confused arab chick

Dear Mr. Abbas,

2011-09-23T19:05:00.001-04:00

That’s a nice suit you wore today.
I know all about nice suits.
You see, my daddy did pretty well for himself and likes to wear them to work.
I buy him ties and cuff links.
Dear Mr. Abbas,
My dad is from Safad, just like you.
Do you remember Safad?
You didn’t seem to, this morning.
Dear Mr. Abbas,
Most people from Safad, they don’t get to wear nice suits.
They don’t get to stand in front of the General Assembly.
They don’t have any one hear their voices.
Dear Mr. Abbas,
You were supposed to do that today.
You were supposed to talk about them.
You were supposed to say the word REFUGEE.
More than once.
Dear Mr. Abbas,
The majority of the Palestinian people come from what is now Israel.
They live in refugee camps.
And with all the news coverage on all the news channels…
Not one network covered what the people in the camps think about State 194.
Dear Mr. Abbas,
It’s was your job to remind people that they should have asked.
Dear Mr. Abbas,
Nice suits don’t absolve you of responsibility.
Dear Mr. Abbas,
You don’t represent me. And I don’t even need your representation.
But the Palestinians, in the camps. They do.
And today, your suit and your seat took precedence.

On the Gay Girl

2011-06-13T13:41:00.000-04:00

My two cents on "Amina": I think it says something that no one was saying much about Syria but when the "gay girl" went missing every single new outlet was posting about it--- while other bloggers disappear without anywhere near so much buzz. I know my fb friends went nuts about her when many of them had been ignoring the deaths in Syria for weeks/months. I think Tom was on to something... He ends his apology: "This experience," he continues, "has sadly only confirmed my feelings regarding the often superficial coverage of the Middle East and the pervasiveness of new forms of liberal Orientalism." Sure the regime will say it was Western propaganda- but they say that about everything.

Necessary Link: http://damascusgaygirl.blogspot.com/

2011-03-26T21:28:00.000-04:00

‎"When all the legal roads are closed to the people the only road open is that of revolution. Who is the provoker? Are we the provokers or the rulers?" Arab Ba'th Socialist Party, Defence before the court of appeals. October 20 1948

for an aspiring non-academic, something to think about...

2011-02-13T17:55:00.002-05:00

the grand majority of the tahrir protesters have never read, and will likely never read Gramsci, Marx or Said.

a clairvoyant had a better chance of predicting the Egyptian revolution than any of the political analysts -or the world leading intelligence services- operating today.

in celebration of falistiniyeh-ness

2010-11-19T10:30:00.004-05:00

i have learned many things
about women

things i did not instinctively know
or was i socialized to learn

but then i started meeting
falistiniyat

these women lift my spirits
and make my heart swell
with pride

they are the ones that made me want to scream
for the first time
"i'm a palestinian woman too!"

they get so much done
and wait for no one
for help
or support
or even acknowledgment

they work out what is necessary
and they do it
meawhile they remain beautiful
and stunning

their skin beams with the love
they share
their hair shines with honor
and delight
their lips smile with the comfort
of their intelligence

but anyway this is not a beauty contest.

i just need to share the love
that i have for
these Palestinian women

around the world-- and in New York City-- not only the ones with dead husbands and brothers and sons in gaza
but the ones rocking their tetas stitches on the MTA
listening to their earphones, smile on their face, on their way from work to meeting to lover to school to work

to work
to work
to work on their various interesting projects, before going home to do their hair and go out and dance
and they dance so gracefully
so beautifully
that eyes are always drawn to them and their magic
the magic that organizes and brings boulders of men to their knees-- before they come home and feed one another wara2 3inab

because they never forget the importance of wara2 3inab.

omgihaventsmokedinamonthwtfwhoami?

2010-10-29T16:05:00.001-04:00

i think i'm over wanting saj.

2010-10-03T18:54:00.003-04:00

not permanently. but for now.

it also doesn't help that i recently found out that i am wheat intolerant. if there is one place that can somewhat cater to this obscene dietary restriction, it's this place.

oh new york, how my feelings for thee bounce and buck, fall, skip and spring.

one day i woke up

2010-08-13T10:33:00.001-04:00

and i didn't want pizza at 3 in the morning anymore.
i wanted saj.