It’s been one month.
One month in the land that has witnessed almost each major era in the history of human kind; one month in the land of Arab generosity, kindness and rigid traditions; one month in the land that has a history full of strong and inspiring female ruling figures, warriors and queens; one month in the land where man has chosen to try cattle’s food and adopt it as his daily cup of coffee; one month in the land of tribal conflicts, socialist revolutionists, desperate refugees and northern rebels.
I arrived in the capital of Yemen, Sana’a, with great enthusiasm to embark on a new experience hoping for it to be rich in adventures, knowledge and stories to share with others in the future. Indeed, my hopes have been greatly met for Sana’a specifically and Yemen in general has so many hidden secrets, ups and downs that I have and will experience for the following months to come.
In Sana’a, I’m viewed as a foreigner. Many think that I’m not even Arab and start welcoming me with the little English they know or use “book” Arabic so that I can understand what they’re saying (!). Others, yet a few, can tell that I’m Arab, although none could tell that I’m Palestinian. Upon my arrival to Sana’a, I was bewildered by the huge difference in attitudes between people (especially men) in the Old City compared with those in other neighborhoods (the latter considered “high end”). The difference in treating a veiled single girl walking down the street (yet not wearing the black abaya or covering her face) lies in the perceptions and interactions which range from polite, indifferent or just curious in the Old City versus aggressive, insulting, teasing and arrogant in the “new” areas of Sana’a; and thus came my decision to find a house and live in the Old City.
It was by mere coincidence that I found my house in the Old City. One night after dinner with my boss and his wife, and while I was waiting for a cab to pick me up from the dinner’s venue, I randomly ask the guard, who was waiting with me, about a house and viola! There’s one just across the street from the hotel. And so I got to live in the place I fell in love with the first time I came to Sana’a one year ago.
The Old City of Sana’a…
A wild mixture of Turkish/Yemeni history and architecture with high rise buildings all clustered so close to each other neighbors can actually tell what is going on in each other’s houses! With magnificent window designs, colored glass “qamreyyat” on top of the windows and antique wooden Jewish made doors, the Old City takes your breath away. The city’s bustling narrow streets, with children playing around senior Sanaani men and women roaming the different “harat” (neighborhoods) to visit one another and run their daily routines never fail to entertain me (I don’t think I will ever need a TV here!). Souq Al Melh, Souq Al Baqr, Souq Al Hameer, Souq Al Najjareen, Souq Bab Al Sabah and Bab Shaoob are just some of the famous market places you can find confined within the seven gates of the Old City (gates that are no longer existent just like Old Damascus). Naturally, the Turkish influence is not only seen in the window designs but also in the few yet busy Hammams they have established and left behind.
My house in the Old City is well.. really old! The structure from the inside is of a typical Sanaani house: 3 stories, high steps leading to each level, small decent rooms, small kitchen and a roof. It is considered big by many for one person, yet I found it very reasonable as I can easily accommodate visitors and sleepovers. Settling down in the Old City (and in Sana’a in general) is I must say not easy given the holy month of Ramadan and the weird working hours that come with it (many things get done at night and not during the day). Of course, that shouldn’t be a problem anywhere else in the world. But, in Sana’a it’s another story given the unpredictable power cuts that come with living here and hence nights can pass by without getting much done at all because of the lack of electricity. This is surely more challenging with the slow and lazy attitude people generally have in Ramadan due to the gap time needed after iftar to chew Qat and relax and then get to business at which time we might have no electricity to start with (!).
However, my pushy and demanding character helped me get most of the work done (yet not perfectly done) during this small amount of time and resources. I must confess that having workers chew Qat also helps since they operate with good and cheerful moods which I started calling the “Hakuna Matata” mood they get from the green bitter leaves soaking in their bulging cheeks.
Living in the Old City comes with its own challenges. My first morning at the new house was empty of water (!). I ended up washing my face, brushing my teeth and showering at the friendly hotel opposite to my house. Yet, that’s just one of the many challenges that the Old City carries with it. The frequent power cuts (4 times each day and 2 hours each time) and the lack of gas are additional difficulties, not mentioning of course the noisy streets (hence the need for ear plugs at night), loud and extremely noisy mosques and naughty children knocking on my door every now and then.
Nevertheless, the world is never empty of genuinely good people. My little gang of lovely hotel staff at the Arabia Felix hotel that hosted me for 11 nights before my move, are indeed my second family in Sana’a. A group of young men working vigorously at the hotel, with sincere manners, a great sense of humor and pure hospitality, I am so used to sitting with them, eating with them (especially during Ramadan) and even answering their English language related questions. I'm also lucky with the little group of foreigners I've met here from different parts of the world. My French, Dutch and Tunisian neighbors, my Welsh boss and his Canadian wife, my Australian colleague have all made great effort to make me feel welcome in the Old City. Meeting a group of Arabic learning foreign students has added to the limited yet valuable social life here for the young and carefree spirited discussions we have every time we get together.
I must confess that Yemen is not easy. In fact, that is an understatement (!). Still, life is not a full basket of perfectly ripe red cherries. With all the challenges that the past 30 days have carried with them, one month has taught me a lot and I know for a fact that this experience with its memorable ups and many downs will be a rich and an unforgettable one.
Sana'a
7.8.2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
A Shitty Welcome ... A Shitty Goodbye!
Life does make us cry many times but that doesn't mean that it doesn't crack us up at other times (!).
So, the other day, I was walking to one of my favorite breakfast spots in Hamra and just as I was about to walk into the place and have a Labneh sandwich, a pigeon decides to act like one and shit all over my head. Thankfully I have a scarf covering my clean hair, still wet after my morning shower!
As I was washing my hands vigorously under running water and laughing the incident away, something really odd came back to me:
My first day at AUB, a hot sticky September morning, as I was walking up the stairs leading from the women's dorms to the upper campus, a pigeon decides to act like one and shit all over my shoulder (!)
I step out again into the humid weather of Beirut and bustling streets of Hamra, look up at the sky and smile.Thanks to the Beiruti pigeons and their shitty welcome and farewell, I will never forget this place that gave me the best memories of my life and luckiest incidents I can ever recall.
Beirut
4.7.2009
So, the other day, I was walking to one of my favorite breakfast spots in Hamra and just as I was about to walk into the place and have a Labneh sandwich, a pigeon decides to act like one and shit all over my head. Thankfully I have a scarf covering my clean hair, still wet after my morning shower!
As I was washing my hands vigorously under running water and laughing the incident away, something really odd came back to me:
My first day at AUB, a hot sticky September morning, as I was walking up the stairs leading from the women's dorms to the upper campus, a pigeon decides to act like one and shit all over my shoulder (!)
I step out again into the humid weather of Beirut and bustling streets of Hamra, look up at the sky and smile.Thanks to the Beiruti pigeons and their shitty welcome and farewell, I will never forget this place that gave me the best memories of my life and luckiest incidents I can ever recall.
Beirut
4.7.2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
61 Years: “Is the Palestinian Cause an Exclusively Palestinian Matter or an Arab Matter?” A lecture by Azmi Bechara
Main points from the lecture:
• What were the Arabs fighting for between 1948 – 1967? It wasn’t Golan height or Sinai because they were not occupied at the time. They were fighting for Palestine against the Israeli occupation. This is an Arab matter!
• The Palestinian cause is not separate from the Arab matter المسألة العربية. Both are interrelated.
• If someone argues that the Palestinian cause is a 1967 lands matter, then they must consider 4 points:
1. Forget about the 1948 catastrophe (Nakba)
2. Forget about the 1948 refugees
3. Write a different history about the Arabs redefining identity, nationalism and sectarianism.
4. Declare that there is only one formal representative for the Palestinians. Let him/her take care of their own business (!) This is usually done by Arab leaderships to facilitate individual Arab peace treaties with Israel (Example: Anwar Sadat defending the Palestinian representation in front of Saudi in 1947 to prepare the foundations for Camp David treaty).
• The Palestinian cause should not be used as a tool within Arab-Arab conflicts and should be addressed on its own.
• In the 61st year since the Nakba, the negotiations that are going on right now intend to reach a new individual peace treaty between the Israelis and the Palestinian and it’s not to solve the matter. You can hear this in the new terminology that is being used all the time: عملية سلام" ، "عنف من الطرفين"، " متطرفين من الطرفين" ، " المسارات"“
• (What are we talking about here! We cannot compare 11,000 Palestinian prisoners, most of whom have not received a fair trial and are civilians to ONE IDF soldier who was taken in while fighting and killing civilians! Yet, we are asking decision makers to make this comparison !!!!!!!!!!).
• "القضية الفلسطينبة قضية لاجئين وليست قضية الــ 67."
• "القضية تحتاج إلى إيمان بالقضية وليس دين"
• Arab regimes tend to glorify Israel and over estimate its strength to cover for their defeats and their intentions not to fight. “Believe me: they are not that great!!”
• The real original intention of the Zionist institution is to occupy lands in exchange for Arab confession that Israel exists. In other words, the Zionist agenda was actually to start the “peace treaty” cycle. And, when the first Arab country (and the biggest) signed its peace treaty with Israel, the Israeli leaderships were more relaxed and are now handling negotiations slowly just like handling real-estate deals. In other words, the foundations for Arab defeat started being put down. بدأت تأسسة الهزيمة
• And hence, the Arabs started to come up with lousy terms to cover up and legitimize their peace treaties and peaceful intentions towards Israel, like “International Legitimacy” الشرعية الدولية (What the hell is that?)
• Resistance:
I. We should keep in mind that the PLO was organized and established by a group of refugees in the Diaspora (specifically in Kuwait/Gaza camps/ Lebanon/ Syria). And hence it is a “refugee’s movement”.
II. According to the Arab regimes, there is a “right” to resist but they won’t allow any “act” of resistance. It is all theoretical and not practical!
III. Populations are OBLIGED to resist actually.
• Therefore, can we talk about the cause without the refugees? What is the role of the refugees in the Palestinian liberation movement? What is the role of the Diaspora in pushing
for the Right to Return?
• " أنا أتحدث عن نضال عادل وعن العدل وتحقيق العدالة للشعب الفلسطيني وهذا يبدأ في العام 1948 وقضيتنا هي النكبة"
• The Palestinians have gone through, and are going through, 2 types of apartheid:
1. Expulsion from their home land in 1948
2. Segregating them from the land in 1967 and this has been recently reflected in building the apartheid wall.
• Many would say that there have been numerous catastrophes bigger and more tragic than the Palestinian one in terms of loss of lives and number of refugees. Well, the Palestinian matter is the only civil strife issue that is still going on since WWII !!
• International attention:
o All of this international attention is not focused on the Palestinians. It’s only concern is the Jewish matter only (“We are a footnote!”)
o (History) In fact, the Europeans consider the Jewish existence in Europe as an extension of the East in the West. For the Europeans, it was a matter of religion and nationalism (is it based on religion or ethnicity) and hence the discrimination against the Jews in Europe. In fact, the Europeans declared that in order for a Jew to become European, one should leave Europe! This is the racist/historic pact between the Zionist movement and Europe. In other words, Israel is an extension of colonialism and the West in the East and Israel forms your nationalist identity in the East.
o So the Western engagement in this matter is all about the European identity.
o Thus, the Palestinian matter is being transformed to two equal rights and hence a solution must be reached to satisfy both sides (!).
• With time, the Palestinian matter is becoming more and more complicated. This cause is a prisoner and is caught up within all the international developments and their accompanying complications. It is also becoming a cause between Arab countries and is also getting caught up within their problems or is being seen as a radical revolution (!)
• Our caused is being avoided because it is caught up at a crossroads between an Arab-Palestinian issue and a European-Jewish issue + the numerous international forces/parties and pressures that have come together like never before in the course of history to suppress the Palestinian matter.
• The first final point:
o The Arabs will never liberate themselves without liberating the Palestinians and solving their cause and vice versa.
o The Arab regimes blame the Palestinian cause for their social, economic and political problems again and again. In reality, Israel is the biggest player/actor in the Palestinian scene. Yet, Israel has been developing continuously in terms of economy, middle class sector of the society, commerce, political stability etc. So, their huge involvement in this matter did not stop them from developing their country from scratch without any oil or other resources that the Arabs have in abundance!
• The second final point:
o What is the fate of the Palestinian refugee camp without a Right to Return or protection? (food for thought). Keep in mind that the camp’s purpose is meant to be temporary. A camp is established for people either to fight from or to return to their homeland after a temporary period of time. It is not a question of luxury and lifestyle.
• Finally, the Palestinian matter is an Arab matter. Yet, the Arabs do not want to fight. The Arabs have fought Iran for 8 years in a war that resulted in tens of thousands of casualties and massive destruction. No one dared to speak against this war in terms of losses. So, why stop now and over estimate everything. It is because we do not want to fight. Simple.
" نحن نهول حتى لا نحارب"
Beirut.
14.5.2009
• What were the Arabs fighting for between 1948 – 1967? It wasn’t Golan height or Sinai because they were not occupied at the time. They were fighting for Palestine against the Israeli occupation. This is an Arab matter!
• The Palestinian cause is not separate from the Arab matter المسألة العربية. Both are interrelated.
• If someone argues that the Palestinian cause is a 1967 lands matter, then they must consider 4 points:
1. Forget about the 1948 catastrophe (Nakba)
2. Forget about the 1948 refugees
3. Write a different history about the Arabs redefining identity, nationalism and sectarianism.
4. Declare that there is only one formal representative for the Palestinians. Let him/her take care of their own business (!) This is usually done by Arab leaderships to facilitate individual Arab peace treaties with Israel (Example: Anwar Sadat defending the Palestinian representation in front of Saudi in 1947 to prepare the foundations for Camp David treaty).
• The Palestinian cause should not be used as a tool within Arab-Arab conflicts and should be addressed on its own.
• In the 61st year since the Nakba, the negotiations that are going on right now intend to reach a new individual peace treaty between the Israelis and the Palestinian and it’s not to solve the matter. You can hear this in the new terminology that is being used all the time: عملية سلام" ، "عنف من الطرفين"، " متطرفين من الطرفين" ، " المسارات"“
• (What are we talking about here! We cannot compare 11,000 Palestinian prisoners, most of whom have not received a fair trial and are civilians to ONE IDF soldier who was taken in while fighting and killing civilians! Yet, we are asking decision makers to make this comparison !!!!!!!!!!).
• "القضية الفلسطينبة قضية لاجئين وليست قضية الــ 67."
• "القضية تحتاج إلى إيمان بالقضية وليس دين"
• Arab regimes tend to glorify Israel and over estimate its strength to cover for their defeats and their intentions not to fight. “Believe me: they are not that great!!”
• The real original intention of the Zionist institution is to occupy lands in exchange for Arab confession that Israel exists. In other words, the Zionist agenda was actually to start the “peace treaty” cycle. And, when the first Arab country (and the biggest) signed its peace treaty with Israel, the Israeli leaderships were more relaxed and are now handling negotiations slowly just like handling real-estate deals. In other words, the foundations for Arab defeat started being put down. بدأت تأسسة الهزيمة
• And hence, the Arabs started to come up with lousy terms to cover up and legitimize their peace treaties and peaceful intentions towards Israel, like “International Legitimacy” الشرعية الدولية (What the hell is that?)
• Resistance:
I. We should keep in mind that the PLO was organized and established by a group of refugees in the Diaspora (specifically in Kuwait/Gaza camps/ Lebanon/ Syria). And hence it is a “refugee’s movement”.
II. According to the Arab regimes, there is a “right” to resist but they won’t allow any “act” of resistance. It is all theoretical and not practical!
III. Populations are OBLIGED to resist actually.
• Therefore, can we talk about the cause without the refugees? What is the role of the refugees in the Palestinian liberation movement? What is the role of the Diaspora in pushing
for the Right to Return?
• " أنا أتحدث عن نضال عادل وعن العدل وتحقيق العدالة للشعب الفلسطيني وهذا يبدأ في العام 1948 وقضيتنا هي النكبة"
• The Palestinians have gone through, and are going through, 2 types of apartheid:
1. Expulsion from their home land in 1948
2. Segregating them from the land in 1967 and this has been recently reflected in building the apartheid wall.
• Many would say that there have been numerous catastrophes bigger and more tragic than the Palestinian one in terms of loss of lives and number of refugees. Well, the Palestinian matter is the only civil strife issue that is still going on since WWII !!
• International attention:
o All of this international attention is not focused on the Palestinians. It’s only concern is the Jewish matter only (“We are a footnote!”)
o (History) In fact, the Europeans consider the Jewish existence in Europe as an extension of the East in the West. For the Europeans, it was a matter of religion and nationalism (is it based on religion or ethnicity) and hence the discrimination against the Jews in Europe. In fact, the Europeans declared that in order for a Jew to become European, one should leave Europe! This is the racist/historic pact between the Zionist movement and Europe. In other words, Israel is an extension of colonialism and the West in the East and Israel forms your nationalist identity in the East.
o So the Western engagement in this matter is all about the European identity.
o Thus, the Palestinian matter is being transformed to two equal rights and hence a solution must be reached to satisfy both sides (!).
• With time, the Palestinian matter is becoming more and more complicated. This cause is a prisoner and is caught up within all the international developments and their accompanying complications. It is also becoming a cause between Arab countries and is also getting caught up within their problems or is being seen as a radical revolution (!)
• Our caused is being avoided because it is caught up at a crossroads between an Arab-Palestinian issue and a European-Jewish issue + the numerous international forces/parties and pressures that have come together like never before in the course of history to suppress the Palestinian matter.
• The first final point:
o The Arabs will never liberate themselves without liberating the Palestinians and solving their cause and vice versa.
o The Arab regimes blame the Palestinian cause for their social, economic and political problems again and again. In reality, Israel is the biggest player/actor in the Palestinian scene. Yet, Israel has been developing continuously in terms of economy, middle class sector of the society, commerce, political stability etc. So, their huge involvement in this matter did not stop them from developing their country from scratch without any oil or other resources that the Arabs have in abundance!
• The second final point:
o What is the fate of the Palestinian refugee camp without a Right to Return or protection? (food for thought). Keep in mind that the camp’s purpose is meant to be temporary. A camp is established for people either to fight from or to return to their homeland after a temporary period of time. It is not a question of luxury and lifestyle.
• Finally, the Palestinian matter is an Arab matter. Yet, the Arabs do not want to fight. The Arabs have fought Iran for 8 years in a war that resulted in tens of thousands of casualties and massive destruction. No one dared to speak against this war in terms of losses. So, why stop now and over estimate everything. It is because we do not want to fight. Simple.
" نحن نهول حتى لا نحارب"
Beirut.
14.5.2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
This is Me*
I wake up to another morning polluted with the noisy construction site next door. Slowly stirring my coffee cup, I turn on the TV set for the news update for yet another bloody day. I narrow my barely open eyes at the TV screen to learn that the full blast fighting has stopped. Naturally, I was expecting this to happen as a new era in the infamous white house is about to start. I sneer at the world I live in which is apparently ruled by the laws of wild life. In other words, "survival of the fittest" is the grand slogan for how we lead our lives today.
I flip through the channels to find another way to explain the world I live in, hoping for a brighter flowery picture. Massive massacres, amputated and headless bodies, destruction, blockades, refugees, executions, religious preaching, prejudice, financial crisis, severe unemployment, epidemics, pornography, scandals and entertainment cat fights (!)
I step into the active streets of the city of cities, mingle with my peers and surf the worldwide web. More disturbance clouds my mind as I constantly try to defy the gravity of live spoken, written and filmed accusations of…. Me.
"YOU people are responsible for our civil war…"
"YOU have started this whole mess so you’ve got to handle the consequences"
"Don’t YOU think that Islamic terrorism is a key global issue that has to be fought?"
"So YOU support resistance with an extremist agenda?!!"
"But don’t YOU think that dialogue and talks are better for YOU and the future generations?"
"Don’t YOU want to get married, have a dozen children and live happily ever after?"
Exhausted, I step back into my apartment and catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror.
I am a practicing Muslim, but I do not impose my rules. I practice but I am not a terrorist. I am a veiled girl who tries to reach middle ground in a world torn between extremism and hypocrisy. I treat people the way I like to be treated back but I do not expect anything from anyone. I do not trust anyone a 100% but I do expect you to trust me. I maintain strong relationships but I forget whoever forgets me.
I am blamed for the problems societies have inflicted upon themselves but I am not ashamed. My identity is lost between a land I have never been to and a little meaningless black book; but I do not regret being who I am. I am a rebel who often breaks the rules but I maintain solid boundaries. I strive to keep an open mind but I also believe in all forms of resistance.
I dream about a "happily ever after" but I know for a fact that shit happens at the end of the day. I realize that hope should always be my drive but I do make mitigation plans.
I do not believe in endless love but I believe in mutual respect. I am a realist but I can also be an idealist. I am bold but I can be discreet. I am not pure but I have not sinned. I need cash but I hate capitalism. I believe in God but I ask questions. I am who I am because I chose to be me.
So, ask all your questions, make all your accusations and label me as much as you want.
It is simple… This is me.
Beirut
21.1.2009
*My friend Ayad allowed me to use the same title as one of his blog entries. His entry inspired me to write this.
I flip through the channels to find another way to explain the world I live in, hoping for a brighter flowery picture. Massive massacres, amputated and headless bodies, destruction, blockades, refugees, executions, religious preaching, prejudice, financial crisis, severe unemployment, epidemics, pornography, scandals and entertainment cat fights (!)
I step into the active streets of the city of cities, mingle with my peers and surf the worldwide web. More disturbance clouds my mind as I constantly try to defy the gravity of live spoken, written and filmed accusations of…. Me.
"YOU people are responsible for our civil war…"
"YOU have started this whole mess so you’ve got to handle the consequences"
"Don’t YOU think that Islamic terrorism is a key global issue that has to be fought?"
"So YOU support resistance with an extremist agenda?!!"
"But don’t YOU think that dialogue and talks are better for YOU and the future generations?"
"Don’t YOU want to get married, have a dozen children and live happily ever after?"
Exhausted, I step back into my apartment and catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror.
I am a practicing Muslim, but I do not impose my rules. I practice but I am not a terrorist. I am a veiled girl who tries to reach middle ground in a world torn between extremism and hypocrisy. I treat people the way I like to be treated back but I do not expect anything from anyone. I do not trust anyone a 100% but I do expect you to trust me. I maintain strong relationships but I forget whoever forgets me.
I am blamed for the problems societies have inflicted upon themselves but I am not ashamed. My identity is lost between a land I have never been to and a little meaningless black book; but I do not regret being who I am. I am a rebel who often breaks the rules but I maintain solid boundaries. I strive to keep an open mind but I also believe in all forms of resistance.
I dream about a "happily ever after" but I know for a fact that shit happens at the end of the day. I realize that hope should always be my drive but I do make mitigation plans.
I do not believe in endless love but I believe in mutual respect. I am a realist but I can also be an idealist. I am bold but I can be discreet. I am not pure but I have not sinned. I need cash but I hate capitalism. I believe in God but I ask questions. I am who I am because I chose to be me.
So, ask all your questions, make all your accusations and label me as much as you want.
It is simple… This is me.
Beirut
21.1.2009
*My friend Ayad allowed me to use the same title as one of his blog entries. His entry inspired me to write this.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
The "Kebbeh" Jargon
I come back to the lunch table and look around me at the plates full of endless amounts of food, red juicy tomatoes and glossy green rocca leaves. Steaming slices of grilled mozzarella cheese and deep fried kebbeh are followed by tender white fish, fatty meat and chicken mashewe.
I take one minute off and hesitate as I take the first bite of a hummus filled chunk of pita bread thinking about my hungry and thirsty people in Gaza. I chew slowly and think of how ironic this life can be: we are sitting here enjoying all the food one can ever dream of while 1.5 million individuals sit a few hundred kilometers away dying slowly of hunger and thirst, if they’re not already dead from the heavy Israeli shelling.
I snap myself out of my own thoughts to find the almost obese hypocrite sitting opposite to me reaching out in every direction for food. While chewing viciously on a heavily stuffed piece of kebbeh, he starts proposing solutions to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict with chunks of meat and pine nuts flying out of his full mouth here and there. I look up, with daring eyes and listen:
“Hamas is wrong. They do not know how to weigh it. They shouldn’t have started”.
“Look at the Palestinians in the camps here! They are happy! They have passports!!”
This “kebbeh” jargon is topped up when he finally asserts:
“The best solution to this whole problem is to join the West Bank with Jordan and Gaza with Egypt and enough with this headache!!”
I have never met someone so unaware of our cause in such a long time. The only thing that I can say to this fat hypocrite and many others like him is this:
It is just because of a slight twist in fate my friend that you ended up here living in high end neighborhoods of “goat-land”. It is this twist in fate that gave you a lot of money and a posh lifestyle. Look closely at your little black book; it states that you are Palestinian. Unfortunately, it doesn’t state that you are human because you’re not. You do not know how it feels to live the life of a refugee in a camp with a meaningless black/brown/blue book. We are all so ignorant.
So, please, I beg you to go on stuffing your big mouth with the fat lumps of your meaty kebbeh and shut up (!).
Amman
11.1.09
I take one minute off and hesitate as I take the first bite of a hummus filled chunk of pita bread thinking about my hungry and thirsty people in Gaza. I chew slowly and think of how ironic this life can be: we are sitting here enjoying all the food one can ever dream of while 1.5 million individuals sit a few hundred kilometers away dying slowly of hunger and thirst, if they’re not already dead from the heavy Israeli shelling.
I snap myself out of my own thoughts to find the almost obese hypocrite sitting opposite to me reaching out in every direction for food. While chewing viciously on a heavily stuffed piece of kebbeh, he starts proposing solutions to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict with chunks of meat and pine nuts flying out of his full mouth here and there. I look up, with daring eyes and listen:
“Hamas is wrong. They do not know how to weigh it. They shouldn’t have started”.
“Look at the Palestinians in the camps here! They are happy! They have passports!!”
This “kebbeh” jargon is topped up when he finally asserts:
“The best solution to this whole problem is to join the West Bank with Jordan and Gaza with Egypt and enough with this headache!!”
I have never met someone so unaware of our cause in such a long time. The only thing that I can say to this fat hypocrite and many others like him is this:
It is just because of a slight twist in fate my friend that you ended up here living in high end neighborhoods of “goat-land”. It is this twist in fate that gave you a lot of money and a posh lifestyle. Look closely at your little black book; it states that you are Palestinian. Unfortunately, it doesn’t state that you are human because you’re not. You do not know how it feels to live the life of a refugee in a camp with a meaningless black/brown/blue book. We are all so ignorant.
So, please, I beg you to go on stuffing your big mouth with the fat lumps of your meaty kebbeh and shut up (!).
Amman
11.1.09
Saturday, January 10, 2009
The New Middle East
With the increasing death toll and blood shed in Gaza, Palestine, we have all noticed a parallel increase in protests, riots and strikes condemning the merciless massacres. Every human being, who has a slight sense of humanity left in him/her, has stepped outside of their house, shop, office or even car to shout out in anger calling for yet another Zionist campaign against Palestinian civilians to stop. The difference this time though, is that the international angry response to this indescribable atrocity has climbed distinctly up the scale to higher levels. It is probably due to the fact that Israel was solely responsible for a similar war two year ago (Lebanon 2006). Yet, it is also the fact that 1.5 million Palestinians are trapped in a surrounded patch of land and are being bombarded everyday with no where safe to take refuge in. These people have had no electricity, no water and no food for 18 months and now they have no security.
As an individual with a great sense of humanity and a Palestinian whose sense of belonging to the holly land never faltered, I stepped out of my house and joined a small protest camp a few kilometers away from the shameful Israeli embassy in Amman, Jordan. Set up by a group of independent individuals, with tents, pictures and paintings donated by independent artists, the camp demonstrated some of the vocal public anger in Jordan. Similar to other protests, people gathered everyday to chant, sing and share ideas and experiences. Of course, this is not wrong. It is a way to express fury, mixed feelings and a certain point of view. However, for a week I got a sense of the general approach in the country. This attitude was signified in a set of questions and sarcastic statements like: “So what did you accomplish so far?”; “What are your impossible demands?” and “You will not be able to achieve anything! So why should we waste our time!” These are usually coupled with the general fear of the stupid secret service (mukhabarat) agents who swarm the country and contaminate every corner.
So, I got to thinking: what is it that we really want and seek to achieve through these public anger gatherings?
Logically, there are some immediate answers. In this case, there are some countries that have open diplomatic ties with the Zionist entity and hence the public tries with vocal pressure to demand an end to such ties (closing down embassies; posing a gas embargo etc.). Another counter is to spread public awareness and remind the general society of the cause any protest is organized for. It is a pity that the world needs to witness the death of more than 800 civilians to remember a 60 year old cause (!). So far, and especially in this part of the world, such public expressions have rarely, if never, established a new order. Hence, and unfortunately, people in general, have lost faith in such activities and have settled for the television screen to watch the daily anguish over a steaming cup of sweet tea. And hence we hear: “This is not our problem”; “We cannot do anything”; “We have children so we remain silent”.
In reality, there remains to be a huge gap between the Arab populations and their governments. As the British army referred to the Middle East when colonialism came to an end: “We have seen people without leaders.” Besides the gap, the general scheme among Arab leaders is to stick to their power positions until death parts them from the decision making spot. Thus, and since they realize the nature of the Arab streets (i.e. angry, emotional and verbal), they use their coercion powers through special bodies to keep the street silent by force. In fact, force continues to be used to silence Arab populations even in peaceful protests and demonstrations. So, we realize that vocal and public display of anger and stands towards a case is good to shed light on it and remind those who forgot but is not enough to start spinning the wheel of change.
Not long ago, Condoleezza Rice spoke of a new Middle East. For her country’s agenda, this would include many factors: change the geographical map once and for all; displace all Palestinians and give them an alternative piece of land; secure Israel and aid in its expansion; control more resources etc. It might even include eradicating all Palestinians in the region (Since “A good Palestinian is a dead Palestinian” as put by one of the Zionist founders of Israel).
For us, the cycle of change for our new Middle East must start with each one of us. The whole world has witnessed some kind of war, be it civil or international, throughout history. However, the key difference between us and the rest of the world, specifically the developed one, is that change has occurred after those historical catastrophes. Other populations have moved forward, have altered their mode of thinking in a way that resulted in a developed world. Leaderships spring from populations and hence the cycle of change will come from us, the people and not the governments. We are very well educated, we have introduced all forms of technology into our world and we have open access to the rest of the world.
The only thing that is left here is for each one of us to start with him/her self. Many preach the world on how things should be done politically, socially or religiously while they themselves do not know half of what they are preaching about. It is our duty towards us, our families, friends, the next generations and the Arab world to educate ourselves. We need to learn, read and remember every detail of the past and present to plan for the future. It is with knowledge that populations rise, fight and eventually win. I might not see it; neither would the next generation see it. It takes time. So be it.
A few years ago we were talking about Palestine. Recently we started talking about the West Bank and Gaza strip. Now we are talking about Gaza solely. Let’s read, learn and spread the word so we remember the original Palestine and plan for our own new Middle East.
Amman
10.1.2009
As an individual with a great sense of humanity and a Palestinian whose sense of belonging to the holly land never faltered, I stepped out of my house and joined a small protest camp a few kilometers away from the shameful Israeli embassy in Amman, Jordan. Set up by a group of independent individuals, with tents, pictures and paintings donated by independent artists, the camp demonstrated some of the vocal public anger in Jordan. Similar to other protests, people gathered everyday to chant, sing and share ideas and experiences. Of course, this is not wrong. It is a way to express fury, mixed feelings and a certain point of view. However, for a week I got a sense of the general approach in the country. This attitude was signified in a set of questions and sarcastic statements like: “So what did you accomplish so far?”; “What are your impossible demands?” and “You will not be able to achieve anything! So why should we waste our time!” These are usually coupled with the general fear of the stupid secret service (mukhabarat) agents who swarm the country and contaminate every corner.
So, I got to thinking: what is it that we really want and seek to achieve through these public anger gatherings?
Logically, there are some immediate answers. In this case, there are some countries that have open diplomatic ties with the Zionist entity and hence the public tries with vocal pressure to demand an end to such ties (closing down embassies; posing a gas embargo etc.). Another counter is to spread public awareness and remind the general society of the cause any protest is organized for. It is a pity that the world needs to witness the death of more than 800 civilians to remember a 60 year old cause (!). So far, and especially in this part of the world, such public expressions have rarely, if never, established a new order. Hence, and unfortunately, people in general, have lost faith in such activities and have settled for the television screen to watch the daily anguish over a steaming cup of sweet tea. And hence we hear: “This is not our problem”; “We cannot do anything”; “We have children so we remain silent”.
In reality, there remains to be a huge gap between the Arab populations and their governments. As the British army referred to the Middle East when colonialism came to an end: “We have seen people without leaders.” Besides the gap, the general scheme among Arab leaders is to stick to their power positions until death parts them from the decision making spot. Thus, and since they realize the nature of the Arab streets (i.e. angry, emotional and verbal), they use their coercion powers through special bodies to keep the street silent by force. In fact, force continues to be used to silence Arab populations even in peaceful protests and demonstrations. So, we realize that vocal and public display of anger and stands towards a case is good to shed light on it and remind those who forgot but is not enough to start spinning the wheel of change.
Not long ago, Condoleezza Rice spoke of a new Middle East. For her country’s agenda, this would include many factors: change the geographical map once and for all; displace all Palestinians and give them an alternative piece of land; secure Israel and aid in its expansion; control more resources etc. It might even include eradicating all Palestinians in the region (Since “A good Palestinian is a dead Palestinian” as put by one of the Zionist founders of Israel).
For us, the cycle of change for our new Middle East must start with each one of us. The whole world has witnessed some kind of war, be it civil or international, throughout history. However, the key difference between us and the rest of the world, specifically the developed one, is that change has occurred after those historical catastrophes. Other populations have moved forward, have altered their mode of thinking in a way that resulted in a developed world. Leaderships spring from populations and hence the cycle of change will come from us, the people and not the governments. We are very well educated, we have introduced all forms of technology into our world and we have open access to the rest of the world.
The only thing that is left here is for each one of us to start with him/her self. Many preach the world on how things should be done politically, socially or religiously while they themselves do not know half of what they are preaching about. It is our duty towards us, our families, friends, the next generations and the Arab world to educate ourselves. We need to learn, read and remember every detail of the past and present to plan for the future. It is with knowledge that populations rise, fight and eventually win. I might not see it; neither would the next generation see it. It takes time. So be it.
A few years ago we were talking about Palestine. Recently we started talking about the West Bank and Gaza strip. Now we are talking about Gaza solely. Let’s read, learn and spread the word so we remember the original Palestine and plan for our own new Middle East.
Amman
10.1.2009
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Keep on Walking..
It is finally the last day of a year. Another year has passed filled with experiences, archived photos and endless memories. I walk through the empty university campus, with all the sweet memories rushing back to me from every corner.
Fighting against the chilly wind, I stop by the newspaper guy, Abu Ahmed, who has been my daily morning friend for six years of school. We exchange greetings and naturally political news. I've been always fascinated at how easy it's been for me to share thoughts and emotions with Abu Ahmed. He senses my depression and sorrow for how 2008 has come to a bloody end with the mass killings of my people a few hundred kilometers away.
Abu Ahmed listens intently to my confused and ever tangled thoughts; looks at me with his gentle dark brown eyes and says: "You are here my dear because you know deep inside that there is a very small illuminated gap with the light of hope coming out of it. You wake up every day and you walk towards that light. You my dear are the future. God is great. He promised himself and human kind that He will eventually lift injustice. So all you have to do is to keep on walking.."
With that, we exchange goodbyes and I keep on walking to start another year with hope for rich experiences, colorful photos and irreplaceable memories.
Beirut
1.1.2009
Fighting against the chilly wind, I stop by the newspaper guy, Abu Ahmed, who has been my daily morning friend for six years of school. We exchange greetings and naturally political news. I've been always fascinated at how easy it's been for me to share thoughts and emotions with Abu Ahmed. He senses my depression and sorrow for how 2008 has come to a bloody end with the mass killings of my people a few hundred kilometers away.
Abu Ahmed listens intently to my confused and ever tangled thoughts; looks at me with his gentle dark brown eyes and says: "You are here my dear because you know deep inside that there is a very small illuminated gap with the light of hope coming out of it. You wake up every day and you walk towards that light. You my dear are the future. God is great. He promised himself and human kind that He will eventually lift injustice. So all you have to do is to keep on walking.."
With that, we exchange goodbyes and I keep on walking to start another year with hope for rich experiences, colorful photos and irreplaceable memories.
Beirut
1.1.2009
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)