...Lebanon...

Watching all the stuff going on in Lebanon really leaves me feeling helpless. I'm at a loss at what to do, but i want to do something! Anything but sit and watch little children die while trembling in shelters. At the moment, the most i can do is pass on the stories...


Information and Links

• Reuters Alertnet
• BBC
• Aljazeera

Pro-Lebanon Campaigns

• Not in Our Name
• Lebanese Business Council launches 'Support Lebanon' campaign
• 'With You Lebanon' Campaign Generates Donations Worth AED 50 million

How To Help

• Send the leb.org Flier
• Donate to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
• Facing the Challenge with the American University of Beirut

Riyadh's American Embassy

The other day my family had to stop by the American embassy in Riyadh for some passport stuff. Being there gave me the weirdest sensation because i felt that here was the meeting of the two ends of the spectrum: America and Saudi Arabia. The two countries that love to hate and can't live with or without each other. I was, physically and metaphorically, smack dab in the middle of that spectrum, with each pole trying to pull me over to its end.

I ended up writing in my journal while waiting for my mom in the car. I thought it might make an interesting read, so here goes nothing:

We’re entering the American Embassy in Riyadh.
For a moment, as we neared the armored cars and checkpoints and soldiers with machine guns, I felt my pulse quicken. It was like a scene in those movies where the happy family is casually talking about the day’s plans and suddenly getting blown to
smithereens. It was a weird feeling, because I consider myself a rational person, and I don’t get randomly scared. But I held my breath as the guard let us through, and the moment passed.
We had to park far from the embassy and Mama had to walk there. On top of that, the road to the embassy wasn’t marked. We had to ask around once we got inside the complex it was located in.
Baba said the American embassy in Jeddah closed down after the attack two years ago.
And so we sit here in the car and wait.

Austria Quicky From Saudi

I'm on my grandpa's dial-up connection at the moment, so i've gotta make this quick. I was sending an email to a friend just now, but it could also kinda qualify for a post about some of my impressions of Austria, so here it is!

at the moment, i'm in saudi arabia. i got here yesterday after a week-long vacation in vienna. it was a very nice experience. i haven't seen an open countryside in ages. (i can't remember the last time i saw even a stretch of farmland. there wasn't anything like that in LA.) so when i boarded a train that took us across austria, i was spellbound. velvet green hills that went on for miles, cotton candy clouds, and a blue sky you could swear was painted on a canvas. the occasional red roofed houses were a delight. they looked like they came straight out of a fairytale with their rainbow colors and big, bright windows. i was in some sort of writer's heaven on that train, gushing out sticky-sweet, emotional descriptions of everything i saw and chugging out snippets of poetry. i "literally" got drunk on the scenery. haha! (let's pretend that was funny...) as you can tell, i'm still a bit hung over from it.

vienna's cobblestoned streets and gothic buildings worked a different kind of magic on me. here, i saw the affect of limitless human potential. vienna is a beautiful city. although it's really touristy, it's managed to keep its original charm and not turn into a mutant plastic metropolis. and i might be seeing more of it than i originally expected. why? it hosts the third largest UN center, after New York and Geneva. and i'm planning to somehow incorporate the UN in my career later on in the future. hey, working for all this humanitarian, good stuff has its perks after all!

Good for me! I managed to write up a post on vacation! But don't get your expectations up too high.. This might just be a fluke. And i'd better get off before people who may be trying to call the house think we're all dead or something. I've forgotten how annoying dial-up is!

Checking In (And Out)

I’m baaaaaaaack!

From Vienna, that is. I’ve been vacationing for over a week, relaxing… you know, all that good stuff. I’m only back in the UAE for one day. Tomorrow, it’s straight to Saudi Arabia for a, you guessed it, family reunion!

The only annoying thing is that i have to pack all my stuff in one day. And help clean the house. And buy last minute presents. And recharge cameras and iPods and all other forms of electrical equipment people take on vacations with them. And finish reading my book to start the next one. And reorganize my closet. And send out the poems i’ve been working on for the last month to the Atlantic Monthly. (Yes, you did read that last sentence correctly.)

So that’s that. I dunno how often i’ll be able to update my blog from now till I get back from Saudi. That is, if i’m able to update it at all. So let’s just say i’m on leave until the 18th of August. I’ll try to post some things up though. But if i don’t, don’t kill me!

Oh, before i forget! Some people were giving me shit for traveling at a time like this. You know, with the whole “war” going on between Lebanon and Israel. Well, if you build your whole life around a cause, and spend all year working for it, regardless of the amount of media attention it gets, you deserve a break once in a while. That way, you can recharge your energy and come back to work even harder.

Even during this “break”, you keep expanding your horizons by learning about other people and cultures so you can form better relations with them and get a blueprint for improving your own society. And on top of all that, you take this as an opportunity to be a sort of “ambassador” for your society, showing the rest of the world that no, not all Muslims or people of Middle Eastern descent are women abusers and suicide bombers.

You see, it’s all about how you approach the idea of a “vacation”. Just because someone thinks long term doesn’t mean they’re ignoring what’s going on this second. We’re working on getting this thing at its root, not randomly hacking off evergrowing branches at the whim of media attention.

So till next time, whenever and wherever that happens to be.

Supergirls

A quick note on the superheroine issue. When Abdelrahman Mohamed gave his covered character, Jana, telekinetic powers, he said is was because "she couldn't run around, jumping and fighting is she was wearing an abaya". Well, look at all the long-caped or mysterious hooded characters in comics. They're covered and they seem to do just fine. Not to mention manga's kimono-clad heroes and villains. And just because a girl is covered doesn't mean she has to wear an abaya. I mean, i'm always going out in jeans and still adhering to the hijabi code of modesty. And look at all those female athletes in Iran. Politics aside, those Iranian girls just wear baggy pants with a long shirt and dive into the game. Hijab doesn't stop them from doing that.

Mohamed is trying to connect to all of his audience, as his creation of Jana shows. And that's great. But not all girls are forced to wear the scarf, Mohamed. In his interview, he divided the girls in today's society into two groups: those "who come from open-minded families who don't have to cover up, who go out and have fun", and those who come from conservative families and "have to cover up and don't do the same things as the other girls". That's a bit too black and white. Lots of girls who are hijabis come from open-minded families. They themselves choose to wear the scarf. (And yes, they still have fun.) There are plenty of instances in which the mother in a certain family is not a hijabi, but the daughter is. Or two sisters from the same family (even twins), one wearing the scarf and the other not. So it really is a matter of choice. Or at least, that's the way it should be. There are girls out there, especially in the Gulf, that are forced to cover, and that's a pity. So thanks is due to Mohamed for addressing their issue.

Oh, one last thing. Mohamed said that he wanted to inspire hijabi girls, so that they could think, "Although I am in the abaya and the shaila, in my mind I can be a superheroine". That's sweet man, but.. "in my mind"? I'm planning to be a lot of things, and not just in my mind. And so are thousands of other hijabi girls. Let's not forget to keep that in mind.

More Than Just Comics

Okay, so Abdelrahman Mohamed's comic, "The Petronians", seems pretty interesting. Innovative even, at first glance. And in many ways, it is. The only thing that's been bothering me about it is that it lacks... originality.

I know, i know, that paragraph totally contradicts itself and the enthusiasm in my last post. I still am enthusiastic about this comic, but... how can i explain this?

Okay, you know when you see a reproduction of a famous painting? Let's take the Mona Lisa as an example here. You still enjoy it and admire it. But the fact that it's a reproduction, a copy of someone else's work, makes it loose some of its value. (Or, in the case of the Mona Lisa, a lot of its value.) Let's say the artist painted a picture of a different woman, like the "Angelina" or something. It would be a different picture, but if he did it with the same talent that Leonardo did his work, it would become a classic in its own right. Both paintings would be a picture of a woman, but each one would be valued for its own reasons.

With this example in mind, wouldn't it be interesting to see something completely different come out of "the UAE's first homegrown superheros"? I mean, do all comics have to rest on the prototypes of Superman and the Fantastic Four? Take Japan as an example: they've got their whole manga thing going on. Manga is, when it boils down to it, a form of what Americans call "the comic book". But at the same time, it's very unique from the traditional American comic. Manga has its own styles, rules, forms, and customs. That's what makes it special. Its originality gives it appeal. And manga, being a Japanese form, is the best medium to present Japanese culture. The same goes for American comics. Since they're created by American minds, they best transmit American culture.

Every artist knows that the detail of each brush stroke, sentence, and note makes a huge impact on a piece of art. What is art, after all, other than an accumulation of details brought into one "entity"? Art lives when created properly. Sentimental, but true. It speaks for its creator, its environment, its circumstances, its culture. Do Arabs need that today or what? Imagine, an Arab form of the comic book to explicitly capture Arab culture. No need to try to squeeze in bits that don't fit or cut loose ends.

"But they're just comics, for heaven's sake!"

Yeah, but look what manga did for Japan. It's a whole industry! Money and national pride. What more could a country want?

And plus, this is just an example of a greater idea, or principle. It's the tip of a philosophical iceberg. I could go on and on... but i'll probably end up making myself dizzy. So enough for now. There's plenty of time to come.

Dubai - The New Gotham?

Over the past year, i've been reading interesting little tidbits about a new comic that's soon to hit the streets. Today's issue of EmiratesToday has finally shed some light on this innovative project.

"The Petronians", created by Abdelrahman Mohamed, are your average UAE residents. They are highschool and university students, busy with studies, friends, and family. But after realizing that they've been biologically modified by a rare form of petroleum, they come together to fight the baddies of the comic, "The Revolutionaries". And this all takes place in "Pearl City" - an alias of Dubai 10 years from now. By that time, all of the projects in the city (like Burj Dubai and the Palm Islands) will have been completed, making it the perfect backdrop for the comic. Interesting, no?

In creating his comic, 21 year old Mohamed was faced with the "problem" of creating heroines that would appeal to all factions of his audience. He first created what he called a "new age" Emirati girl, who wore a tank top instead of the traditional black abaya. In response to feedback from his more conservative audience, he created Jana, a covered Saudi superheroine with telekinetic powers. Doing so allows both sides of his female audience to relate to the comic.

There's more to the whole superheroine issue. Actually, to this whole topic! But i'm too tired to get into that tonight. I'll keep that for the next post. Can't wait to see how this little experiment is gonna turn out.

Saudi Arabia - Waiting for the Kickoff

Saudi Arabia has an inferiority complex. The football team, that is.

After yesterday's embarrassing defeat of 0-4 by Ukraine, it became blindingly clear that the Saudi team just isn't ready for the World Cup. The Saudis manage to play beautifully amongst their Arab and Asian "brethren". But the moment they step out of Asian borders, things just tend to go wrong. Yes, i know, it has to do with experience and talent and all that stuff, but i'm not a sports fanatic, and this is no sport blog. This blog tends to deal more with culture. Something the Saudis seem to have a problem with.

Unlike (for example) their Korean and Japanese counterparts, the Saudis have a rather low level of confidence in themselves when they're outside of their comfort zone. The Koreans and Japanese are proud of their culture and comfortable with their identity. They know who they are, and therefore what they can become. The Saudis, on the other hand, are a bit confused when it comes to cultural identity. Their country is now gradually opening up to the world, and so their values and defining cultural traits are undergoing significant changes. This shifting cultural identity doesn't make the greatest of foundations, but despite its negative aspects, it's part of what all developing nations have to go through.

On top of all that, East Asian culture is more accepted and respected in the West, partly due to the fact that it's more assimilated into Western culture. Saudi Arabian culture (and Arab culture in general) doesn't exactly have that big of a fan base in the international arena. And it's quite obvious what a lack of acceptance and respect (no matter how subtle) can do to a person, much less a nation.

No wonder the Saudi team sucks when they leave Asia. Out there, they're playing with the big boys, which would be wonderful if they didn't feel like they were no more than the big boys' squirmy little brother. Lack of confidence can work wonders.

No, Saudi Arabia won't do well in the World Cup until they figure out just who they are and where they stand in the world. And no international team or fan base will give them the acceptance and respect they're looking for until they're confident enough to win it. (The respect, not the Cup... but hey, i guess if you dream, dream big.) Perhaps some of the changes that'll happen over the next four years'll be big enough to change the "rankings" in not just the world, but also in football.

Lol, small wonder people love this game. It's connected to everything. Freakishly so.

Random Bit of News

Today, i've thrown together a mini-smorgasbord of a post for you guys to check out. Bon appétit!

• Finished reading "Cloud Atlas". Now that was a good read. All about human nature and what civilization can lead us to. Yummy. Now, (as you can see from my "Current Literary Escapade" section in the sidebar) i'm reading Gabriel García Márquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude". I've had my eye on that book for a while. We'll see how it goes.
  
  
• From the BBC: "Palestinian views on travel curbs"
  This here's an article on how Israeli travel restrictions affect the daily lives of Palestinians, particularly in the West bank. Its always interesting to see how large scale politics affect the average joe on the street. Plus, after finally getting my driver's license last week (woohoo!), i can empathize with their complaints (not woohoo).
  
  
• Notyoursoldier.org
  Watch those American kids as they take a stand against military recruiters for the war in Iraq. And some Arabs call America the devil. Pshshshshsh! Lets see how far we can get the average Arab youth away from their "Superstar" shows, let alone start a movement of some social/political worth, before we judge, eh?

My Origins

After my last post, i thought it would be appropriate to mention where i myself am from. After checking around online, i realized that people think that i'm Arab; a slight misconception. This post here is to clear things up.

Since my background is a bit complicated, i've developed two answers to the "origin question". The short version is, plainly: I'm American/Circassian/Syrian. (In no particular order here other than alphabetical.) The long version, is... Well, you might wanna get comfy. This may make an interesting read, especially for history-lovers like me.

Here in Dubai, my mom is what we call a "mix". Her father (my grandpa) is from a little village in Syria, and her mother (my grandma) is a white American (of European descent). They met while my grandpa was studying in the U.S., got married, then moved to Syria, where my mom was born. Since she grew up in Syria, my mom identifies a lot more with Syrian culture, and considers herself Syrian.

My dad is a different story. He's from a rather fascinating people known as the "Circassians" in the West. They're from the Caucasus region in what is now south-western Russia, and the name they give themselves is Adyghe. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Circassians began migrating from their homeland into various parts of the world due to war and persecution by the Russians. With a return to Russia a difficult and unlikely route, much of the Circassian diaspora remains scattered all over the world. My father is from the Circassians of Syria. Culturally, he is more Arab than Circassian, having lived amongst Arabs all his life.

Now, about little old me? I was born in, of all places, Saudi Arabia. After a few years there, i was whisked off to America and the American dream. After a brief spell in Chicago, i finally landed in Los Angeles, the place i now consider my childhood home. There, i became an American, legally and culturally. Those years in LA bound me to America in more ways than most people know.

So now, after years of my parents' hoping and planning, i'm back in the Arab World. The good ol' UAE, to be exact. Around the world in 18 years, eh? I guess all this moving around is what created my love for culture, language, history, and travel. If i follow family tradition, i wonder where my kids are gonna end up? China? Venezuela? You never know. It is, to quote a famous Disneyland ride, "a small world after all".

Obsessing Over Origin

In Arabville (as my friend's American grandparents call the Middle East) nearly every conversation between newly acquainted people starts with "Where are you from?” Arabs take lots of pride in their cultural and familial background, and discussing these issues is a given, especially amongst themselves.

This might look like a weird obsession to an outsider, but to Arabs, it's as natural as eating cheese is to the French. The reason for this is that the Arab World is spread out over a nice little stretch of land, spanning Western Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, and North Africa. Naturally, the distinctness of "Arab" culture varies throughout the region; each area has its unique traditional dress, cuisine, music, and dialect (let alone political, social, and economic systems). So you see, Arabs have a lot to discuss when it comes to their origins.

To add to this already extensive list of variables, there is the whole issue of living outside the Arab World. What are you exactly when you come from Morocco but have a British passport? You've lived in Britain all your life, and only step foot inside your "home country" during two or three month-long vacations at most. The British would (legally, at least) consider you British. Arabs would immediately classify you as Arab, regardless of how well immersed you are in Arab language or culture. Actually, Arabs get offended if someone clearly of Arab heritage claims to be of any other nationality. "What, we're not good enough for you?" is the general reaction that seems to generate.

An example: At a wedding yesterday (my friends' older sister's) my friends and i were in the elevator with the bride's (Arab) hairdressers. Of course, we were asked where we were from. Although we had all lived in "the West" and had Western nationalities, we replied with straightforward, Arab answers. All except one girl, who said she was from New Zealand. The hairdressers looked at her strangely.

"You don't look like you're from there..."

"Yeah, my parents are from Jordan, but i was born and brought up in New Zealand."

"Oh, so you're Jordanian. How can you be from New Zealand if your parents are from Jordan?" They looked at her, eyebrows raised, before leaving the elevator.

A bit of an unpleasant situation for most Arab kids. On one hand, they don't want to reject the country that gave them sanctuary, an education, and a way of life. On the other, they don't want to betray the culture they've been brought up to think of as "home". Where exactly do we, as both Arabs and Westerners, draw the line?

Or should we even be drawing a line? Maybe blurring the line holds the answer? Having straddled both worlds, we can't be just Arab or Western. We'd be incomplete if we adopted only one culture. Perhaps it's about time that we created our own culture: a mixture of the best of both worlds.

This new culture can be what today's international community really needs. A bridge between East and West, a vantage point all can relate to, a platform for civilizational dialog and understanding.

Hey, not too bad an idea. I'm all for it. Anyone wanna come along for the ride?

Starting Summer

After a week of post-exam relaxation, i'm back to work on my writing. I started dabbling with some poetry a couple days ago, and it's about time i put a fresh post up here. So, for my first "Summer Post"... Here goes nothing!

I know this happened a while ago, but i have to put up the results for the priest-imam friendly match. This picture was posted online, with the following excerpt from Reuters:

"Protestant pastor Roland Herpich (R) and imam Taha hold a trophy after a soccer match to promote friendship and understanding of the religions in Berlin May 6, 2006. A team of Christian priests thrashed a group of imams 12-1 to win Germany's first soccer cup between religious leaders on Saturday, but it was all hugs and smiles after the match to promote tolerance."

According to this article, the players, along with the 100 or so spectators, said "they just wanted to get to know their neighbours without emotionally-charged debates about religious issues or international conflict". Rabbi Walter Rothschild summarized the crowd's outlook on the event, saying that it was "very different, very refreshing and just a very normal way of spending a day".

I mean, how much more normal can a day in which there was were "plenty of goals, unholy swearing and a jersey swap" be for such a religiously and culturally diverse event?

It's things like this that'll end up bringing people of all backgrounds together. Good thing this game is going to become an annual event! So for now, good game priests! And imams, better luck next year!

Be Original

Isn't it funny how the fashion industry is founded on conformity, but always tries to convince people otherwise? People (especially "the youth") constantly talk about freedom, individuality, creativity, and independence, but the basis of the fashion industry completely goes against these values. It's all about following the herd! Talk about double standards.

I found this particular masterpiece (a Levi's ad), while walking through Deira City Center. In the original ad i saw, the words "Be Original" were pasted next to the model. After googling it at home, i discovered that this new advertising campaign is all the rage in both the real and cyber worlds. Sigh.

I mean, for heavens sake, they're telling us all to buy the same pair of jeans to "Be Original"! And we're buying it! Literally.

Football Zealots

Berlin is going to host what i think will be one of the most amusing soccer matches of the year. According to Times Online, Muslim imams and Christian priests will be going head to head in a pre-World Cup friendly match. And the referee will be, you guessed it, a Jewish rabbi.

The match is supposed to be part of a British-sponsored workshop on racism in football. Sounds good to me! But get this, the game should be this Saturday (today i believe), but things are a bit confused because it'll end up clashing with the Jewish Sabbath.

“It’s been difficult to find a rabbi who will referee on the Sabbath,” sighs the
Rev Christopher Jage-Bowler, “but we are trusting in God.”

LOL! Ah, how i laughed when i read that line. You gotta love religion.

On a side note, something i read in that article i linked to above was a bit off. In trying to figure out a day for the game, Friday was ruled out because it was the Muslims' "day of prayer". Very considerate of the officials to think of that, but umm, contradictory to what some Muslims may mistakenly believe, there's no Sabbath-like concept in Islam.

Our "day of prayer" is every day. The only time Muslims have to close down businesses is during the Friday prayer itself, which is usually around an hour long. Any work or play can be done before or after it.

So yeah, just wanted to clear that up. Can't wait for the game! It should be starting sometime now, because of the time difference between the UAE and Germany. I'm rooting for the imams. What'll they be called, The Crescents? The Turbans? The Bushy Beards? Hey, ya never know!

Blogs - Antidepressants?

I came on here to rant and rave about my not-so-nice day. My brother (who i'm normally very close to) ditched me for his friends, the friend i called up to take his place is insanely late, i was driving around for 2 hours in the blinding sun with my driving instructor without sunglasses, i had to single-handedly do battle with a legion of ants that attacked our kitchen, i'm starting to get stressed about finals (which start in a week), and... ugh. It just hasn't been my day. I think i'm PMSing.

But anyhoo, i came online to check out my blog, and would you look at that! I got a bunch of comments on my posts! Well, "a bunch" being more than i usually get.. like 1. So of course, i immediately went to check them out, then i went to their authors' blogs (if they had any). It's nice to see that people are actually interested in your writing. And the people you "meet" through blogging can be pretty fascinating. Its funny to think that just transferring my thoughts to the internet can be so rewarding.

So yeah, this was a real pick-me-up. I'm gonna be pretty busy starting next week though, cuz of finals and stuff. (22 more days till summer!) I'll try to keep posting, but if i lag a bit behind like i did this week, you'll know why. Pray for me!

Oh, and chew on this bit of food for thought till my next post.

"The Right to Cover" Petition To The United Nations

Any thoughts? Leave a comment.

The Danish Follow Through

Seems that i missed out on the action a couple of weeks back. A hijabi Danish woman of Palestinian origin has become the presenter of a Danish show. The woman, Asmaa Abdol-Hamid, spoke to IslamOnline about her experience.

Ha, the "evil" Danish people allowed a hijabi on their TV sets! Interesting way to follow up the Muhammad Cartoon Controversy. And for those of you who may stress on the fact that Islam "is not recognized by the [Danish] state unlike Christianity and Judaism", no, i'm not saying they're saints. But this shows the political controversy and the wide range of social attitudes that Western countries tend to deal with.

So you go, Asmaa! We're rooting for you all the way.

Cameras vs. Guns: War Today

I saw this picture at the Palestinian section of AUS's Global Day last weekend. It left me breathless. I couldn't resist the impulse to whip out my camera and snap a photo.

How many of us can challenge Death like that for the sake of showing people the Truth? Would i be able to do that? Would you?

Endless thanks and prayers for those who can, and are.

Hijabism

Wearing a scarf is one of the biggest choices a Muslim girl can make. For some, the choice to do so or not is expected, for others, the choice is extremely difficult. But regardless of the difficulty of the situation, the resulting choice marks a girl in nearly all aspects of her life.

Personally, i wear the scarf (called hijab in Arabic). Thankfully, i was never pressured by my family to wear one or not. It was my own choice. And like many other hijabis (the Anglicized name for girls who wear hijab), i've had moments when i loved it and moments when i wanted to do nothing short of rip it off of my head. So why haven't these girls and i, especially those of us who weren't pressured into it, gone ahead and done so? In short, the answer is this: Because we believe in hijab and what it stands for.

Hijab is the Muslim woman's show of modesty. There are many different ways of wearing it and different beliefs as to how much skin a woman should cover, but the general idea is the same. Covering up your hair and your body in public. I don't wanna get too into specifics here, so for details, click here.

"But oh my god, don't you get hot in that?"

The number of times a hijabi gets that question is uncountable. The physical aspect of wearing the hijab isn't too hard. It's more the social aspect that can get...uncomfortable, so to speak. And the thing is, it's not the hijab's fault, it's the people's! There's a general trend in Arab society that separates the hijabis from other, non-hijabi girls. I call it 'Hijabism'.

Hijabis are usually thought to be less outgoing, less creative, less modern; and more passive, more submissive, more traditional. And this is Arab society, not 'the West'. Hijabis are underrepresented in all forms of Arab media, from movies to TV to radio. The ratio of hijabis in the media to the number of hijabis in the Arab world is very small.

The other day, my friend made a remark that really summed up what i'm trying to say. "The 'popular' girls here ignore hijabis like the plague." And what's funny is that back in 'the West', it's not like that. Who you hang out with isn't dictated by whether or not there's an extra piece of cloth on your head.

Lemme give you a little scenario i took part in to give you a better understanding of what i'm saying:

At AUS's Global Day, there was a Syrian traditional dance going on, called a 'dabkeh'. I jumped in, grabbing the hand of a poufy-haired, makeup-y girl. Now, i don't have anything against girls with that description - when they're nice. But this one totally tried to ignore me. She was barely holding my hand, practically ruining the dabkeh, and then halfway through, she ran to the other side of the dabkeh where some other poufy-haired, makeup-y girls were.

Now, why exactly did she do this? Because i wasn't as poufy-haired and makeup-y as she was. I promise you, if i'd been wearing a miniskirt and full on makeup and had my hair done, she would've stayed next to me. But no, being a hijabi is just not cool enough. Actually, being anything short of a sex toy is not cool enough.

Now that that's said, i have to turn around and say that the situation isn't always like that. Most non-hijabi girls are as sweet as can be; one of my closest friends isn't hijabi. But we've gotta recognize this issue, this 'hijabism' in Arab society. If we want to be recognized in the West, then we've gotta be recognized in our own countries first.

It's Going Around

I've been sick. I caught some virus that my brother had for a while. But alhamdulillah (praise be to God), i'm better now. But speaking of viruses...

"Chain blogs" (is that even what they're called?) are spreading faster than any illess i've seen at work. And i've caught the bug! (Courtesy of Mathew.)

So, here goes nothing:

Four jobs that I’ve had:
- Student
- Journalist
- Poet
- Class President (...does that count?)Four movies that I could watch over and over:-
- The Last Samurai
- Crash
- Lord of the Rings (okay, i'd have to have at least a month's break between each veiwing.. that trilogy is LONG!!)
- Syriana

Four places I’ve lived in:-
- Jeddah, KSA
- Chicago
- Los Angeles
- Sharjah, UAE

Four TV shows that I like:-
- Prisonbreak
- Alias
- Layali Alsal7iyeh (Syrian show set in the early 1900s)
- Naruto
- Honey and Clover (Yes, i added an extra one.. i couldn't not put it on!)

Four places where I’ve vacationed:-
- Istanbul, Turkey
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- Sedona, Arizona (The Grand Canyon!)

Four of my favorite dishes:-
- The Blondie @ Applebees
- Tuna Melt
- Ships & Pasta (this little contraption has neither ships nor pasta, it's a Circassian dish. "ships" is the name of this porridge-like stuff, and the "pasta" is sticky, rice stuff.)
- Halava (another Circassian dish. basically it's triangular shaped pastries stuffed with potatoes or cheese.)

Four sites that I visit daily:-
- Yahoo! Mail
- Saudi Jeans
- iToot
- Mugglenet

Four Books that I’ve read lately:-
- "A Fine Balance" by Rohinton Mistry
- "A Fortune-Teller Told Me" by Tiziano Terzani
- "French Women Don't Get Fat" by Mireille Guiliano
- "The Ode Less Travelled" by Stephen Fry

Four Bloggers that I’m going to tag with this:
- Farrukh
- A&M
(don't know four, heehee)


Alrighty then. That's all for now. I have to catch up on the two math lessons i missed this week. Wish me luck.

Land Day

Yesterday i attended an event at the American University of Sharjah commemorating the Palestinian "Land Day". Having lived in America most of my life, i'd never heard of this so-called Day, so out of curiosity i went to AUS with a bunch of Palestinian friends to see what it was all about.

The hall was packed when we entered; the buzz of chatter pulsed in the room as people waited for the next speaker to come up. Due to the huge turn out, we ended up sitting on the stairs. I was all attention, ready to take in whatever would materialize on the stage below. A white-robed man came onstage, and the noise level in the room dwindled to a hush. The man began speaking (in Arabic) about the Palestinian people, and how they are stranded in the world, alienated by even their fellow Arab countries. In true Arab style, there was lots of whistling and applause from the audience after every few sentences. The same scenario was repeated with each new speaker that came up.

Basically, what i understood about Land Day is summarized in the following paragraph:

Land Day, known as ‘Youm al-Ard’ in Arabic, commemorates the bloody killing of six Palestinians in the Galilee on March 30, 1976 by Israeli troops during peaceful protests over the confiscation of Palestinian lands. It has since become a painful reminder of Israeli injustice and oppression against the Palestinian people, and a day for demonstration linking all Palestinians in their struggle against occupation, self determination and national liberation. (1)

Let me tell you something, the whole "linking all Palestinians" part of that definition is true, to put it lightly. Arabs are generally very nationalistic, but in nationalism, Palestinians can beat all the other Arab countries combined. After the speakers finished, a folklore musical group comprised of the university's Palestinian Cultural Club sang and danced us through the next hour. And that's when the people started really getting crazy. In a good sense though. There was clapping and chanting and jumping in the hall, especially from the shabab (young men). Everyone was genuinely having a good time. By the end of the event, we were exhausted, but ready to keep going if the band started up again.

Land Day was a very interesting experience for me. Although i'm not Palestinian, my Arabness gives me just as much of a right to love that plot of land. Arabs everywhere cry for and dream of Palestine. After all, the "nations" we've adopted are just lines drawn by imperialistic hands a few decades back.

Despite the general success of the event, there's a comment that i heard someone say that disturbed me. My friend's friend came up to us while the band onstage was singing, asking when we'd arrived. We replied that we came a bit late, just before the singing and dancing. The girl laughed, saying, "Oh that's good. Better than sitting through all those speeches."

And we all agreed.

Hmmmm... that's not too good of a sign for the upcoming generation of Arabs. Lets hope it's just a phase that we'll get over soon.

(1) Miftah.org Fact Sheets; http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=3410&CategoryId=4