UNDP Sexy Report Reveals that Shisha Poses Threat to “Human Security in Arab States” !

Apart from many stories about rape in the Arab World (most of them as a result of the happy globalization and its wars in Iraq and Palestine), this sexy report from the United Nations Development Programme (page 154) sees narghile (shisha, hookah) smoking as a challenge to human security in Arab States:

“In addition to cigarettes, many Arab countries suffer from an epidemic of water-pipe smoking. As is well known, smoking contributes in a major way to an increase in mortality rates, the incidence of disease, and dependence on health care services. Consequently, smoking can place an additional economic burden on the family and deplete resources on the social level in general. The negative impact of smoking on development and the economy has become apparent in many developing countries, and the same is expected to happen in Arab countries as well”.

Please note the sophisticated sophism: “Water-pipe” and cigarette smoking are two forms of smoking. “As is well known”, smoking kills… “The same is expected” in Arab countries ! Hubba hubba !

But the last straw is that the above “demonstration” is supported by a carefully selected pseudo-scientific reference : the calamitous WHO flawed expert report on hookah smoking.

Kamal wrote (Sep 26, 2009) to Ms. Amat Al Alim Alsoswa, Director of the Regional Bureau of UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) for Arab States and a copy was sent to all her collaborators.

Introduction of the Letter : “My first question is : what relevant relation is there between narghile (hookah, shisha) smoking and “Human Security in Arab States”, sub-title of the UNDP report ? Unless one considers that, because of its growing popularity in the USA, narghile smoking is now considered a threat to US National Security…

Then, I wish to inform you that the WHO report, cited to support the above statement, was prepared by the staff of US funded research centres in the Arab region: namely the US-Syrian Centre for Tobacco Studies (Wasim Maziak, Thomas Eissenberg, Kenneth Ward) and the US-American University of Beirut (Alan Shihadeh). It appears that Samer Jabbour, who has participated in the elaboration of the UNDP report, is a direct colleague of these individuals, particularly through his membership in an anti-smoking global network called Globalink (*) [download Full LETTER]”.

(*) What is Globalink ? see here


The UNDP report: Arab Human Development Report published. Challenges to Human Security in Arab States. Regional Bureau for Arab States. UNDP 2009. 288 pages. See, in particular: pp 154, 164, 217. Alternate link: here and Arabic version there

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Tobacco Prohibition in “Free” Iraq: "We want Saddam back", said Ala al-Kanini !

One Hookah Would Equal 200 Cigarettes and European “Colonialism” (sic!) Would Now Be the Cause of the Hookah (Shisha, Narghile) Catastrophe ?

YOU ARE NOT ON THE HOME PAGE of the OBSERVATORY on HOOKAH OR HEALTH (Narghile, "Waterpipe"™, Health, Risks, Dangers, Diseases, Tar, Nicotine, Cancer). CLICK HERE to go there !