A Dream Interrupted

It was a sunny day, but you wouldn't be able to tell from the shade created by the ever rising apartment blocks surrounding the street. I was walking swiftly back home back from an errand, passing by Ghada’s pharmacy at the top of our street, turning left towards our alley. I was carrying something in my hand, looking up towards our balcony. Home was merely a few steps away, and then just as I laid my eyes on our house door I was awakened by a text message. I was so close to reaching my destination. Annoyed by the text, I read it, purposely ignored it and went back to sleep. I thought to myself can’t I visit home even in my dreams?

Last time I was in Syria was during winter of 2009. I took the opportunity to go there for a whole month while I was between jobs. In fact one of the conditions of accepting my new position was being able to go home for an extended period of time. I had a routine whenever I went back. The first morning I would take a stroll in the neighbourhood, pass by my best friend’s house, buy some falafel and hummus for breakfast, and take in the sights and sounds that only an expatriate would miss. Sights like yellow cabs fighting their way through the traffic, sounds like the ones of the roaming fruit sellers, and smells, well, those of diesel fumes emanating from the infamous microbuses. On the next day I would visit Old Damascus, to go to the souqs and stop to smoke shisha and have tea at a café. Every day of the visit was planned without really being planned. I knew what I wanted to see and I just let my feet and heart lead me in whichever direction they pleased. Every corner I came across was a memory renewed, and with every forgotten sight seen again was a smile.

Every time I left Syria I know deep inside that next time I visit most things would have stayed put. Sure building got a little taller in our alley, the falafel shop owner expanded his restaurant, and a new pirated CD store opened up on the corner, but beneath all that everything stayed the same. You still have to fight your way to get onto a microbus, taxi drivers complained to you about the congestion, and the chaotic nature of government offices remained unchanged.  It was miraculous to see how a country could function given all the corruption.  Somehow though, the ever resilient Syrian meandered their way through the system and made things work. The country kept ticking, and I kept returning to a place that I’ll always call home, knowing that I’ll be able to visit that falafel shop, pass by my old school, and make a pit stop at the grocery store where I bought all my candy as a kid. Abed the grocer, still recognized me, and always asked me how things were in Canada.  

But for the first time in 40 years, things have changed, so dramatically so that I can’t fathom the feelings I will have upon returning home. I was due back on April 18, 2011, and just like before I had planned the trip between jobs. This time however the paper work didn't make it through the embassy, not because of the usual corruption but due to an event that many hadn't even imagined. Next week marks the last week at the job I started right before the revolution. This time however I’m sitting thousands of miles away behind a computer screen hearing news that breaks the heart, looking at pictures of rubble, the rubble of the falafel shop that I always counted on visiting on my first day back. 

A picture of a one of those familiar streets that lead to places dear to my heart.

In Honour of Mohamed Bouazizi

Last night I slept a happy man. The news of the day left me and millions of other Arabs reflecting on events we thought we would never see. The brave Tunisians’ protests finally cracked the dictatorship that had ruled them for well over two decades. The president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, was forced out of the country flying from place to place until he finally found refuge in Saudi Arabia. Before going on any further, I think we have to pause and pay tribute for the brave man who gave his life, and started the revolution.

Mohamed Bouazizi’s story is similar to the story of millions across the Arab world, a young man full of potential, let down by his country and forced to make ends meet by way of street vending. He had purchased a farm which was confiscated by corrupt officials. He then turned to street vending where his fruits and vegetables were confiscated repeatedly. Desperate to feed his family, he had borrowed money to buy fruits and vegetable to sell, this time after the police confiscated his wheelbarrow, he went to complain to the Governor. No one listened to him. Enraged, he decided to set himself on fire, dying from his burns on January 4^th. How desperate, and powerless does someone have to feel before going to such measures?

The bravery of Bouazizi was in no doubt the catalyst to the unimaginable change we’re witnessing today. A sweeping change that no one expected. After Tunisia’s protests, others started to protest in Algeria, and Jordan. Could this be the awakening that many had thought, and dreamt about?

Unlike me, the handful of corrupt leaders across the Arab world most likely had a little trouble sleeping last night. The lessons from Tunisia’s revolutions are simple and clear. With today’s technology protests can be organized, documented and broadcasted across the world, by individuals. There’s no need for official media organizations to cover a story, as clearly demonstrated with this revolution. I can’t speak for European media, but North American media stayed largely silent during the past few weeks, a stark contrast to the coverage that Iran’s protests received just months ago.

The second lesson is that the people are not far from the boiling point. This was clearly demonstrated by the protests that erupted in several other countries. Once the protests develop a certain critical mass, it becomes next to impossible to stop them without a massacre. While history shows that massacres are not far from the imagination of certain dictators, the development of technology which I talked about earlier makes their actions impossible to hide.

Another important consequence of the revolution is setting precedence. As Tunisia develops a democratic government, neighbours will want the same. An example has been set now, the steps have been laid out by the brave Tunisians, all that’s missing is the catalyst.

Lastly, Tunisia now serves as a prime example that freedom is not an American export. What the Tunisians did with the deaths of 66 brave protestors, America still hasn’t done with tens of thousands of civilian deaths. Freedom and democracy are not cars and Hollywood movies.

When we reflect on the events of the past few days, let’s not forget the bravery and sacrifice of Bouazizi and the other protesters. You will never be forgotten. You have entered history books from grandest gates.

Palestinians are bound to be bound

There seems to be an international competition on which country can cause Palestinians the most suffering. Israel has always been a front runner, and a favourite to win the competition in all its categories: land theft, starvation, discrimination, human rights denials, among many others. Lately, another country has emerged as a strong contender to take away Israel’s spots in some of the categories. The country is of course Egypt. The country that once stood as a symbol of human ingenuity is now a cowardly state bending over backward to please its true rulers, in an effort to maintain its political status quo.

Apart from imposing a ban on the Gaza Freedom March, reports have recently revealed Egypt’s secret plan to build an iron wall that goes deep below ground to prevent the smuggling of essential goods into Gaza. The wall is American made, built with the construction expertise of the French and Americans, with the guidance of the Israeli’s. The iron wall will be the biggest project taken on in Egypt since the pyramids, or so it seems. If anything the wall proves that that ancient Egyptian ingenuity is still running through the blood of the government. After all, even Israel didn’t think of building a double purpose underground/over ground wall!

Sarcasm aside, the iron wall coupled with the international silence is ought to be the biggest disaster Gazans have gone through since the massacre exactly a year ago. Last year about this time, Gaza was being bombed to pieces. The aftermath of ‘Operation Cast Lead’ was 1400 Palestinian deaths, destroyed infrastructure, and scores of homeless, injured, and hungry Palestinians, whose only fault was that they lived in Gaza. Re-construction of homes, schools, and government buildings had been put on hold. Israel and its sidekick Egypt felt it wasn’t the right time to let in any concrete or any other building materials into Gaza. Palestinians resorted to digging tunnels underground to get much needed medicine, concrete, and baby formula, among hundreds of essential items that we take for granted. But even smuggling essential goods was too much for the Palestinians. Egypt had put its thinking hat on and came up with the iron wall. The wall is bomb proof, equipped with breach sensors, and combined with a complex piping systems pumping water from the Mediterranean underground. The water will make it even more difficult to dig tunnels, and at the same time contaminate underground aquifers and farm land. Two in one, Egypt thought as it high-fived Israel, we stop them from getting food from outside and inside.

These ‘solutions’ to the Palestinian ‘problem’ are only temporary. The resilience of the Palestinians has been proven time and again. In an increasingly uncertain world there’s one thing I’m certain of, Palestinians are not going to give up. The connection to their land, the denied rights, justice and freedom are the fuel that keeps Palestinians going. As I write this, two friends of mine are en route to Egypt to take part of the Gaza Freedom March. Both of them were born outside of Palestine, one as a refugee in Syria, the other in Kuwait. The fact that third generation Palestinians are making the effort to take part of the solidarity march says a lot. A wall may prevent this or that from entering Gaza, but there’s no wall that can stop Palestinians from fighting for their simple right to land and peace.

The Wars of Today

As I listened to the radio this morning to a 90 year old veteran of WWII, I had nothing but respect for the bravery he must have had as a 25 year old fighting on the front lines in Normandy. A thought crossed my mind as he went on describing the gory details he had to witness, are we going to reflect back on the soldiers of today the same way we reflect on the ones who died in the two world wars?

The whole nature of war has changed so dramatically in the past few years, that it is even hard to classify any of the violence across the world as a ‘real’ war. We have seen the rise of a type of war where a professional army faces scattered groups of rebels united by a set of beliefs. We have a seen wars (massacres would perhaps be a better description) where multi-million dollar jets drop multi-million dollar weapons on mud houses, refugee camps, and weddings. These wars are fought

by thousands of troops brainwashed to believe that they’re bringing freedom, and justice. These are the “vets” of today. Troops fighting behind thick armour, equipped with advanced weaponry, and armed with falsified facts and fabricated objectives. Behind them is a media machine pumping Orwellian messages into air waves. We hear war, justice, and freedom in the same sentence, and we see family vans and SUV’s with “Support our Troops” ribbons stuck to the back.

Fifty years from now, I wondered, which wars will we reflect back on? And are we going to be honest with ourselves and remind ourselves of the mistakes we have committed during those wars?

Asking for a Settlement Freeze is Hard in the Midst of Global Warming

If Hillary Clinton’s current visit to the region proved anything, it’s that Obama’s message of change was nothing but a load of crap. “Yes we can” continue our ways of standing on the side of the oppressor against the oppressed is the message I have been hearing lately. In his attempt at justifying his premature Noble Peace prize win, Obama is settling for the easy way out, putting pressure on Palestinians in a time when their international representation is in complete disarray.

It is naive for anyone to think a US president can truly bring about change in Middle East policy. But in a time of unprecedented life loss, oppression, one can only hope and perhaps dream a little. Obama went from asking for “a stop to settlements. Not some

settlements, not outposts, not natural growth exceptions”, to allowing “natural growth”, to asking for an Israeli intention to stop settlements, to asking Palestinians to turn a blind eye to land theft. Natenyahu strengthened by Obama’s demands has asked Palestinians plainly to “get a grip” and drop their ridiculous demands of asking for their land back. In fact, Clinton went as far as saying that settlements are essential for Israel’s security!! On the same token should we start seeing American settlements in Canada to enhance American security?

So what are settlements such a big issue?

International law sees any land gained through war as illegal (see Finklestein below for a more thorough explanation). The West Bank has been occupied by Israel since 1967. Since the occupation started, Israel has systematically confiscated Palestinian land, destroyed homes, and built settlements in way that would introduce a status quo rendering any fair peace deal impossible. The settlements are connected by a vast network of roads for settler use only. Palestinians are denied access to these roads built on their land. At the same time Palestinian roads are littered with checkpoints, operated by soldiers who chose who can pass and who can’t based on their mood. Women have given birth at checkpoints while waiting to go to hospitals. Ambulances are often kept at checkpoints for hours. School children have to wake up at 3 AM to make their morning classes on time. Palestinians are denied a normal life, while illegal settlers enjoy a safe, luxurious lifestyle. Add to that a 9 meter high “separation wall”, or “security fence” as the Israeli’s like to call it, which serpentines through the West Bank confiscating even more Palestinian land, splitting villages in half, and creating yet another barrier for a just peace.

I would like to see Clinton live under the same conditions as Palestinians in the West Bank for a week, and see if she still thinks Palestinians should stop whining about a settlement freeze. But that would assume she was an honest person, not just another politicians seeking re-election.

Bin Ladin's Biggest Blunder

What was Bin Ladin’s biggest blunder? Are you ready for this? He didn’t say the magic word.  That’s right, had Bin Ladin said “sorry” after the attacks on the twin towers everything would have been fine and dandy.  After all we all make mistakes, and if parents teach you anything it’s that a real man (or woman) takes responsibility for his/her mistakes.  Look at Hillary Clinton for example.  Last night over 100 Afghani civilians died in an accidental “strike” (a soft word for bombing).  What does Clinton do? Well she apologizes, she just release a statement saying that she’s “deeply, deeply sorry.”  That should patch things up with family members who are left grieving over their loved ones. 

While you’re at it, why don’t you deeply apologize for all future “accidental strikes.”

The Diplomat's Pledge of Allegiance

They stumbled over each other, elbowing one another each trying to be the first person to escape from the crowded room.  Blasphemy was in the air and nobody could bear to hear it.  The words being uttered on the podium just didn’t make sense.  Once outside they put their hands together and pledged their allegiance by issuing ‘official’ statements condemning the ‘hate speech’ they had to endure.  Didn’t the speaker read the rules before attending the conference on racism? 

While I disagree with some of Ahmadinejad’s views, one cannot dismiss everything that comes out of his mouth, as Western diplomats have done today.  The guy had a point.  Israel is a racist government and there are facts supporting his statement.  Have a read of the following Israeli laws and some of the commentary that follows, and assess just how blasphemous Ahmadinejad was today:

Section 7A(1) of the Basic Law: The Knesset (1958), passed in 1985
Bars a list of candidates from participation in elections to the Knesset "if its aims or actions, expressly or by implication" deny "the existence of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people."

This sort of thinking is still existent in main stream Israeli society.  For instance, last week Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu stated "Israel expects the Palestinians to first recognize Israel as a Jewish state before talking about two states for two peoples."  The statement that Netanyahu wants to hear would set the stage to expel Palestinians (Christians and Muslims) who are currently Israeli citizens, out of Israel.  An act that Israeli Foriegn Minister, Avigdor Lieberman promised during his election campaign.  A Jerusalem Post article described Lieberman’s promise

 “ [Lieberman’s]  aim is not to deport terrorists or traitors. No, his goal is to deport Arab citizens, no matter whether they're law-abiders or criminals, whether they're construction workers or doctors or housewives or newborn babies, for no other reason than that they are Arabs.”

Law of Return (1950)
Grants right of immigration to Jews born anywhere in the world. Amended in 1970 to extend this right to "a child and a grandchild of a Jew, the spouse of a Jew, the spouse of a child of a Jew and the spouse of a grandchild of a Jew." A "Jew" is defined as "a person who was born of a Jewish mother or has become converted to Judaism and who is not a member of another religion."

Non-Jewish native-born Palestinians - most importantly those who fled during the Zionist massacres in 1947 and 1948 - are in most cases prevented from returning.

My grandparents belong to the category of “Non-Jewish native-born Palestinians.”  They were forced out of their village in 1948, and have lived in Syria as Palestinian refugees since.   In an earlier post I described the sorrow that they experience on a daily basis since their expulsion 61 years ago. 

Land Acquisition (Validity of Acts and Compensation) Law (1953)
Confiscates the land of more than 400 Palestinian villages; "validates" retroactively their use for military purposes and for Jewish settlements.

The tens of acres of farms, for which my grandfather still has the ownership papers, are among the land confiscated by this law.

National Planning and Building Law (1965)

Creates a system of discriminatory zoning that freezes existing Arab villages while providing for the expansion of Jewish settlements. The law also re-classifies a large number of Arab villages as "non-residential" creating the "unrecognized villages." These villages do not receive basic municipal services such as water and electricity; all buildings are threatened with demolition orders.

These are just some of the realities not discussed in the media.  They are truths that are consciously ignored by the very same diplomats who walked out on Ahmadinejad this morning.  Instead of exposing the facts, the media machine works instantaneously and tirelessly to paint a convoluted image of the truth, throwing labels left and right, while massaging in the all too familiar propaganda phrases we are so used to hearing by now.   Conferences like the one held today are a great idea.  They should be an open forum for discussing injustices no matter which side the injustice is incurred by.  As soon as you limit what can be said at a conference like this, you take away all credibility.  Sadly, this is exactly what happened today.

Galloway Interview With CBC Discussing His Ban From Canada

Canada's control of free speech

While the world was relieved last fall from what history will remember as the worst leader to ever walk the earth, Canadians were stuck with the remnants of Bushism with the Harper government. The parallels between Harper and Bush are too many too mention, and the events unfolding in Canada right now are the biggest proof of how we’re still stuck in the age of Bush.

Last week, Immigration Minister Jason Kenny, sent an official letter to British MP George Galloway banning him from entering Canada because, get this, he presents a threat to our national security! Galloway has just completed a lecture tour in the United States, where he presented no threat at all, but apparently he had other plans for Canada.

Galloway who is vocally opposed to the War on Afghanistan, Iraq, and critical of Israeli aggression against Palestinians, has been labeled as a “controversial British MP” in the media. His recent effort to relieve Gazan’s of their suffering was the main motive behind barring him from entering Canada. That and the fact that our right wing government cannot tolerate people who oppose a failing “military campaign” costing Canadian tax payer money, and more importantly, lives.

Today a judge failed to grant Galloway the right to enter Canada, forcing him to deliver his lecture via a live video feed from across the border. Plans are underway for a huge crowd to greet Galloway on another border crossing later this week. A group of Canadian MP’s, lawyers and activists will attempt to escort Galloway into Canada. If their plan fails the “controversial” MP will give his lecture via megaphone, making Canada look even more like an Orwellian state!

While all of this was happening the Jewish Defense League couldn’t keep it in their pants and had to go on boasting on how strong of a lobbying power they have over the Canadian government. Newspapers are now reporting:

A letter – sent March 16 to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, his cabinet colleague Peter Kent and opposition MPs – asked the government to keep that "hater" out of Canada.

"We asked that he not be allowed in," said Meir Weinstein, national director of the Jewish Defence League of Canada.

So what has been Galloway’s response to all of this nonsense? Here are some excerpts from his op-ed in the Guardian.

Kenney is quite a card. A quick trawl establishes he's a gay-baiter, gung-ho armchair warrior, with an odd habit of exceeding his immigration brief. …Most curiously of all, in 2006 he addressed a rally of the so-called People's Mujahideen of Iran, a Waco-style cult, banned in the European Union as a terrorist organisation. On one level being banned by such a man is like being told to sit up straight by the hunchback of Notre Dame or being lectured on due diligence by Conrad Black. On another, for a Scotsman to be excluded from Canada is like being turned away from the family home.

But what are my views on Afghanistan which the Canadian government does not want its people to hear? I've never been to Afghanistan, nor have I ever met a Taliban, but my first impression into the parliamentary vellum on the subject was more than two decades ago. At the time the fathers of the Taliban were "freedom fighters", paraded at US Republican and British Tory conferences. Who knows, maybe even the Canadian right extolled these god-fearing opponents of communism. I did not, however …

The Afghans have never succumbed to foreign occupation, heaven knows the British empire tried, tried and failed again. Not even Alexander the Great succeeded, and whoever else he is, minister Kenney is no Alexander the Great. Young Canadian soldiers are dying in significant numbers on Afghanistan's plains. Their families are entitled to know how many of us believe this adventure to be similarly doomed and that genuine support for troops - British, Canadian and other - means bringing them home and changing course.

To ban a five-times elected British MP from addressing public events or keeping appointments with television and radio programmes is a serious matter. Kenney's "spokesman" told the Sun, "Galloway's not coming in ... end of story." Alas for him, it's not...

To be continued, from another border crossing…

The math is simple

I made this image to reflect the ratio of civilian casualties between the Israeli and Palestinian sides. By the time I finished working on it, the ratio had already changed, by the idea remains clear. The fact of the matter is, the casualties have been mostly Palestinian with the majority of them being children and women. This is clearly discussed by one of the few heroes of this war.

For the best coverage on the Gaza disaster I urge you to watch Aljazeera English for free! I guarantee you will be surprised at how much is (purposely) missed by the conventional news networks.

British journalist questions whether legal action could be taken against pro-Palestinian commentators

It seems that some Western journalist have gotten so used to biased media reporting, that they view any true reporting to be worthy of legal persecution. This is the case with Daily Mail columnist, and Spectator correspondent Melanie Philips.

In a recent blog post, Philips goes on and on about the necessity for Israel to attack Gaza in self defense, meanwhile calling the UN a “Club of Terror”, and blaming Palestinian deaths on Hamas. She even condones the disproportionate civilian death toll suffered by Palestinians saying :

“Those who scream ‘disproportionate’ think – grotesquely -- that not enough Israelis have been killed. But that’s in part because Israel cares enough about human life to construct air raid shelters where its beleaguered civilians take cover.”

Philips assumes that starving Palestinians without electricity or food, should have been preparing shelters in anticipation of Israeli bombs. Perhaps Palestinians should blame the Club of Terror UN for not building bomb proof schools. Last week, a UN school where Palestinians have been taking shelter was shelled by an Israeli tank leaving over 40 civilians including women and children dead. Philips would probably condone Israel’s actions by saying something along of the lines of:

“Certainly, some civilian casualties are regrettably inevitable in any such situation – but particularly so in Gaza, since Hamas has deliberately sited its terrorist infrastructure amongst the civilian population”

But even this doesn’t hold ground since reports by Earth Times, Reuters and now Haaretz, have shown that there was no fire coming from the UN school where the refugees were taken shelter. But these kinds of reports wouldn’t please Philips. At the end of her misleading, poor journalistic post she asks:

“Isn’t there a case for legal action against these media outlets on account of their blood libels, for indirectly aiding the perpetrators of attempted genocide?”

And just to be clear here, the genocide Philips absurdly speaks of is that of the Israeli population inflicted by Hamas. A genocide perpetrated by a militia with home-made rockets, against the 4^th strongest army in the world, and the best technically equipped army, only second to the US.