Developed? Civilized?

As I was going through my flickr contact photos I came a cross with this photo, the photo capture a scene symbolize some of out biggest issue in our current time.. Poverty, Racism, capitalism, and Carelessness. "mentioning few of many". 

It's pretty much tell, that no matter how the so called "Civilized, Developed" countries claimed they live in the heaven of  acceptance, tolerance, equal opportunities. the Black man, or the emigrants still work in a fucked up job, while the rich white people enjoy their lives. following fashions, and just pretty much have nothing to worry about. 

I am not saying those people are raciest, I don't know them, I may never meet them, yet their photograph was more than an eye opener for me. 

you are only a Raciest when you look at this photo and see nothing wrong with it.   

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Photo credit for Neta Gov 

Bibi in the US Congress

I don't have much to say about Benjamin Netanyahu inaccurate and misleading speech in the US Congress today, he said what we all knew months if not years ago, Israel wont retreat to the "indefensible" 1967 borders (wonder what the IDF feel about that!), Jerusalem won't be divided, and of course, "I should have started with that" the unavoidable mention of the Holocaust, and chanting "Never again"  in the US congress 

"I wanna see him doing that in the Third Reich".

Yet, the speech was interesting and fun to watch, specially if you have at least some basic knowledge about the region, it's History, and what actually happen on ground. without forgetting what Activist Rae Abileah did, she stood and chanted "Stop Israeli war crimes" Interrupting Netanyahu speech. Indeed my favorite moment.

Through the speech I couldn't help not to stop at couple of points which I am going to state below. 

1- Palestine Economy "thanks to Israel" marked a 10% growth last year, creating a better economy to the Palestinian.

My response is the following report for ma'an news agency, this report tell the story of a Palestinian family in Yata, in the west bank, this family had to eat chicken leg everyday to survive, through the report you can easily note, it's not an Isolated case. "The report is unfortunately in Arabic, but the video are scarier than the words".

Need less to mention 25.7% of the Palestinian people suffer from poverty, 18.3% in West Bank, 38.2% in Gaza, based on the Palestinian statistics center numbers for April, 2011 report. 


2- Through the speech Nentanyahu received more than 55 rounds of applause from the United State Congress member and the speech attendance "including the woman in Green".. 

I don't think the Palestinian can count on them for just peace now, if they ever did in the first place.


3- The Palestinian can use internet because of Israel, well he didn't really say that, but I am pretty much sure he was thinking it, when he said "they even have e-Business now". 


This is pretty much what I had in my mind now.. If I got anything else,... well, I guess I will tweet it. 


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Same old Game

In May 15, I left my office and headed to Qalandia checkpoint, where Palestinian where commemorating the Nakba in a march to Qalandia, as soon as I got there -after being stuck in the traffic for about 20 minutes-, and as i walked down the streets, I was welcomed with a huge cloud of tear gas.

I spent the next 5 hours taking photos running  between the soldiers, whom where either having a fun day, or use Palestinian protesters as practice targets for their rubber bullets.

2 hours after I arrived the Mosta'rebeen(soldiers dressed in Civilian clothes) unit showed up, and in less than 2 minutes they succeeded to arrest 6 protesters. It was the usual dame thing. throwing stone from one side faced with teargas, rubber bullet and sometimes actual one, from the other one.

their where we have a problem. NOTHING changed, the same old game since the 70's, it worked out very well back then, and for the first Intefada, but since the second Intefada started in 2000, we had to change the game, or at least how we play our part, after all the Israeli side has changed, became more brutal, and aggressive. while we still in square one.

This is not a call to pick up guns and start a real life "call of duty" match, or pick up flowers and start another Jhon Lenon style protest, we have people to play call of duty, and they are doing it well-not really, but they are ok, if we considered the cercumestances they work under- and we have our own Jhon Lenons, mostly elitist  adopting the oppressor proposed myth of Peaceful resistance. they think getting drunks in bars, or making more money is resistance... in other word capitalist pigs.

Then we come to what I want, Popular resistance"not talking about the popular resistance committee, it sucks" am talking about the people in the street, standing against the machine. this what we had at qalandia, but we still stucks in the same old scenario. we still fail to use the situation, we still fail to make a proper response to the Israeli oppressing machine.

If we didn't start playing the game right, we will always have, soldiers at one side, Palestinian on another exchanging gift, with a lot of  Christmas spirit.

In the end, I hope next time we march to Qalandia, we will have a plan, to response to the IOF, to force a different reality on him, our reality, our roles.

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The Osama, I think I know!

I dont know how you feel about Osama, hate, Love, appreciation, desgust, thinking he never existed, this is all your business, yet Osama was one of the most influenced name in the last 10 years.

He is the man behind the most rememberable day of my life, I even remember the slightest detail of September11 2001, I remember where I was, the couch I was setting at, when the anchor on MBC said: "An Air plan just hit the World trade center in NYC!" after the Breaking News Music. The only thing I could think about is "WOW, the air plan passed between the 2 buildings and the wings hit both towers!! this look movies like. 

Few minutes later, he talked about other buildings... then another. "US having such a bad day!", told my dad, who looked to me without saying a word. 

by the evening we were all setting around the TV watching the news, showing the same photage over and over and over.... and over. 

next day I bought the newspaper, cut the pictures "the news paper had a full page just for (the US black Tuesday)" and kept them in my picture collecting box. 

A couple of month later osama showed up on AJazeera, talking about the 911 Attacks, he claimed that he first thought about the attacks while he was watching Western Beirut residential towers being bombed down during the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. later in that speech he made the promise that made me fall in love with him... "I promise the US people and government, that they will never rest or feel safe until our brother and sisters in Palestine feel it."


It was 2001... the second Intifada was just in the beginning, target killing, closure, checkpoint, occupation, air strikes.....etc.... and suddenly someone in a cave in Afghanistan, make such promise to your people... it was a false Hope! maybe, but it was hope.


Years passed, and Osama fad away as Operation Iraq Liberation(OIL) was ON, we froze before AlJazeera, hoping to see the American forces crash by the "glorious" Army of Iraq, looking up waiting for Sadam missiles to fall on Israel, and making jocks about the  American. Specially after the Apache and the farmer story. But in 3 weeks Baghdad was occupied. and the hope we build from Saddam promises died again.


Years passed again, and both Sadam and Osama faded from my memory, until the American executed Saddam Housine(cut the crap those Iraqi puppet didn't kill Sadam, their finger prints was all over the room), bringing him back to the picture, putting his picture side by side, with Jamal Abdalnasser, SalahAldeen,... and many other Arab's Heroes. "not of what he did, but of what he stood for."


Few years later in 2011, the Tunisian revolution broke out followed with the Egyptian one, proposing a more peaceful methodologies, to fight the western supported oppressive regime. an ideology that destroyed the violent resistance to the oppressing regime Osama proposed in 1996, whom we heard nothing from for sometimes, as well.
"PS: when the revolution break in the west opposing countries, it turned to a massacre, so much for the principles they were calling for!!."


May first,2011. Osama is Dead...
25 of the US navy seals raided a house in Pakistan, 45 minutes later, the american was carrying the body of Osama on a helicopter back to a base in Afghanistan, before they throw his body in the Arab sea.  


First news we heard, was Osama was killed, so another 3 other men and a woman Osama used as a human shield..
12 hours later, we don't think Osama shot any bullet, he wasn't armed, the woman died during the cross fire.
24 hours later, Osama 11 years old daughter, my dad was captured a live, dragged to the holicopter before he was shot by the American in front of his family.


I can't say I am sad for his death, I can't say I am happy, I don't think I even cared, many years has passed, since his promise to the Palestinian as a people, yet we were a target too, "17 Palestinian from the same family were killed during Amman bombing, by AlQaeda in Iraq", I lost interest that day.


But, his death, got me interested again. not because a bad guy was killed "as the west think" or a Muslim Mujahed, died as a shaheed by the American"as many of us think". I was interested in how the people saw him and his death, so I asked, to get the answers I expected..
I asked "What you think of Osama?" on twitter, the only response I got that doesn't contain insults, was from an American friend "I don't miss him." well, I don't miss him either!


In facebook, I got more answers, well, at least no one called me "Osama bitch".
I could see the different between my Muslims-Arab friends and my westerner friends, "which is something I expected!"


My Muslims-Arab friends answers were,

X: "A lost leader and Moslem".
Y: "regardless of his thought, but i think he was a man trying to prove his points , we agree that his thoughts was Extremist, but how diffrent he was than george bush, they both killed thousands of people while they were trying to prove their points".but the world sort him as terrorist but george bush as a former president of UN".
X: "He was trying to defend us and the whole muslem nation not prooving any points".
Y: "and how he did that?by turning the whole world against us? believe me but their is other way to do that".

Very much the same old same argument, between the radical who think he is the nation defender and the Muslims moderate who think he is just a man who wanted to prove a point..... have no idea what point they are talking about.


My Westerner friend point of view,

X: "Another victim of "shoot to kill, ask questions later""Y: "Someone who believed that murdering for a cause was acceptable. And therefore someone who was a monster. I'm not saying George Bush or any of the others involved in the war on terror are any good but comparing him to them doesn't make him a better man. In my book anyone who takes the lives of innocent others (and in Osama's case, lets not forget that this includes thousands of Muslims) through calculation and cold blooded strategy is disgusting, no matter whether it's Bush, Bin Laden or anyone else."Z: "I agree with Y completely. The end does not justify the means. No end is justified by that means. Is that really who you want to 'defend a Muslim nation'? Someone who spreads hate? All he achieved was a massive escalation of conflict and a wider, deeper divide and misunderstanding between peoples."

Well, I understand this point of view and I agree with most of it, you know he is the dude who told the west I am going to kill you all, well maybe not all. I also understand the one who see Osama as the defender of the Nation, regardless the killing of many Muslim, he still the man who stand up for USA during the early age of Palestine's second Intefada, as 2001, and 2002 wasn't the 5 stars occupation we live since 2007.. Need to remind you Palestine is the Arab and Muslim nation cause.

In the end, regardless what Osama created and what he did to millions of people, thousands were directly affected, he was a man with a cause, who went after the wrong innocent people.

May his soul rest in Peace.

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