Are You Listening?

Although human conscience develops at a faster rate than, lets say, the change to the climate we still have to go through pain and atrocities before we can see the reality and the consequences of our actions. Human conscience is trapped and is only freed once the chains of tribalism, racism and nationalism that we have shackled our conscience with are broken.

Long Live Palestine

I literally spent the entire day yesterday watching Al Jazeera; Since I am off for two weeks now with nothing to do. I can’t say I was totally shocked with what happened yesterday regarding the brutal way the incident has been dealt with by a people that believe that they are “Gods Chosen People”, who I bet were thinking to themselves “who the hell are those that want to break this siege we have on Gaza? We will teach them a lesson!” This, my friends, is probably how the issue of the Aid Ships was discussed within the Zionist entities’ top political and military leadership and it can’t be something that is far fetched given the way the Zionist entity totally miscalculated the repercussions of its actions, as it did earlier in its assault on Gaza in 2008.

With its actions the Zionist entity from the first second lost the media war, public opinion across the world turned against it. Who can explain killing 20 people in international waters and then forcefully taking those ships (all this while in international waters) to Asdod? This act can only be explained in two words: Butchery and Piracy. On the other hand, while it seemed that world governments were angry with the savagery of the Zionists, calling ambassadors in more than one country (Sweden, Norway, Spain, Greece, etc) diplomatically Israel neither gained or lost anything (with the exception to Turkey) which can be symbolized with the inability of the UN to at least condemn the actions of the Tyrant entity of our day. Compared with what the UN came up with when poor Somali fishermen hijacked ships off the Somali coast in order to get some compensation for the apparent disposal of toxic waste off the Somali coast that destroyed the marine ecosystem in the area, the UN decided that those were pirates and the entire world sent warships to destroy this dangerous phenomenon!

The Zionist entity, or what is commonly referred to as Israel, believes that it doesn’t really matter what the entire world thinks, whether the entire world likes what it does or doesn’t, that as long as the US and other Western States, will continue to defend the Zionist cause blindly it will survive. The way “Israel” survives, is by keeping public opinion about the Israel in a mist; no one should really know what is going on, it is not important what the rogue “Jewish State” does because its people, i.e. the Jews, have been through alot; They’ve been through the holocaust. What is amazing is how on Fox news (I know its a bad example but an example nevertheless of American mainstream media) while the anchor was discussing the latest news with an Israeli spokes person, the news presenter took it as a fact that the volunteers and the activists on the ship did actually have weapons asking the spokesperson, “what do we know about these weapons?”

The question remains though, why did “Israel” do what it did on those ships? Two reasons are available for this question.

1) The Siege on Gaza. The purpose of this siege has different purposes, firstly it is placed on a part of the Palestinian territory where Hamas has taken control after its counterpart in the West Bank along with “Israel” tried to forcefully overthrow the newly democratically elected government in which Hamas won the majority of the votes. The aim of the siege is not only to try to oust Hamas from the Gaza strip by turning the population against it, but it is also being used by the “Israeli’s” in order to force the Palestinians to make further concessions in their negotiations with Israel. In order to accomplish its goals, “Israel” must make this siege as inhumane as possible. Trying to break this siege on Gaza will ruin the “Israeli” plans of creating an economic peace rather than an actual peace that will lead to the creation of a Palestinian state with full sovereignty over its territory.

2) Breaking this inhumane siege on Gaza which has killed many people humiliates the Zionists. A group of activists that have come from different parts of the world join together in order to break down something the Zionists have been building and see as a strategic tool for their current plans has infuriated the Zionists in all the political and military spheres. The way they see it “we are the superior beings, who are those Goi that are trying to defy our will?” Therefore what happened yesterday was already planned, it was not a mistake and Israel was not going to allow its siege to be broken by anyone.

We have witnessed yesterday how people with a living conscious and thought, who have witnessed the suffering of a people who have done nothing except to call for their legitimate rights of freedom; freedom of choice, freedom of determination and freedom to live act bravely in the face of Tyranny. These activists and those that have been martyred are what each of us needs to and should be, we all have to see injustice and oppression beyond the superficial elements that divide humanity, and to act on eliminating this injustice and oppression. United those people were against this injustice of the Palestinians to the extent that people that still have enmity to each other Greeks and Turks sailed by each other in order to lift this injustice off the Palestinians.

Today Palestine is a cause that is no longer an Arab Cause, but a cause for every free person on this Earth. Today Palestine is a Symbol for Every Free Person. Long Live Palestine.

Barriers Can't Stop Gazans

The BBC has reported that Palestinians in Gaza have managed to dig past the bomb-proof, super strength steel barrier the Egyptians have been building (with financial backing from the US) in order to stop the smuggling of milk, food and other essential goods into Gaza. proof that necessity is the mother of inventions. Meanwhile tyrant Husni Mubarak gave a speech yesterday where the main points he made sure people understood perfectly were that there will be no change to the current constitution, no change for the current government, to pay raise for the employees in the public sector and no end to the emergency laws the country are under. BUT on a more happier note, he said the elections will be fair!

And here is an interesting article on the New york Times on the American University in Cairo, which not only reflects education in Egypt but in most Arab countries and state run educational establishments across the middle east.

Politics: Losing Control

Today marks the 8th anniversary of the Iraqi war. Actually today marks the day where the massive statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled in central Baghdad as US troops captured the city. Most probably people that planned the invasion of Iraq (and Afghanistan) would have never envisioned a situation where by they are caught in a quagmire. Militarily the US and other allied forces to the US are failing to eliminate Al Qaeda and Taliban in Afghanistan, and they are still facing a staunch resistance in Iraq from different factions.  Economically, the US has spent so far approximately 1 trillion US dollars financing both the wars, increasing the rate of the current (inevitable) economic crisis. And finally politically, the US and its allies have less control in the politics of the invaded countries especially Iraq where countries such as Iran, Syria, Turkey and Saudi Arabia have much more influence and control of the political process as compared to the US and its allies.

US a Superpower: 

On top of all that, the status of the US as a superpower where no one dares to stand up to it has been slowly dwindling. Those in the Middle East that have stood by its policies and obeyed the orders of the US during the Bush era have now all moved back to their natural roles and are constantly trying  to rebuild relations with countries that have been severely targeted by the Bush administration (for example Syria). Even the untamed dog of the Middle East (Israel) has been refusing to accept and obey the policies of the current Obama administration, escalating tensions between the two 'strategic' allies described by the Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Oren, as the worst in the past 35 years. In addition, so far the US has been unable to enact most of its international policies that Obama has stated prior to ascending to presidency. Most notably the US has been unable so far to start a "peace process" in the Middle East, neither have they been able to deter the Iranians from their nuclear program or even enforce more stringent international sanctions against Iran. The most notable achievement so far at an international stage has been the signing of a new START treaty, and that, technically, has nothing to do with the Middle East.

Putting in the effort

Its been a packed couple of months and its amazing how time flies by, and how any persons' life moves through various transitions and phases without even noticing it has. We all go through the childhood phase, teenage phase, slightly mature and mature phase without noticing the difference unless we actually think about it; its natural, things develop and people move on. But sometimes when you sit all alone and remember how things were in the past you start to think how good things were "back then" and how you miss the "good old days" when it was "back then" you were probably thinking "when the hell will this end!!?"

Nikos Kazantzakis (I'm dying to read his books, unfortunately I live in an isolated bubble, i.e. Syria) puts it "While experiencing happiness, we have difficulty in being conscious of it. Only when the happiness is past and we look back on it we do suddenly realize — sometimes with astonishment — how happy we had been".

As you grow you start to see your first dreams die off, and a person starts to become more 'realistic'. You leave your dreams of being an astronaut, an astronomer, a president and go for that realistic stuff; accounting, finance, engineering or even the military. Some of us will grow and accomplish our childhood dreams, others won't. Sometimes I wonder how come I didn't end up doing what I always wanted to do, and why right now I'm doing something completely different.

But I think I figured it out, and that it all comes down to one thing: Effort. In order to accomplish what you want you have to do something about it. Nothing comes without effort. This reminds me of the story of Maryam (Mary) in the Quran where it says:

"And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree: she cried (in her anguish): "Ah! would that I had died before this! Would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight!" (23) But (a voice) cried to her from beneath the (palm-tree): "Grieve not! for thy Lord hath provided a rivulet beneath thee; (24) "And shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree: it will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee.(25)"

How many of us have shaken a palm tree before and dates fell from it? It is very difficult especially if it is a women giving birth as well. Although God is more than capable of making those dates fall from the tree without Mary having to shake the tree, God almighty is trying to show us here that without any sort of effort, even if you are thinking of doing the right thing, nothing will happen. If you sit around praying to God for things to happen, and then do nothing about it, believe it or not, nothing will happen.

Which reminds me of the shiekh/imam at my local mosque. I've heard people (non-muslim) talk about this before, how imams at mosques pray for the destruction/humiliation/suffering of other people (non-muslims) and pray that God makes the muslims victorious over their enemies, and then we wonder why non-muslims think muslims are all terrorists.

I want to show two points here, 1) that shiekh is doing exactly what I was talking about earlier, he stands at the minbar (pulpit in the mosque where the imam stands to deliver sermons) praying/supplicating for things to happen, and then he goes back home and sleeps, or what ever he does.

2) That when people at the time of the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to come up to the prophet and tell him to pray for the defeat and destruction of the enemies of Islam, the prophet would pray that they are guided to Islam and not for them to be destroyed. Why does that Imam, and many others, don't follow the sunnah (teachings derived from the actions and sayings of the Prophet) of the Prophet? Why do they do what the prophet didn't do?

We are a frustrated people, us Arabs and muslims, from the years of injustice and persecution that has been placed upon us, and our inability to defend ourselves, but will more talk and no action ever do us any good; has it ever done any good?    

If you don't write...

I once heard someone say, "if you don't write, you don't learn".  It feels like its been ages since I last wrote anything substantial, and it really does actually feel strange. I hope I get back to the habit of writing more frequently, because I know that there are a couple of you out there who really miss my thorough, complex and enlightened analysis of world politics, my splendid humour and just at times simply miss me...... ???

So I once heard someone say, if you don't write, you don't learn. And I agree.

I think when a person starts to write about anything they start to learn more about not only what they are writing about but also about themselves; It is that search for thoughts, for words, that describes what you feel and believe in that makes you know yourself a bit more. It is that process of trying to articulate the thoughts in a way that is not only understandable to you but also to those that will eventually read what you are writing, that makes things clearer to you.

I think the more a person writes the more they discover themselves. In contrast reading only injects foreign ideas, it is the act of writing that confirms your thoughts and opinions and makes them permanent, but not unchangeable. Some people have told me before that they find it hard to find the right words to describe their opinions and ideas when they write, but as everything else, there is a learning curve, the more you write the easier it becomes, and the more you learn about yourself.

Wrong Perceptions

So, currently I'm in the middle of no where in Syria and can't wait to get back to Damascus tomorrow. Don't get me wrong this place is amazing. Its a hilly place with lots of green, you can see the bedouins and their tents every now and then, and then spot a shepherd with his herd of sheep, feeding on the new grown grass. The sunrise is magical I must say. But I think I found out today that staying for a prolonged period of time away from civilization is not really my thing, especially when the closest shawarma place is 130 Km away (just kidding restaurants selling shawarma are not that important to me...or are they?). I will post a photo of this place and let you people judge for yourself; why not encourage tourism to this country, ey?

So the point of this post is that, yesterday morning I was driving back to the place we are staying with this english guy Im working with and he tells me about this incident that happened to him when he was working in Algeria. So the Story goes,

"I used to work in Algeria in this facility in a remote place in the deserts. The facility was close by a small village, and although we (i.e. the English gentleman and the people working with him) wanted to go check out that village; we were advised not to and were told it was not safe. When my work was done I left and went back to England. On the same day I get a phone call and was told that two of my colleagues were killed by men from that village"

So I asked,"really??!! how come? what's the reason, why did they do it??"

He replies hesitantly," well they were fundamental islamists and thought that anyone who is not muslim should be killed. They beheaded a French guy and a swiss guy but the third one managed to convince them that he was Muslim so they let him go."

All I could say then was,"what a shame."

The story and any discussion ended there, simply because we reached our camp and had parked, so that is an automatic end to any discussion that anyone would have been having in a car (right?).

Anyways, I felt like I had to ask him what he thought about Islam and what not but didn't get the chance to. I wanted to argue that he shouldn't get any wrong perceptions about Islam because of that incident, and wanted to tell him that just like extremists exist in any country and in any time/culture/religion, for example the KKK,extremism and extremists would always be a minority in a minority, because I'm sure that even when racism in the US was at its worst levels, many people at that time would not go around killing people with darker skin colour on a regular basis otherwise there won't be any African-Americans left in America. I am not sure if he has the wrong perception about Islam, he is living in Syria where the majority population are Muslim, but I just find it frustrating having to go around telling people with wrong perceptions about Islam that "we (as muslims) are not evil". It is a tedious job trying to get people to know what something is really about. I could only imagine how tough it was for messengers and prophets or even revolutionary figures of our time had to go through. To continuously be guiding people requires a person with such strong commitment and endurance to keep on going.