Dohiyi Mir

Palestinian Gandhis

They do exist and would succeed if we supported them.

ntodd

David And Goliath Redux

There is nothing new under the sun:

A scorpion who wanted to get to the other side of the Suez Canal asked a camel to let him sit on his hump while it walked across the Canal. 

"Whoa," said the camel. "Do you think I'm a fool? If you sit on my back, you might bite me before I reach the other side, and then I will drown." The scorpion replied, "Now,that makes no sense, because if you die, then so I will I." 

After thinking about it,the camel agreed to carry the scorpion to the other side of the Canal, and told it to climb onto his hump. When the camel got to the deepest part of the Canal, the scorpion bit and injected its poison into the camel.

"Why did you do that?" said the dying camel, "it's not logical". The scorpion replied, " I couldn't resist it. There no logic in the Middle East.

A couple other posts for perspective:

• My Life As A Cow
• In Defense Of David...And Goliath

There's a symmetry in the illogic, a great deal of asymmetry in the violence, and much tragedy until the parties learn a thing or two about being human...

ntodd

Just A Little Bit More

Now I can't let go.  More from our Gaza mission in 2009:

• Bil'in Blogging
• Ma'al Salaama
• Barriers And Bubbles
• One Pill Makes You Israeli, And One Pill Makes You Palestinian
• On The Importance Of Clowning

I earnestly hope my children won't have to go over there for peace work, Insha'Allah.

ntodd

Gaza Getting What It Deserved Again

When Samuel was still a newborn, I tweeted:

I recall in Tel Aviv last June a guy at the hostel angrily telling me, "#Gaza got what it deserved." How...proportionate.

Sadie's not much older than our son was, and this shit's happening again?  It caused me to revisit a few posts from after my mission to Palestine and Israel:

• While You Live Your Troubles Are Many
• Relationships
• Zero Sum Game

For some more current perspective, check out Richard Silverstein at Tikun-Olam.

ntodd

Fridays In Bil'in

Oddly, the deficit hawks don't feel compelled to cut $3B in military aid to the Occupiers:

Like every Friday, the villagers walked through the village towards the second Apartheid Wall that still occupies around 30% of the village’s land. They crossed the olive groves that the Israeli army had illegally annexed for over six years and which the villagers were able to liberate through their continuous resistance. Some gathered early and enjoyed the shade of the trees in the area where villagers have now created the Abu Laymoon park.

When the protestors reached the second Apartheid Wall at the illegal colony on their lands - chanting for the liberation of Palestine and raising the Palestinian flag and banners of the imprisoned Marwan Bargouthi - soldiers stationed behind the wall started shooting tear gas canisters and rubber coated steel bullets at them, setting fire to a stretch of bushes close to the park. A twenty year old was shot with a rubber coated steel bullet in the leg.

In spite of the continuing barrage of tear gas canisters, the protestors held their ground in the heat of Palestine’s summers, chanting “Palestine is the 194 state”, in reference to the PA’s plan to request recognition as a full member state at the UN in September, demanding the immediate release of all political prisoners and vowing to keep up the resistance until Palestine is free and Palestinian rights are recognized.

Too bad the media here prefer the bullshit euphemism "rubber bullet" instead of the more descriptive and accurate "rubber coated steel bullet".  Sounds like cheap, harmless childrens' toys being fired against protesters...

ntodd

Fridays In Bil'in

The day of victory: Bil'in celebrates the removal of the wall:

For the first time after nearly seven years of resistance and struggle of the residents of Bil'in, the people of the village and a large number of participants from neighboring villages could hold the Friday prayer on the land that has been retrieved 2 days ago.

...

This victory was the result of the sacrifices made by the people of Bil'in...After they reached the protected area, they built the first house there after the removal of the wall. After many years of not seeing any big groups of Palestinians so close to their residence, the inhabitants of the nearby illegal settlement were watching the celebration and the building of the first house with great attention and surprise. The people of Bil'in are now planning to built more houses, in order to protect the land from the greed of the occupation. 

Indeed, a victory to celebrate.  Here's to many more, Insha'Allah.

ntodd

If It's Friday, This Must Be A Protest

CNN notices something:

Ever since he was a boy, Friday has been a day of prayer and rest for Murad Alazzany.

Following a rhythm as old as Islam itself, Fridays meant lunchtime prayers at the mosque and relaxing with friends and family for the rest of the day.

But that was before protests and revolutions across the Middle East smashed decades-old regimes and caused unprecedented civil unrest.

Yemen's uprising started in January this year, spurred on by the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions, and since then, Fridays have had a very different flavor for Alazzany and tens of thousands of Yemenis like him.

Alas, they didn't notice that for several years there have been nonviolent Friday protests in Bi'lin, Ni'lin and other Palestinian villages...

ntodd

Salaam

On this date exactly two years ago, instead of walking in the park with my family, I was here:

Facing these guys:

Who shot lots of shit at us:

And it sucked:

But I got to return home to safety, unlike most of these folks:

And it continues in Bil'in...

ntodd

Fridays In Bil'in

Same shit, different Friday:

In spite of the scalding heat, dozens of villagers from Bil’in marched once again together with international and Israeli solidarity activists to the Apartheid Wall in protest to its illegal annexation of 60% of the village’s land for the construction of Jewish-only settlements...

Waving the Palestinian flag and images of martyrs and prisoners of the popular resistance, protestors chanted for freedom and justice, against Apartheid, and for the release of all political prisoners.

As usual, the army opened fire at the protestors even before most had reached the Wall, shooting a type of tear gas that is considerably more harmful than the types ordinarily used in Europe or the US, throwing sound bombs, and spraying them with a chemical green liquid that activists have termed „shit“ or „skunk“ due to its nauseating odor which sticks to its target for days. Dozens of activists suffered from tear gas inhalation, which is aggravated by the harsh summer heat, and in various places, crops caught fire and spread quickly. The army continued to shoot at protestors even while they attempted to put out the fires.

As I learned almost exactly 2 years ago, tear gas (other projectiles notwithstanding) is bad enough.  Can't imagine the stink juice in that heat...

ntodd

Fridays In Bil'in

Last week:

Today in the weekly march in Bil'in organized by the Popular Committee Against the Wall with the participation of Sa'di Tameezi, the Palestinian ambassador to Vietnam, two young men were injured, and dozens of people suffered from the effects of tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers. Dozens of Palestinians were joined by international and Israeli activists, commemorating the martyrs who fell in the demonstrations held on the anniversary of the Nakba last week.

he march began in the center of the village after Friday prayers. In the area above the wall, demonstrators raised the Palestinian flag, as well as banners inscribed with the names ofvillages destroyed in 1948 and pictures of the imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti.Participants chanted nationalist slogans in favor of the right of return (the return of refugees to the land from which they were expelled).

But fuck Palestinian security, right, Mr Obama?

ntodd