May

29

Democracy at Work in Syria

May 29, 2007 | 4 Comments

I was so pleasantly surprised to see that there still is hope for democracy in the Middle East. In Syria today, more than 11 million people came out to vote in free and fair presidential elections.  In a surprising result, 97% of voters supported Bashar Assad! I sat by my television screen all weekend, listening to deep analysis of the political situation, and predictions on the results. It was indeed a nail biter!

It really is refreshing to see that some countries in the Middle East are finally jumping on the democracy bandwagon and holding presidential elections that will surely encourage positive reform in the region. I’m sure Syrians voted for Assad because they have seen great changes in their country since he was elected after his fathers death. The 20,000 some voters who casted their ballots against him must have been mentally instable.

Kudos to the Syrians for finally joining the free world!

“This great consensus shows the political maturity of Syria and the brilliance of our democracy,” Interior Minister Bassam Abdel Majid said.

Brilliance indeed!

May

27

Depressing

May 27, 2007 | 3 Comments

Where do I even begin? Pick a continent, a country, and I’ll find a disaster for you. I’ll find chaos, war, injustice, poverty, abuse, disease. Take your pick.

Iraq

Darfur

Iran

Lebanon

Palestine

May

15

Nakba at 59

May 15, 2007 | 6 Comments

I came to write about the 59th anniversary of the nakba, the catastrophe of the forced exodus of Palestinians from their homes and villages by Zionist gangs in 1948, but everything that I wanted to write I have already written exactly one year ago. I thought I should read the post I wrote for the 58th anniversary and when I did, I realized that I had almost written the same exact thing that I planned to write today. On this day, I think more about the bigger picture of the situation in Palestine, and less about the events taking place today. In fact, I haven’t written about what’s going on in the Occupied Territories for a few months now, as I seem to have subconciously boycotted the depressing reality of what goes on today in Palestine. Not much has changed since last year’s anniversary, so I leave you with what I wrote on year ago, hoping that next year, I will have something new to write about, and some hope for a better future for our beloved Palestine.

I do not have a personal history related to the Nakba, the great catastrophe of 1948 in Palestine. My grandparents were not kicked out of their homes, they don’t have keys to a home in a village somewhere in Palestine, they don’t have memories of being forcibly removed from their homes.

My grandparents are not Palestinian, I don’t think I have any Palestinian blood, per se.
But in my heart, I somehow feel Palestinian. Somehow, some way, I feel a connection to this holy land. I feel connected to the suffering that occurs there everyday. I feel the sadness that many others feel on this 58th anniversary of the day when thousands were forcibly removed from their homes forever and others who died fighting the occupier.

I think about the millions of Palestinian refugees scattered across Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Europe, North America, and every corner of the earth…their dreams of returning to the land of their fathers and grandfathers. Many still live in refugee camps, unable to find a permanent home; many not wanting to find any home other than their own in Palestine.

Their right of return is constantly denied, questioned, and ridiculed. A cowboy from Texas thinks he can brush off this right with a simple statement on the White House lawn. He does not know or care to know what this “right” really means to millions across the globe. A rogue and racist government continues in the same path of its Zionist founders, denying the existence of the millions of Palestinians who are the true owners of the land which settlements are built upon.

This day is not just a remembrance for the events that occurred in 1948. The great catastrophe continues today as the occupation of Palestinian land continues, and the oppression of Palestinians continues on a daily basis. The Israeli government’s efforts to kill off the Palestinians one by one is a reality, and their efforts to permanently separate Palestinians from their families and their homes is a law.

But why, why do I feel this pain for Palestine? Why does Palestine make me cry?

Maybe it is because I’m human. Or Muslim, Arab, or Jordanian. Maybe because somehow my parents raised me to love this land, to understand its significance. Maybe because injustice is something I can’t accept. In the end, I don’t think it matters as much why I love Palestine. What matters is how I love Palestine.

I dream of setting my foot in Jerusalem, sitting in the shade of the olive trees, praying in the Al-Aqsa mosque, smelling the holy air, walking in the old streets of al-Quds, and waving at the old man in the kafiyeh whose wrinkles tell the stories of a once peaceful yet currently miserable Palestine.

More on the Nakba:
Al-Nakba
Al-Nakba Archive Project
The Untold Stories
FAQ on the Nakba

Bloggers on the Nakba:
59
One Death is a Tragedy, A Million is A Statistic (Nakba Day 2007)
Nakba
Nakba: More Than Just A Remembrance

May

14

Homeland Security Wants YOU

May 14, 2007 | 2 Comments

As I was flipping through the pages of the Express on my morning Metro ride to DC, I came upon a full page ad for the Deparment of Homeland Security (DHS). Living in the DC metro area, career fairs for the federal government are all too common, but this ad for a DHS Career Expo was a little…different.

ad3.gif

(click ad for bigger view)

As you can see, the ad screams “we want minorities! we don’t discriminate! we’re not just a bunch of white men out to get you guys! we want you on OUR side! join us, PLEASE!” At least that’s what came to mind when I saw the pictures at the top of the page: a Muslim woman, an African American man, a handicapped woman, and an Asian man.

More importantly for me was seeing the image of the hijab-clad young looking girl leading the pack. It just seemed like too much propaganda to me. They want a practicing Muslim woman to work with them to catch the “bad” Muslim guys, the ones who pray loudly in airports and donate to “shady” charities.

But maybe I should give them the benefit of the doubt… they did create that helpful color-coded advisory system:

dhs.jpg

[cartoon source]

May

9

Time 100 Salutes Maher Arar

May 9, 2007 | 2 Comments

And I salute TIME Magazine for choosing Maher Arar as one of the most influential people in the world. Indeed, what Maher Arar endured at the hands of his Syrian captors, and at the behest of the United States, is nothing short of barbaric, illegal, and inhumane. I’ve blogged about the case of Maher Arar more than once to raise awareness about the secretive US policy of “extraordinary rendition”. Arar has had a profound impact on the discussion of this policy after he was released from Syria and began speaking out about his ordeal. Arar didn’t stay quiet and attempt to piece his life back together in the shadow of this horrible tragedy. He spoke out, and he used all legal means to pursue justice for his case. In the end, he won the case, but no apology and no amount of compensation can erase the physcial and emotional scars he was left with. This is the piece written for the TIME 100 by Senator Patrick Leahy:

maher_arar1.jpg

Maher Arar

By Patrick Leahy

Sending a Canadian technology consultant to be confined in a gravelike cell and tortured did nothing to make Americans safer. A Syrian-born Canadian citizen, Maher Arar, 36, was returning home from a vacation in September 2002 when U.S. federal agents detained him in New York City on suspicion of ties to terrorism. Rather than send him to his home and our close ally, Canada, for interrogation, the U.S. government sent him to Syria, a nation with a history of engaging in torture. A year later he was released. Three years later a Canadian commission found no evidence that Arar had any terrorist connection. The commission also concluded that he was systematically tortured and held under horrendous conditions.

The Bush Administration refuses to acknowledge any responsibility, instead offering the tepid explanation that Syrian officials assured the U.S. that Arar would not be tortured. These are the same Syrian officials with whom our government now says it will not negotiate because they are not trustworthy. Maher Arar’s case stands as a sad example of how we have been too willing to sacrifice our core principles to overarching government power in the name of security, when doing so only undermines the principles we stand for and makes us less safe.

Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee

More on Maher Arar and extraordinary rendition:

Detailed Chronology of Maher Arar’s Rendition to Syria
The Commission of Inquiry to Investigate the Case of Maher Arar
Jane Mayer’s ‘Outsourcing Torture’
CBS News- Extraordinary Rendition
‘Syria, US Torture Center‘

My previous posts:

Extraordinary Rendition: The Case of Maher Arar

Senator Rips Gonzalez on Extraordinary Rendition

Stirrings on Guantanomo Bay and Extraordinary Rendition

May

3

Carter’s Book: Much Ado About Nothing

May 3, 2007 | 6 Comments

I don’t usually review books, mainly because it takes me a while to finish them. I’ll read a chapter then forget about it until a month later when I’ll pick it up again. This is mostly with non-fiction/historical type books. In any case, I don’t like writing reviews, but I felt the need to do so for this book, even though much has already been written about it.

I admit it that I read it because of the hype. Because President Carter used the word “apartheid” in the title. Because we live in a country where criticism of Israel is rare, and that’s an understatement.

The Palestinian issue has been one of my passions from a young age. I have read about it, talked about it, rallied for it, but I still have a lot to learn. I can still say that I know more about the history and the politics of this conflict than the average Joe and the average Mo. That maybe one of the reason that I didn’t get much out of Palestine Peace Not Apartheid.

I expected to see more analysis and less history. Most of the book was Carter’s memories and experiences related to dealing with this conflict. From his time as governor, to president, to today, Carter recounts his efforts to engage with the parties involved. He adds bits and pieces of analysis and gives the reader a better idea of the political situation in Israel, the Occupied Territories, and some of the neighboring Arab states.

I found myself flipping through the pages, trying to get through the history of Oslo and Geneva to find the word “apartheid.” When is he going to start bashing the occupation and the wall? When is he going to slam Israel’s settlement policy? Maybe all the media attention and the Zio-bashing of his book made me think he will have something really controversial to say. To me, everything he said should have been general knowledge. I didn’t find it controversial at all. But considering the fact that he was the president of the US, and the current media/political situation that stifles criticism of Israel, I understand that even the smallest reference to occupation, apartheid, and oppressed Palestinians is, sadly, a huge accomplishment.

I had to read pretty much the whole book before I got to what I considered, “the good part”– the last 2 chapters. Chapter 16, “The Wall As A Prison” discusses the reasons Israel provides for building what they call the “security barrier” but more importantly, the detrimental consequences this structure has had on the lives of Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

In addition to cutting off about 200,000 Palestinians in Jerusalem from their relatives, property, schools, and businesses, the wall is designed to complete the enclosure of a severely truncated Palestine, a small portion of its original size, compartmentalized, divided into cantons, occupied by Israeli security forces, and isolated from the outside world. In addition, a network of exclusive highways is being built across even these fragments of the West Bank to connect the new Greater Israel in the west with the occupied Jordan River valley in the east, where 7,000 Jews are living in twenty-one heavily protected settlements among about 50,000 Palestinians who are still permitted to stay there. The area along the Jordan River, which is now planned as the eastern leg of the encirclement of the Palestinians, is one of Palestine’s most lucrative and productive agricultural regions. Most of its inhabitants were forcibly evicted in 1967, and the Israelis have not allowed these original families to return.

If you don’t know much about this conflict, and if you want a brief overview of the recent history, this is not a bad book to read. If you have been relying on the US mainstream media for your dose of why Palestinians and Israelis are at each others throats, then this book should be a refreshing take on the issues that have been widely misrepresented and under-reported.

If you know the basics of the conflict, and are interested in the nitty gritty history of the conflict, this isn’t your book. If you want deep political insight and analysis, this isn’t your book. 

I really don’t mean to be too harsh, but like I said, the hype over the book raised my expectations, which were definitely not met upon finishing the book. I still applaud Jimmy Carter for defending his book and for reintroducing this issue which has been neglected for too long under the Bush administration.

 What did you think?

May

2

Bush on Iraq: Then and Now

May 2, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Then…May 1, 2003

“My fellow Americans: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the Battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country.

In this battle, we have fought for the cause of liberty, and for the peace of the world. Our nation and our coalition are proud of this accomplishment — yet it is you, the members of the United States military, who achieved it… Because of you, our nation is more secure. Because of you, the tyrant has fallen, and Iraq is free.”

Now…May 1, 2007Photo

President Bush vetoed a $124 billion measure yesterday that would have funded overseas military operations but required him to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq as early as July, escalating the most serious confrontation between the White House and Congress over war policy in a generation.

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