My own journey toward self-recognition started when I began to look more broadly at the struggles of indigenous populations throughout the world. I realized that Palestinians were not so "other" after all; there exists a substantial "we" of peoples alienated from our own lands across the glob. This recognition -- and the repudiation of an accepted status quo which attempts to legitimize our dispossession -- led me to activism. The Palestinian narrative had become much more than the story of my family's suffering. Palestine had become my cause.
As I continued to shape my views on social justice, I drew upon numerous accounts of oppression, including horrifying narratives of the Holocaust and Jewish suffering. Most of my education was in Catholic schools, where courses, from religion to history, acknowledged the pain endured by the Jewish people. The basic appeal of justice, I began to understand, transcends designations such as Arab and Christian and black. It is a fundamentally, irreducibly human appeal. I am convinced that my own activism is often fueled, not by an internal strength, but by the passion and efforts of so many Latino-American, Asian-American, and African-American communities as well as the solidarity shared with many across the religious spectrum.
Remi Kanazi
"Introduction," Poets for Palestine
29 June 2009
A collection of images from the Boston Globe: Iran's presidential election, Iran's disputed election, continued election turmoil, and a troubled week for Iran.
23 June 2009
Chaos
Schemers...
...trying to control...
...their little worlds.
I'm not a schemer. I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are.
I took your little plan...
...and I turned it on itself.
Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes
c h a o s.
Oh, and you know the thing about chaos?
It's fair.
Read more...
17 June 2009
LendforPeace.org
Wanted to point you in the direction of a most awesome startup non-profit, LendforPeace.org. The organization, endorsed by the Clinton Global Initiative and coordinating with USAID, the UN, and the World Bank, offers microfinance loans to Palestinian entrepreneurs and small business people inhibited by the lack of access to capital and credit, markets which are virtually non-existent under the Israeli occupation. With a nod to the Road Map's "Land for Peace" formula, Lend for Peace's mission statement: While there are many contentious issues in this region of the world, we can all agree that there is no winner in poverty. By encouraging economic opportunity and hope through microfinance, LendforPeace.org seeks to foster stability and peace in the Middle East.
Best of all, anyone can lend; contributions, which start at $25, are donated to a specific Palestinian venture by way of short-term loans distributed by local partner organizations. And as a micro-loan operation, financiers are eventually repaid, usually in eighteen months or so. Craig Nemark (the craigslist Craig) recently hopped on board, and even Fox Business featured LFP in an April segment:
No matter what your politics or religious tendencies tell you about Palestinians or the Arab-Israeli conflict, this is a transparent and practical way to do something more than just offer sympathies to another oppressed people or only feel passionate about those living in poverty. As the esteemed Jimmy Doyle recently said, too often our awareness of global causes turns into another form of self-indulgent consumerism. I have talked to Palestinians who very much want average Americans to know their stories, to realize the daily hardships and humiliations of living under the heel of occupation. But staying informed hardly benefits the Palestinians, or anyone for that matter, in any real way.
While economic development is not the end-all be-all of the conflict, nor will it by itself alleviate Palestinian suffering, the fact of the matter is that Palestinians in the territories face intolerable and morally unacceptale living conditions due in part to the lack of economic oppurtunity under the occupation. I try not to get preachy, but if you care about the well being of those living in poverty or find the Palestinian plight particularly appalling, I strongly urge you to look into LendforPeace.org.
PS. Follow the FLP blog.
An Al Jazeera reporter's summary of today's press conference with Clinton and Israeli Foreign Minister Lieberman:He said, 'fuck off,' and she said, 'you're a liar.'
Several folks around these parts are coming to think that America's stance with respect to the Arab-Israeli conflict might actually start to change under Obama.
16 June 2009
A collection of quotes from a Palestinian A/V tech from Bethlehem working at the Al Jazeera office:
Read more...My view of the whole conflict: just shut up and live. Palestinians and Israelis, we’ve been fighting for fifty years. And for what, for shit.
Yeah, I would support two states. There are a lot of people that would disagree with me, you know, they say we’ve got to take back our land from the river (Jordan) to the sea (Mediterranean). I would be willing to live with Israelis, no problem. I mean, our cultures are so similar. Israelis, they cuss in Arabic, they eat our food – hummus, falafel, whatever – it’s all the same thing.
The conflict just makes the region so weak. I mean, if we could just live together, have two states, the region would be so strong. Like, tourism, if you wanted Arabic culture you could go to the West Bank, go to Bethlehem, if you wanted Western culture you could go to Israel. And then trade, all of it would make the region so strong.
These people, you know, they get like four or five M16s, say they’re a political radical, who are we supposed to listen two? I say just give each leader a sword, let them fight it out over there and then come back and tell us the result. They fight now, but are they thinking about the future? We just want to live normal lives. I come over here, and it’s like a melting pot man, all kinds of different people living together and they’re not fighting. It’s really a great system, a great political system, and people get along. I can send back money to help out whenever some shit happens.
I'll tell you man, being a Palestinian is really hard. Sharon, our like biggest enemy of all people, said himself that being a Palestinian is hard.
15 June 2009
A recap of today's episode of من واشنطن ("From Washington"), as told by an in-studio intern:
- Rather than do any real work before the show, the newsroom literally shut down to watch the Egypt v. Brazil FIFA Confederation Cup match. It was a riveting contest, especially when Egypt scored two goals back-to-back to tie at 3 all. Alas, لإخوان in the office were disappointed when a last-minute and unanswered penalty kick put Brazil up by a goal.
- I busted John Mearsheimer, via video feed from Chicago, falling asleep on camera (but not on air) before his segment. And he knew it, too, laughing with the Chicago cameraman when he woke up.
- I fetched water for the Egyptian human rights activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim. Except I didn't realize who he was until after the segment, otherwise I'd have sucked up big time.
Today's edition featured guests from the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee's annual convention, including the aforementioned Mearsheimer and Ibrahim (whose appearances at the ADC are profiled over at Kabobfest here and here, respectively).
09 June 2009
Quote of the day from the newsroom, in response to George Mitchell describing a Palestinian state neighboring Israel, the "Jewish state":
If Israel is defined as a Jewish state, what about those [Palestinians] inside Israel? They’re either Muslims or Christians, in some cases Druze. They’re not Jewish. It means they’ll have to get the fuck out.Read more...
05 June 2009
Arab commentators respond to Obama's Cairo speech on PBS' "Newshour." Two of my favorites contribute: the Angry Arab and my boss, Abderrahim Foukara, from Al Jazeera Washington.
Read more...03 June 2009
من واشنطن
The District of Columbia sends its warmest regards. I'm currently blogging from the eighth floor of Mitchell Hall at the George Washington University, a scant three blocks from the White House in the heart of Foggy Bottom and my home for the next couple of months.
The NCUSAR program is well underway. The National Council's director, Dr. John Duke Anthony, really broke the human mold. An Arabist in the purest (and most dignified) sense of the term, he's done it all, seen it all, and probably met them all too ("So I said to this room of generals, the junior of which had recently attained the rank of three-star..."). Not to mention he's got a Virginian accent to rival Robert E. Lee, a brow that preaches fire and brimstone, and the quirkiest, most eloquent, most old man bag-o-phrases and rhetorical constructions the likes of William F. Buckley five times over. Dr. Anthony will either present seminars himself or host guest speakers (as well as be an all-around badass) for the NCUSAR interns two nights a week. In addition, we'll have some kind of field trip every Wednesday afternoon. Next week is lunch at the Saudi Royal Embassy. Eat my shorts, captain.
I'm thrilled to report that the office work portion of my internship for the summer will be at the Washington bureau of Al Jazeera -- Arabic, not English (note the link).*
Al Jazeera, in many Americans' minds, is synonymous with terrorist propaganda and anti-Americanism in the Arab world. Though the station was praised in the US after its 1996 founding for giving voice to a whole host of opinions and challenging the lack of regional democracy, that attitude shifted post-9/11 when politicians and commentators focused on Al Jazeera's broadcasting Osama bin Laden's tapes (a new one was released just a few hours ago) and graphic footage from Iraq, Palestine, etc.
This is obviously a gross misunderstanding/over-simplification of the station -- obviously, or I wouldn't be working there -- that prides itself on the slogan "the opinion, and the other opinion." If you're interested more about Al Jazeera's role as really the first independent, pan-Arab news channel, and about its complex relationship to the United States (particularly during the invasion of Iraq), check the following.
The documentary Control Room comes as recommendation number one. The film follows several personalities at the station's Doha headquarters and their interactions with U.S. military liaisons, touching on issues of media bias, Arab public opinion, and the sanitation of televised war (as Al Jazeera English programmer Riz Khan described, "other channels show the missiles being fired; we show them landing"). You can watch it online in its entirety.
Next, listen to "The al-Jazeera Effect" on Open Source with Christopher Lydon. The program poses a great question: "if al-Jazeera is a good measure of how the Arab world talks to itself — about itself and about us — shouldn’t we be listening? Very carefully?" This episode features a few names you might recognize from this blog, including Marc Lynch (Abu Aardvark), As'ad AbuKhalil (the Angry Arab), and Abderrahim Foukara, who happens to be my main contact as Washington bureau chief at the station.
And speaking of Marc, read Voices of the New Arab Public: Iraq, al-Jazeera, and Middle East Politics Today [and for those strapped for time, this interview with Mother Jones]. His blog (linked above) also closely follows trends in the Arab press.
* I should note that Al Jazeera was not my original placement. NCUSAR first had me working at the PLO (yes, Palestinian Liberation Organization) Mission in Washington. However, a new ambassador is arriving this summer with his own staff of Fatah lackeys elbowing me out of a desk. While it would have been revolutionarily cool, Al Jazeera is equally exciting.
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