Ringtones Rock Ramallah

CREDIT: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/Getty Images

After months of delay, Al-Watania, the West Bank’s second cell-phone carrier, began its operations this week, offering its customers the latest in telephone technology. And while the company’s customers won’t be able to pick up their new flip phones and call Israel—bureaucratic restrictions and mutual resentments make communications between the Jewish state and its Palestinian neighbor nearly impossible—they will be able to download ringtones of their favorite songs. The most popular option, by far, is “Allahu Akbar,” meaning “God is great” and a common phrase in Muslim prayer. It is followed closely by pop tunes from around the Arab world, such as the Egyptian singer Saad el Soughayar’s hit, “She Loves You, You Donkey.” Meanwhile, plagued by what it perceived as lack of cell phone etiquette, the Egyptian government took the unusual step of releasing a 16-point guide to properly using the popular technology. Among the document’s most pressing recommendations: “Don’t pick an annoying ringtone.”

The Most Popular Ringtone in the West Bank: Allahu Akbar [Haaretz, in Hebrew]