Gazan Mothers, My Heart Goes Out to You

I was expecting visitors on that day.. I was alone, busy, cleaning, preparing food, and baking some sweets... moving from a room to another, and of course having Kareem with me wherever I go.. I went to the living room, carrying my baby in his carrycot, when suddenly the handle of the carrycot was unlocked and Kareem was there... lying on the floor...screaming like crazy...

I couldn't believe that this was really happening... I must be dreaming... it must be the worst nightmare ever!

I rushed to hold him... to check whether he was hurt or not... I could see nothing, no bruises, no blood, but he was crying so hard. My heart almost stopped. I was shaking all over, my tears were falling down my face... and I could barely speak when I called my husband asking him to come home IMMEDIATELY. I was in Abu Dhabi, and he in Dubai, and I wanted him to come immediately, lol
He tried to calm me down so that he can understand what happened, meanwhile Kareem was starting to calm down in his turn until his crying stopped. Minutes later he started acting normally, but I was not, was still worried, overwhelmed with grief, anxiety, pain and guilt, kissing and hugging him passionately, and repeating to myself, I will never forgive myself, I will never forgive myself, it's all my fault, I will never forgive myself
Back to my senses, I found myself soaking wet. Kareem was staring at me in surprise maybe wondering why was I crying. I made a phone call apologizing to the guests that I won't be able to receive them. To make the story short, when Ammar came home, we took Kareem to the doctor who assured us that there was nothing wrong with him, thank God. But still, I will never forgive myself .

This happened like a month ago, and every time I try to blog about it, I get so emotional, delete what I typed and abandon the whole idea.

The emotional impact of this incident was so overwhelming. It is so hard for a mother to see her baby hurt, not even a bit, or to hear him crying in pain.

Now watching what's going on in Gaza, the 315+ children who were killed, and the hundreds or thousands others who were badly injured, burned, or lost their limbs, I can't really imagine how would their mothers be feeling now. I just can't! If I went through all this torture when my baby fell and wasn't a bit hurt, what are these mothers going through now????
I'm all out of words!

Gaza

When words fail us
When we feel completely helpless
We can do nothing but pray
for their safety and protection

Hats Off to Lebanon!

Lebanese Culture Minister Tarek Mitri announced on Wednesday. "Lebanon will not participate in this year's Paris book fair in protest at the cultural event's organizers' decision to select Israel as guest of honor."

Lebanon is the first Arab government to announce a boycott of the event, which runs March 14 through March 19, after organizers announced that 39 Israeli writers were being invited to mark the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state.

"The crimes against humanity that Israel is perpetrating in the Palestinian territories ... constitute, in themselves, a strong condemnation of Israel, making it unworthy of being welcomed as a guest of honor at an international book fair," the 50-nation Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said.

read more

Another Interesting Picture

وصل صدى الأحداث التي يشهدها قطاع غزة حاليا إلى ملاعب كرة القدم وبالتحديد في كأس أفريقيا الجارية حاليا في غانا، حيث ارتدى النجم المصري محمد أبو تريكة قميصا مكتوبا عليه عبارات تعبر عن التعاطف مع القطاع الفلسطيني الذي يعاني أهله حصارا إسرائيليا خانقا.

Continue reading...

The NBN Scandal

So, everybody's talking about the deadly mistake that the nbn TV anchor Sawsan Darweesh did a couple of days ago. Not recognizing that her mic was on, Darweesh mocked the assassination of Walid Eido and gloated about it unintentionally revealing the great hatred she feels for the "other" party. She was unfortunate that someone recorded the incident that found its way to youtube and hence to the whole world.
The incident was considered dangerous and threatening by some, while others think of it as being too trivial to even comment on.
In all cases, what happened is nothing but a true reflection of the bitter reality, a reflection of what the Lebanese are feeling towards each other. Even the dead who were killed in an ugly way are still being subjected to mockery and hatred. That's shameful, very shameful. I think that wishing death to your brother is as horrible as killing him.
I can't believe what's happening in Lebanon, in Iraq, or in Palestine. How can a Muslim kill his brother Muslim and then rejoices the"victory" and kneels praying and thanking God who forbids him from killing to begin with?!! I just find myself unable to believe or to understand what's going on.

يا منكوبي العالم إتحدوا

My only message on Nakba Day

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine

Dar Al Hayat newspaper is publishing episodes from The Ethic Cleansing of Palestine by the Israeli writer Ilan Pappé . They published four episodes so far, and another four are yet to come. Episode 1. Episode 2. Episode 3. Episode 4.

Professor Ilan Pappe is an Israeli revisionist historian and senior lecturer of Political Science at Haifa University, called by some as "the most hated Jew in Israel". He is the author of numerous books, including A History of Modern Palestine, The Modern Middle East, The Israel/Palestine Question and, most recently, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, published in 2006.

Ilan Pappe, while studying history, digged deep in the archives in Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom, learned more about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and found out that what they taught him in Israel was not the only truth. Learning the other side of the story, he came up with a conclusion that this side is the one who's more likely to be stating "facts".

This interview tells more about Ilam Pappe. and so does this one:

Palestinian Musicians II

I don't know what's wrong with blogger! the comments feed is messed up, comments from September and November appear as the latest comments! and no images could be added to the previous post no matter how I tried, grrrrrrrr. So, I'll post the image separately. You imagine it at the top of the Palestinian Musicians post :D. Na2saf li ez3ajekom, thank you!

Palestinian Musicians

I was googling around when I came across a site playing the music of a Palestinian composer of whom I've never heard before. I realized that I don't really know many Palestinian musicians. Ashamed of my ignorance, I decided to read more about them. The result was amazing. Take a look.

Simon Shaheen
Samir Joubran
Rim Banna
Kamilya Jubran
Issa Boulos
Reem Kelani
Wisam Murad
Adel Salameh

William Nassar
Mounir Anastas
Amal Murkus

Zaid Tayem

Khaled Jubran

Ahmad Al Khatib
Samir Odeh-Tamimi

Habib Touma

Rima Tarazi

Nizar Issa

Wassim Qassis

Tania Tamari Nasser

Nabil Azzam

Patrick Lama

Marwan Abado

Moneim Adwan

John Kameel Farah

Mohsen Subhi Abdalhamid

Shadia Mansour

Basel Zayed
Haitham Safia

Samir Totah

Taiseer Elyas

Wasif Jawhareieh

Zafir Tawil

and many more...

...

Excuse me!

"I am sorry if innocent people were hurt in the operation in Ramallah "
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert

Commenting on what happened, the BBC says: "Israeli military vehicles cleared Ramallah's streets of traffic "!!

How impudent and disrespectful!

You know what? They are right in making fun of us, they are right in treating us like fools, to kill us, destroy the cars and the houses and everything and afterwards come to say oops we are sorry! Oh, how sweet of you Mr. Olmert, you don't have to worry at all :)

We are fools because at the time this was happening, the Palestinians were busy killing each other. How pathetic!

Palestine Times Launched in West Bank

The Palestine Times, the first English-language Palestinian daily newspaper since the Palestinian Authority was created in 1994, has gone on sale for the first time.

"Maintaining our independence is the primary objective of our newspaper," editor in chief and one of the newspaper's proprietors, Othman Alhaj Mohammed told a news conference Monday in Ramallah, where the daily is based.

The Palestine Times is the first foreign-language daily to appear in the Palestinian territories since the English-language Al-Fajr went out of business in the 1990s.
The newspaper, whose first edition was 12 pages in colour, will also circulate in Israel.

source

His Majesty said...

"We're juggling with the strong potential of three civil wars in the region, whether it's the Palestinians, that of Lebanon, or of Iraq."
CNN

Oh,well.

caricatures of Al Hayat Newspaper

This Cartoon...

ANNOYED ME BIG TIME!!!
Damn it!! It is so true. It best describes the palestinian dissension and fiasco.
Alas!

On Memorial Day of Nakba

آذار حردان

Another expressive drawing by our friend Amal (meiroun) published in Al Safir Newspaper.

Amal's talent never ceases to amaze me. Her sarcastic way in describing the political situation of the country is so unique.
keep it up Amool.

Paradise Now nomination opposed

A petition claiming that the film Paradise Now glorifies Palestinian suicide bombers and asking for its removal from Oscar consideration has been delivered to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

The petition, carrying more than 36,000 signatures garnered online, was presented two days before Sunday's Academy Awards at its Beverly Hills headquarters by Arab-American peace activist Nonie Darwish.

Darwish said Paradise Now "did not show the evils of terrorism enough".

"Any one of us could be a victim of terror at any time," she said. "Islamic terror has become an epidemic. We don't need to understand it. We don't need to excuse it ... . No more. We need to end it."

John Pavlik, Academy spokesman, declined to comment on the petition and said he was unsure whether officials would examine it.

However, he was clear about whether the nomination of Paradise Now would be withdrawn. "Not gonna happen," Pavlik said.

"It would be physically impossible to happen between now and Sunday and, beyond that, we're not going to disqualify films because some people don't like the content."


Fictional story

Paradise Now tells the fictional story of two young mechanics from the West Bank town of Nablus sent to carry out a double suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.

The film won a Golden Globe Award in January and is nominated for an Oscar for best foreign film.

The petition campaign was organised by Yossi Zur, an Israeli whose 16-year-old son, Asaf, died in a bus bombing in the northern city of Haifa three years ago on Sunday - the day of the Academy Awards ceremonies.

Seventeen people died in that attack by Hamas, which recently won Palestinian parliamentary elections.

"Paradise Now is a movie that attempts to explain away the actions behind mass murderers. This mere act, in effect, legitimises this type of mass murder and portrays the murderers themselves as victims!" the petition states.

A counter-petition in support of the film has drawn about 8300 online signatures. That petition says Paradise Now does not attempt to legitimise the bombings. "It is a story about the suffering of Palestinians and how a life of desperation can lead to an act of desperation," according to the petition website.

source

Steve Sabella

Steve Sabella was born in the Old City of Jerusalem. Following his studies at the Collège des Frères de la Salle, he enrolled in the Jerusalem School of Photography where he received his Diploma in Art Photography three years later.

Steve's visual capacity is well developed. He has a unique way of seeing, that combines East and West. His works show a balance between authentic ideas and visual expression. During his studies, Steve has shown great curiosity and investigation of various ways of expression in photography as well as experiencing in many different technical procedures. His final project of the second and third year of studies awarded him special prizes of excellence. Steve has felt intuitively from the start that photography would be his way in life and he works along totally with this feeling. He is a sensitive person, who follows his heart. In his artwork he is always searching for himself on one hand, while on the other hand he searches for the mystery of the universe.

Enthusiasm characterizes Steve. His success lies in the simplicity and accuracy of his photos. This is shown in his ability to give a new visual meaning to the photos and his sensitivity has been matched by his commitment to his craft. His approach to photography has been both professional and highly personal. He has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in places such Tel Hai museum/Israel, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem galleries in East and West, Khalil Sakakini in Ramallah (twice), Rome/Italy, Montreal/Canada, touring exhibition in the USA (Mind Body & Soul) and his exhibition End of Days toured five major Palestinian cities . Some of these exhibitions aroused media interest that lead to TV interviews and documentations.

Steve Sabella was one of the winners of the Young Artist Award competition organized by A.M. Qattan Foundation in Ramallah/Palestine for the year 2002. He is currently working as a full time professional photographer and has been hired by international organizations such as the UN (UNICEF-UNDP-UNRWA-UNFPA), NGO's, government offices and major advertising companies in Palestine. Steve Sabella was chosen as Photographer of the Month in This Week in Palestine publication in Oct. 2001.

Isn't he great?
Take a look

For more info. click