabaya” (Girls) on Rotana Khalijia (for the laughs and the eye candy), and the Kuwaiti drama “Umm Al Banat” (Mother of Girls) on Abu Dhabi (for the heart breaking anguish as only the Kuwaitis know how to do).
One of the things I really like about Tash ma Tash is how well it shows the diversity of Saudi culture. Over the years, the stars have showcased pretty much every Saudi dialect and accent out there, and made fun of all of them
@Carol, hmmm, you could be right, but, it hasn’t been incentive enough for me yet. :
: I have learned quite a bit of Arabic over the years to use socially, but as Saudi Jawa stated above, the dialects and accents used on the show are always changing. And, it would give great insight into the country for those western expats that are only here for their 2 year contracts.
….
this also ON TV
The sound of the Israeli bulldozers operating in the West bank and East Jerusalem continue to rumble dashing the hopes of Barack Obama’s administration to resume peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. They are clearing new Palestinian lands for new Israeli houses in the territories that Israel occupied in the Six-Day War in June 1967.
The settlements are illegal under international law. The United Nations Security Council Resolution 446, adopted in March 1979, stipulates “that the policy and practices of Israel in establishing settlements in the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967 have no legal validity and constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East.”
The US has consistently avoided serious confrontations with Israel over the issue of settlements. And if there were any opposition, it has been limited to mere words. For instance, in the wake of the Annapolis Middle East Peace Conference, which was held in November 2007 in Maryland, the then US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice referred repeatedly to Israel’s obligations regarding the removal of “illegal outposts” and its obligations to stop settlements. But Washington’s demands fell on deaf ears in Tel Aviv and instead Israel built more settlements and illegal outposts throughout the West Bank including East Jerusalem.
The administration of Barack Obama seemed to be an exception. Unlike his predecessors, he tried to show that Washington’s opposition to the Israeli settlements was more than mere words.
Obama is pressing hard to jump start the Middle East peace negotiations. But it seems his peace drive, like some of his other major policies, has wavered.
In a speech in Cairo in June 2009, Obama urged Israel to stop settlement construction in the occupied territories. “The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements,” he said. But Israel has defied the demand and settlements keep growing. Practically, every Israeli government has promoted settlement since 1967.
In early September 2009, Israel officially approved the construction of 455 new settlements in the West Bank. Israeli officials have also announced that Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, intends to give the go-ahead for the new projects before considering a moratorium on settlement construction for a few months.
Netanyahu’s intention of a possible settlement freeze is to manage the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and preserve the status quo. That’s why, Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Eli Yishai, construction freeze in the West Bank settlements is only a ‘strategic pause.’ Yishai has said Israel would still build settlements in East Jerusalem. Netanyahu wants to set the conditions for negotiations or any possible agreement with the Palestinian Authority.
At the same time, he wants to manage Israel’s relationship with the US and keep the ties from plunging into confrontation.
But a serious question that remains is if the US, Britain, France, Russia and the UN are unable to make Israel stop building new settlements in the occupied Palestinian lands, even for a short period of time, how can they make it negotiate a solution for core issues related to the long-simmering conflict including the right of return of millions of Palestinian refugees, the status of Jerusalem, border demarcation and water supplies?
Obama came to power with the slogan of change, but delivering the change that is necessary to striking a just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which he has deemed a US national security priority, is the hard part.
Get over it Fawad. No one cares about the Palestinians as long as they continue to use and are allied with terrorists.
lynn,go blow your head off,no one cares about u,becasue u lost your job and your house is up for sale hahaha.
Sorry to post this here, but it is the juicy truth.
These are two of many pictures that landed in the newsrooms of several American newspapers that, to their credit, published most of them.
It is a scandal that broke out this summer involving private security guards working for the US embassy in Kabul.
But looking at the Abu Ghraib mess and the overall mess in Iraq, the disaster in Afghanistan, and now these pictures,
Someone should tell the Americans that they look good but only from a distance. American soldiers and officials look good on the American mainland, not in our region and close to our homes.
My friend Zaki Khalid, from BrassTacks, a Pakistani security analysis service, gave a very interesting reply to the question, Who are these mercenaries?
He answers:
“They are mostly malleable white thugs, ex-cops, and adventure seekers. These are not the Navy Seals and Army Green Berets that everyone tells you these contractors are. The companies Zapata, Blackwater, Aegis, CACI, etc. are run by Zionists. If you think about it, just who would you hire? Do you want a black gangster from Chicago, or Mexican gangsters from Houston, or whites from Pelican Bay? You couldn’t control them, and they would probably shoot you. The lower echelons are mainly ex-cops, academy drop-outs, and lower ranking, hand-picked military. The upper echelon are Israelis or white Zionists. They want guys that sit behind a M-60 or similar machine gun, in a humvee, that will spray civilian crowds of Afghanis, Iraqis, Iranians, possibly Pakistanis and eventually Americans. “
lynn,go blow your head off,no one cares about u,becasue u lost your job and your house is up for sale hahaha.
Sorry to post this here, but it is the juicy truth.
These are two of many pictures that landed in the newsrooms of several American newspapers that, to their credit, published most of them.
It is a scandal that broke out this summer involving private security guards working for the US embassy in Kabul.
But looking at the Abu Ghraib mess and the overall mess in Iraq, the disaster in Afghanistan, and now these pictures,
Someone should tell the Americans that they look good but only from a distance. American soldiers and officials look good on the American mainland, not in our region and close to our homes.
My friend Zaki Khalid, from BrassTacks, a Pakistani security analysis service, gave a very interesting reply to the question, Who are these mercenaries?
He answers:
“They are mostly malleable white thugs, ex-cops, and adventure seekers. These are not the Navy Seals and Army Green Berets that everyone tells you these contractors are. The companies Zapata, Blackwater, Aegis, CACI, etc. are run by Zionists. If you think about it, just who would you hire? Do you want a black gangster from Chicago, or Mexican gangsters from Houston, or whites from Pelican Bay? You couldn’t control them, and they would probably shoot you. The lower echelons are mainly ex-cops, academy drop-outs, and lower ranking, hand-picked military. The upper echelon are Israelis or white Zionists. They want guys that sit behind a M-60 or similar machine gun, in a humvee, that will spray civilian crowds of Afghanis, Iraqis, Iranians, possibly Pakistanis and eventually Americans. “
they should open fire on there mothers,who dont use birth controal pills haha
[...] Ramadan all Saudi television networks will broadcast special Ramadan shows. Most shows are scheduled to start shortly after ifthar on the first day of Ramadan and will [...]
[...] ma Tash is one of the most eagerly anticipated Ramadan shows in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the GCC. Tash ma Tash has a reputation for episodes which [...]
I happy to community join together and enjoy
i want seen tash m tash
i happy join with u
ied mubarak