Why Mahmoud Abbas Is Called Abu Mazen

Analysis: Why Mahmoud Abbas Is Called Abu Mazen

Day to Day: February 10, 2004

ALEX CHADWICK, host:

This is DAY TO DAY from NPR News. I'm Alex Chadwick.

The Middle East peace process has new life again with a truce between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. This comes after a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen. And actually that's what we wanted to discuss for a moment. Why is Abbas also known as Abu Mazen? Why does he have two names? Here's Slate's Andy Bowers with an Explainer.

ANDY BOWERS:

Mahmoud Abbas' aka, Abu Mazen, is what's known in Arabic as a kunya, a specific kind of nickname. In this context, `Abu' means `father of,' and `Mazen' is the name of Abbas' first-born son who died three years ago. This is a common moniker for Arab men with sons. Writing in The New York Times, William Safire explained that having sons is a matter of great pride in the Arab world, so a man is usually called `father of' followed the name of his eldest male heir. If an Arab man has no sons, he can be called Abu followed by his own father's name. This, says Safire, is done with the assumption that if the man ever has a son, that son will be named after his grandfather.

Yet although the kunya is second nature to Arabic speakers, it's something of an annoyance to Western reporters. That's because we must call Mahmoud Abbas by his proper name, yet nearly everyone we interview in the Middle East, Israelis as well as Palestinians, refers to him as Abu Mazen. That's why you often hear NPR's Julie McCarthy say something like this before a soundbite.

SOUNDBITE OF REPORT

JULIE McCARTHY: As long as Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, stops what Vilnai calls the terror.

Major General NATAN VILNAI: I'm not going to tell Abu Mazen how to act. He's a Palestinian...

BOWERS: So just get used to the phrase `also known as Abu Mazen,' because you'll be hearing it a lot in the coming months.

CHADWICK: That Explainer from Slate's Andy Bowers.

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