No one can imagine how irritating it is for me to still hear the Israeli government justifying their ongoing massacres in Gaza, trying to win the world’s sympathy and support by convincing them that they’re doing this in the name of self-defense, and that they NEVER mean to hurt civilians. Actually there are many silly claims that Israel seems to get away with no matter how brutal it gets, claims such as the following: 1. Israelis have claimed to have ended the occupation of the Gaza Strip in 2005. 2. Israel claims that Hamas violated the cease-fire and pulled out of it unilateral.
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I just wonder what would it take for people of authority and power to see how big and terribly awful the situation in Gaza is. Armless civilians and innocent children are dying by the day while the world is watching and wasting their time to figure whom to blame! I’ll just share with you these honest words written by the little hands of a thoughtful 7 year old (my beloved nephew), who tried to express his sadness on one hand, and to wake up the “sleeping” conscience of grownups on the other. He actually sneaked out at night to use his parents computer, wrote these words, prin.
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هذه الكلمات المؤثّرة تعكس حال فلسطين التعيسة، وحال أهل فلسطين الذين يحتضرون ويستغيثون بأمّةٍ “لا حول لها ولا قوة” ومو شاطرة إلّا بالولولة والنواح والشجب والاستنكار ولبس آخر صيحات الأزياء السوداء للتعبير عن “الحداد العام والمؤازرة المعنوية” بطريقة “كوول”، معذورين مو طالع بإيدنا شي، مساكين إحنا شو مغلوب على أم�.
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This great article by Robert Fisk is a must read: “We’ve got so used to the carnage of the Middle East that we don’t care any more – providing we don’t offend the Israelis. It’s not clear how many of the Gaza dead are civilians, but the response of the Bush administration, not to mention the pusillanimous reaction of Gordon Brown, reaffirm for Arabs what they have known for decades: however they struggle against their antagonists, the West will take Israel’s side. As usual, the bloodbath was the fault of the Arabs – who, as we all know, only understand f.
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I really don’t know how I finally pulled myself together to be able to write these few words… since I really feel so helpless, so weak and so stupidly out of place. Right now, and while people are preparing to celebrate the New Hijri Year, and while many more are busy and confused not knowing where or how to celebrate New Year’s Eve, thousands of Palestinians are thinking of ways to stay alive, survive getting killed in the most BARBARIC way EVER… Israeli attacks on one side, hunger, lack of fuel, power and electricity on the other, not to mention the absence of access .
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[via: Bacchus] Actually, it comes as no surprise that there were tens of posts shared on the Tunisian blogosphere addressing the attacks on Gaza. I found them all worth reading, but of course I couldn’t link to all the articles here, so I chose to link to a collection of the latest writings instead. To read all related articles you can go to Tunisie Blogs. Arabs of Humiliation (ARABIC), by the blog of the poet Ali Liswid Almarzouqi. Arabs decided to wage war on Israel (ARABIC), by Alaeddine Ben Abdallah. We, Gaza, and the others (ARABIC), lovely post by Ecrits Anonymes. Assez! (FRENCH).
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I’d love to share with you a beautifully written Arabic article titled:”This is my problem with Arabs“, by my friend and old colleague Hussein, in which he compares the Arab and Western societies in terms of academic progress, and explains how the lack of enthusiasm, passion and creativity in our part of the world continues to lead to the failure of any efforts provided. Nicely written, with a lot of humor here and there, and many great references, this article is really worth reading. And I truly hope Arabs would learn how to be more passionate about what they do….
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Just wanted to notify you that I’ve been having problems with my comments lately. Some loyal readers sent me to inform me that they’re actually leaving comments, when nothing is showing to me. Other than that, as many have noticed, there are earlier posts, around 10 or so, that lost all their comments, I have no idea how that happened either! I’m getting this problem fixed soon, but I apologize for all deleted comments, hoping this wont discourage you from leaving your comments..
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This morning I woke up at the same usual time, drank the same coffee, did some of my translation work, just like every other day. My day was a very ordinary one, doing the same things, at the same time, in the same place. That was until I checked my email and noticed that among the many emails in my inbox there was this Facebook message, notifying me that I was tagged in a note by my younger sister. Her note: “Once upon a time… never comes back” “- Going back, twenty years ago, it was a blessed Ramadan evening, I was lying on his lap, he was running his fingers through my h.
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So, Eid Al- Adha is in a couple of days, Eid Mubarak to you all. Actually, every time an Islamic occasion approaches, and no matter in which part of the world I really am, I hear the same whining and complaining from Muslims about how dull, lame, and boring our occasions are… and of course I need not mention the really negative comments comparing the Muslim celebrating techniques to those of people of other faiths and religions. Now I do agree that the holiday season in most non-Muslim countries are simply beautiful, and I frankly like the decorations of streets, stores, malls and homes .
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While the religions and faiths of mankind are different in so many ways, they all share the core principle of compassion, and they all agree to “The Golden Rule“: Do not do to others what you would not have done to you. And from this belief came the idea of forming The Charter For Compassion, a collaborative project by people from all around the world, in an attempt to inspire the world to think differently about religion, recognize each other’s humanity, and to help build a peaceful and harmonious global community based on tolerance. This project, was actually a wish made b.
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“(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department - Amman) YouTube™, the leading online video community for people to discover, watch, and share originally created videos, today announced that Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan will be the premier recipient of the YouTube Visionary Award. Her Majesty will accept this honor in recognition of her efforts – via online video – to rid the world of the stereotypes and misconceptions associated with Arab and Muslim communities”. [The Queen’s Official Website] [Image  Source: CNN].
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In black and white… [Via: EnlargeYourPen, Source: Patrick Moberg].
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Whether caused by destiny, a natural catastrophe, or mankind, poverty was and will always be the one nightmare haunting human beings. Those who are already poor spend their lives struggling to get rid of poverty; and those who aren’t, spend their lives fighting to avoid it… Regardless of the form, in which poverty comes, the result is always the same: pain, embarrassment, suffering, and this intolerable feeling of inequality, difference, and injustice. But it has to be said that man-made poverty remains the most difficult form of poverty to be endured by the less-fortunate among u.
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Although known for its care for the environment and its work to help protect it, environmental experts accused the giant coffee chain Starbucks of pouring millions of litres of precious water down the drain at its coffee shops, or to be more precise, 23.4 million litres of clean water a day, which would provide enough daily water for the entire two million-strong population of drought-hit Namibia in Africa, or fill an Olympic-sized pool every 83 minutes. Apparently  the chain has a policy of keeping a tap running non-stop at all its 10,000 outlets worldwide, for “hygiene reasonsR.
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Don’t you just love good creative advertising? I came across “10 Creative Advertising Ideas from Students” via EnlargeYourPen, and will share my favorite 3 with you. Help plant more. greenpeace.com, Sungkwon Ha Andrew Seagrave Jeseok Yi.
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I got back to Tunis around a week ago. I’ve been in a decluttering mode ever since, and I guess I’d be stuck in this mode for a little while. My visit to Amman was great, except for the fact that I was able to meet only two of my family members, I really miss the rest of my family… and well, there was this stupid unexpected incident that managed to annoy the hell out of me and had such an irritating impact on my whole visit, but will come to this later in other posts. As usual, time flew by so quickly, faster than ever actually, it’s like my whole stay lasted a couple o.
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The Arabic movie industry lost one of its most talented, most creative, and most daring directors today. Yes, Yousef Shaheen -or Youssef Chahine as many also spell it-, the famous Egyptian film maker passed away just today, in Cairo, at the age of 82. May his soul rest in peace!.
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Just came across this: 5o Ways to Help the Planet [Via: EnlargeYourPen]. Which is a webproject by Wire & Twine. The listed points are so simple, straight-forward, and really easy to follow and implement. I also found their shirts extremely cool!.
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Ok I believe most of you already know about this whole Rachael Ray Dunkin’ Donuts commercial that’s been pulled for its “terrorist symbolism”. Just in case some of you still don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, the thing is, Rachael Ray wore a black-and-white scarf around her neck,that was selected by her stylist, and boom all hell broke loose. Yep it’s all because of the scarf, as insane and redicioulos as it sounds, but that’s what happened, because according to ultraconservative right-wing bloggers Michelle Malkin and Charles Johnson t.
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[Via: StartUpArabia] The Online Arabian Star is a new online contest that’s been launched by Waleg and Ikbis, targeting Arab talents, basically Arabs over 15 who can sing. Contestants are to upload a video of themselves singing a song in Arabic, for the whole world to watch online and then vote for each contestant. The top 20 winners will move to the second phase, and another round of voting is then launched to select the winner according to user voting. The final winner gets a $500 cash prize. For more details on the contest, you can visit the contest’s page on Ikbis or on Waleg. For.
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I came across this great website: Expressions of Nakba ,which is an online gallery, an international competition and exhibition to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Nakba: the expulsion and dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes and land in 1948. The competition strives to present the extraordinary narrative of a dispossessed people through a diverse range of expressions that interpret the collective identity, historic struggle, and emotional experience of the Nakba for Palestinians. This site showcases the wining entries from the competition in additio.
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Today marks a day that has turned life upside down to everyone who was peacefully living in a land called Palestine. Haven’t heard of it? I don’t blame you, “Palestine? What Palestine? Palestine is a word made up by a bunch of violent barbarians who “think” this land is theirs”, they’d tell you. They worked really hard till they managed to wipe it off maps, and crossed it out of history. They actually did a great job that even Palestinians themselves started doubting whether there has been a Palestine one day… and whether there will be a Palestin.
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Fate; 4 letters combined to form one of the most powerful means of an irresistible interference in our lives, determining events we go through in the most amazing way. Coincidence; this delightful surprise that brings people together in the most unexpected way, in the most unexpected place, at the most unexpected time. Technology; this amazing human-created tool that enables you to find people you never thought of finding in the first place just with a click. These three elements are, in my humble opinion, highly connected and extremely separate at the same time. Fate brings coincidence, coinc.
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I’m proud to announce the launch of StartUpArabia; a project that my husband has been working on lately, dedicating a lot of his time and paying a lot of effort to create with one goal in mind: promoting an Arab startup culture. StartUpArabia is basically a weblog dedicated to new Arab technology startups and services, profiling and reviewing them, providing interesting market news and information, and sharing tips and advice for the entrepreneurs behind them. It also discusses existing services and companies that are making interesting new changes and big steps in the Arab world. We ha.
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After a week of cold weather that brought us wind and occasional rain showers, a couple of really hot sunny days followed, and today, we woke up to watch the streets, cars, and buildings covered with one fat layer of sand. It’s a bit cooler than the last couple of days, but the problem is, the air smells like dust. I hate that! The atmosphere feels so dirty! Can’t wait for it to hopefully rain again and have some refreshing weather that fills your lungs with “relatively” clean air….
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Die hässliche, illegale Mauer, die Israel gebaut hat um sich von der Westbank zu trennen, trennt auch palästinensische Familien, zerstört ihre Wirtschaft, und macht ihr Leben unmöglich. Eine Gruppe von Palästinensern versuchen von dieser Mauer zu profitieren und sie ins eine alternative, künstlerische Form des Widerstands zu verwandeln. Wie funktioniert es? Man geht einfach auf die Website “send.a.message” und tippt dort ein, was man gesprayt haben will. Es ist eigentlich egal was der Inhalt des gewünschten Textes ist. Ausser Beleidigungen und rassistischem Material wird a.
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Marketing and advertising executives from across the Middle East gathered for the first Dubai International Advertising Festival this week. Featuring high-profile seminars, workshops, exhibitions and screenings aimed at giving creative inspiration, learning and networking opportunities to the advertising and allied industries in the region; the festival attracted hundreds of visitors each day. The Dubai Lynx Awards, which are part of the festival, honor creative excellence in television, cinema, print, outdoor, radio, direct marketing, media and interactive advertising. You can browse all the.
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So Queen Rania of Jordan decided to become a Vlogger addressing the problem of stereotypes, in an attempt to reach out to the west and break down these stereotypes. I believe it’s not unusual for the Queen to come up with such smart and creative initiatives of a huge impact. I personally think that stereotyping is one of the biggest problems and there’s no better way to solve the problem than getting the feedback directly from the ones who either create them or who fall for them. And technology never fails in such missions. It helps reach as much people as possible in a glimpse. No.
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I’ve always had a problem with coffee. I truly consider myself addicted to coffee. A while ago I decided to get rid of this addiction, which I somehow managed to do, but huge amounts of tea had to replace the missing coffee doses… so if you think of it, caffeine always had a way to win! The past couple of weeks were really rough. I had to do anything to keep myself awake and alert. Nothing could do the job better than a hot cup of coffee! so, yes, you guessed it, my coffee addiction’s back, but I welcomed it with open arms, and i believe, I might never be able to kiss it good.
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Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian Cartoonist, who brilliantly uses his talent in creating artworks that serve important political, cultural and religious issues such as the occupation of Palestine, the war on Iraq, Islamophobia and many other issues. I personally found his work to be really impressive, and thought I’d share some of his cartoons that are dedicated to call on the world to condemn the Israeli holocaust of Gaza. More on Latuff’s work: * Wakeup From Your Slumber. * The People’s Voice. .
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I’ve been having some technical problems with my blog that prevented me from blogging or even replying to the comments left on my blog for a while. Now the problems are solved and hopefully I’ll be able to post in peace .
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Remember that: “Nobody deserves your tears, but whoever deserves them will not make you cry.” -Gabriel Garcia Marquez - .
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Definition of Massacre: the unnecessary, indiscriminate killing of a large number of human beings or animals, as in barbarous warfare or persecution or for revenge or plunder. a general slaughter, as of persons or animals: the massacre of millions during the war. In Gaza: Huge numbers of civilians of all ages are being killed and bombarded (not to forget detained), their homes destroyed, and their possessions all lost, families scattered, not to mention the siege that’s making their survival an impossible mission to begin with, let alone get brutally attacked… sounds like a m.
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There’s nothing in this world I hate more than hypocrisy. I just can’t stand it! I have no idea how people manage to smile at you, look you in the eye, and even hug or kiss you while they can’t stand the sight of you! I’ve been through many situations, where I find myself surrounded with at least one hypocrite, who, in no time, manages to convert the rest of the people surrounding me into similar lying copies. So in my opinion, there are 2 basic kinds of hypocrites, those who are hypocrites by nature, and those who are made hypocrites by those natural hypocrites. Let .
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I was reading “What Defines A Person?” and it got me really thinking of how we people sometimes refer to things that might be really insignificant, or better say shallow, and yet decide to make them the standards, through which we define other people we know. MMM lists many arguments: some people are defined by what they think, or what they say or believe, or they’re defined by their religion… and I must agree with him that these are all unreliable standards. The closest to defining the real identity of people, as he mentions, is defining people by what they do, i.e. by.
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UPDATE: NOMINATE AMMAN & TUNIS! Only the most nominated cities would make it on the list of the “World Edition”. I already nominated the already listed 3 Arab cities thinking that any new nomination I would make would have no shot at making it on the list since there are only 8 days left for the voting to begin. But Khaled took a brave step and nominated Tunis, so I got all excited and nominated Tunis and Amman as well. It would be great if you guys showed some support I know it’s just a game but the board would look really cooler with our beloved cities on it! I̵.
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I’ve always enjoyed Monopoly, I really like the game and how it manages to gather members of the whole family around its colorful board for hours and hours! And now the popular board game is introducing the “World Edition”, inviting online users to vote for cities that should appear on the board. Many cities are nominated with a possibility to nominate new ones that are not already listed. Among the Arabic cities are Dubai, Cairo and Jerusalem. Residents of Dubai are being invited to vote for Dubai to appear on the new global edition of Monopoly. I believe Dubai certainly .
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Oh dear, where do I start? the thing is, I consider myself well-informed when it comes to food, drinks, nutritious facts and info regarding things I consume very often. So when I learn a fact that totally shatters one of the things I used to believe for over 25 years, I must say, I get in this weird state of shock and start doubting most of the info I know about the ingredients I use in my cooking, or when preparing my favorite drinks. One of these “facts” that had a very strong impact on me was knowing that there are no trees that produce green olives and others that produce black.
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I really hope that every caring person would consider donating any amount they’re planning to spend on any luxury item they wish to buy (no matter how small) for the people of Gaza, for them to get essential items that might save their lives. Gazans who are living under harsh siege conditions, and are not allowed to get help from outside, neither are they allowed to take matters in their own hands, because apparently, that’s “uncivilized”, “wrong” and VIOLATES MANY LAWS that are only stripping them from their basic rights of survival. Your donation, no matte.
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Would someone please explain to me what the hell are we doing? letting people simply die without giving any damn! have we become THAT coldblooded? To hell with the boring speeches, to hell with the stupid conferences, to hell with the useless summits, to hell with the protests! Gazans are starving, and what are we doing? nothing but the usual; eat like pigs, gather in restaurants and cafes to eat and drink like pigs, invite people over to eat like pigs, host fancy dinners, parties and weddings where people stuff themselves to death! WE ARE PIGS! We act all concerned for a few days then lif.
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Just came across this really cool decorative creation called Livingstones. They’re basically SOFT cushions shaped as hard rocks and stones. They’re so damn cool, look amazing, I’m sure they feel amazing too, and they’re simply unique. There are collections for both indoor and outdoor use. I LOVE THEM! [Via: BAEKDAL.COM] .
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So it’s been snowing in many Middle Eastern countries in the past couple of weeks. God I miss snow! It’s been around 5 years since I last saw snow in real life. Snow actually triggers some of the sweetest memories for me. It reminds me of moments so dear to my heart that sometimes I could relive these moments just by watching snow on TV, in movies or even in photographs. It’s no secret that snowing is rare in our part of the world, and therefore, when it snows, everything seems to be magically paused! It’s like someone stopped time and allowed nothing to move… no.
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نريد ُ فلسطين ! حسن حجازى ، مصر كم تجرعنا الصبرَ ومرارة َ العلقم ِ من غدرِ الزمن , وتفرقت أشلاؤنا فى الكون ِ تبحثُ عن هوية ٍ عن حلمٍ عن وطن , نحسبه ُ جنة ً للخلد ِ فإذا بهِ أرض ٌ للخوف ِ ينتظرنا �