Cinnamon Zone: Politics

Do you know who is Abdullah Al-Barghouthi?

Monday, October 20, 2008

Today as I was listening to the radio on my way to work, I switched to Hayat FM and they were dedicating that morning to the subject of the Jordanians prisoners in the Israeli jails, since today, 20/10, is the Jordanian prisoners solidarity day, as it was chosen two years ago by the Jordanian prisoners in Israeli jails themselves.

On the phone was the mother of Abduallah Al-Barghouthi, who has what was described by the host as "the longest jail sentence is in the history of humanit". Well, that is not so hard to believe when you know that he has 67 life sentences. I wonder what human being could possible live to serve that time.

There were other calls with the wife of Palestinian prisoner. She's Jordanian and therefore she's denied the right to visit her husband in jail. Neither the Jordanian nor the Palestinian authorities seem to be of any help, each side saying that she should seek the help of the other. There was also another call with an ex-prisoner who said that those who are still prisoners in the Israeli jails are better than us, because they are living their struggle day by day, while we are living out our daily routine life unaware of what happens in there.

Those were sad yet eye-opening facts. To think of all the Jordanian, Palestinian and Arab prisoners in the Israeli jails, and to realize how most people have little idea about that, and then to look at what the Israelis have done and still doing for Gilad Shalit, demanding his return and making him perhaps the most famous prisoner in the history of the conflict, to think about that you find that there must be something wrong. Those people deserve more attention and their case must be brought to light more often, not only on this day, but everyday. For the time being, the 20^th of October remains a reminder of those people who were willing to sacrifice their lives and their freedom to serve their just cause.

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Drama & Terrorism

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Few years ago, when the issue of terroris in the Arab world began to surface, and there was desperate shouts to seperate between Islam and terrorism, and how the extremists do not represent Islam int heir acts...

The Arabic media, as usual, was there trying to make a contribution to the process of spreading this awareness, and since then we've been having that fad, meaning the Arabic TV series that deal with the issue of terrorism from different angles, but, frankly, I don't know if that was a good idea.

You know those programmes try to represent the terrorist mindset to the public. they show them in the typical way: a beard, the dishdash, the frown, etc. And then they start preeching and justifying the terrorist acts as "Jihad", and you know the rest.

As an Arab and a Muslim, I know that this is wrong and stuff, and that it's inconsistent with the teachin of Islam, and that the way those terrorist onterpret Qur'an as to justify their acts is wrong and misleading. But, the problem is: Not everyone who watches those programmes knows that.

You might argue that it's obvious and everyone should know it by default. The thing is, the picture they give is so negative that it can really bug the crap out of you, and one should have a very solid faith to shake off the images that might permeat your subconscious... Do you know that these series are being translated into English? I've been working on them for a while now, I haven't seen those episoes on TV, but as I translated them I was like: Okay, non-Arabs and non-Muslims are supposed to see this??

The thing is: If you want to do something about terrorism, then do it in the right way. I personally think that our media is not mature enough to tackle such a sensitive subject. When you make a TV series you have to bear in mind that everyone will watch it, from different ages and mentalities. You can't just make up scenes and throw it on them... It has to be extra-detailed and elaborate. When you show the wrong, you have to immediatly expalin why it is wrong and what the right thing is. Those new series are si confusing... Have some compassion for people's brains!

I have to say that not all of those series are equally bad or confusing, I think that Al-hour al3een for example was way better than the latest series, this can really get on your nerves...

I just hope that this will fade away shortly and we focus on more fruitful ways to spread awareness agaisnt terrorism

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Middle East for dummies

Friday, August 11, 2006

The Middle East for dummies
Anon

August 7, 2006

-- Here are the rules to keep in mind when watching television news in the evening or reading the morning newspaper. Observing them closely will simplify things considerably.

Rule 1: In the Middle East, it is always the Arabs who attack and the Israelis who defend themselves. This is called reprisal.

Rule 2: Arabs, Palestinians or Lebanese do not have the right to kill civilians of the other side. That would be terrorism.

Rule 3: Israel has the right to kill Arab civilians. This is called legitimate defense.

Rule 4: When Israel kills too many civilians, Western powers urge restraint. This is called the response of the international community.

Rule 5: The Palestinians and Lebanese do not have the right to capture Israeli soldiers, even if their number is very small and does not exceed three.

Rule 6: Israelis have the right to kidnap as many Palestinians as they wish (around 10,000 prisoners to date of which some 300 are children). There is no limit whatsoever and Israel is under no obligation to provide any proof of guilt of the kidnapped persons. It only suffices to pronounce the magic word "terrorist." Lately this included members of the Palestinian Administration cabinet ministers, and members of parliament.

Rule 7: When mentioning "Hizbullah," one must always add the words "supported by Syria and Iran."

Rule 8: When mentioning "Israel," one should never add "supported by the United States, France and Europe;" otherwise people would think the conflict unequal.

Rule 9: Never speak of "Occupied Territories," UN Resolutions, violations of International Law or Geneva Conventions. This could disturb and confuse TV News viewers.

Rule 10: The Israelis speak better English than Arabs. This is why they and their supporters are allowed to speak as frequently as possible. This way they could explain to us the foregoing Rules 1 to 9. This is called journalistic neutrality.

Rule 11: If you are not in agreement with the above rules or you think they favor one party over the other, it is because you are a dangerous anti-Semitic, anti-democracy, and anti-freedom.

Source: http://metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060807-025355-5179r