Gaza

Thank you comrade Mohammad (Abouabdu)

Under the rain

I never believed that human suffering could be measured, or compared. We all live in this disenchated late capitalist world. Many of our fears and sorrows are the same.
The beauty of Mohammad Munir's work is that it combines the existential aspect of human life today: love, occupation, life in the industrial city, suffering through injustice, oppression and so on.
To believe that the Arab world is devoid of human creativity is something that modern Orientalists and colonialists instill in our minds. Look at this piece sung by Munir written by Egyptian poet Abdel Rahman Abnoudi, and how the words are light, but deep and meaningful:

Under the rain, danger walks its way
Under the clouds, burdens kill the smile
And when the sun sets
Some say it is fate, some say it is just your luck
But I say the burdens around us are enough to think about
So much injustice oppression lays, what will that do to us?
And who? Who will forbid our days from lighting our path again
And who? Who will forbid goodness from preventing the ax breaking our fields?
Despite the darkness of the night, strengthen your step on the road
Under the rain and the danger, Under the clouds and the burdens

تحت المطر

تحت المطر الخطر بيمشى فى السكة
تحت الغيوم الهموم بتقتل الضحكة
والشمس اه من الشمس لما تغيب
وقال يقولوا قدر وقال يقولوا نصيب
وانا بقول الهموم حولينا تكفينا
والظلم مهما ظلم هيعمل ايه فينا
ومين مين يمنع النور يرفرف تانى حولينا
ومين مين يمنع الخير يدوس الفاس فى اراضينا
مهما يكون الليل غميق شدّي الخطى على الطريق
تحت المطر والخطر تحت الغيوم والهموم

In a word it is resilience

Banaat (Girls)

This is a beautiful piece by Arab Egytpian poet Kawthar Mustafa:

Banaat (Girls)

In my country, the girls, all the girls

Live with their watches fixed on their hands

And before the locks of the doors are closed

And before the neighboorhood's night befalls

In my country, girls, hurry and disappear

In my country, the girls, all the girls

Dream of lighting up like stars in the sky

Dream of fluttering high like flags in the air

They can insist, they can dream

But, there are times, many times

As the clock tick tocks

It burns some things

It suffocates others as well

This is the situation of girls in my country

All the girls
(It was made into a song and performed by the King MohammadMunir)
فى بلدى البنات كل البنات مليا جيوبها سكر نبات
فى بلدى البنات كل البنات مشيا وظابطة فى ادها السعات
وقبل ما تقفل بيبان البيوت
وقبل ما ينزل ضلام الحرات
فى بلدى البنات بتجرى تراوح
فى بلدى البنات كل البنات
تحلم تضوى زى النجوم
بتحلم ترفرف زى الريات
بتقدر تعاند وتقدر تثور
لكن سعات كتير م السعات
دق السعات بيجرح حاجات
ويخنق حاجات
فى بلدى البنات كل البنات

Dissertation

I am busy writing my dissertation. Unfortunately, in the anthropology MA you are obliged to include "ethnography." Every time I hear that word my heart sinks. It reminds me of Bernard Lewis. Here is a simplified definition of ethnography: dividing people into ethnic groups and writing about them... and who is it that (predominantly) writes? You guessed: blonde hair and blue eyes (political!)
Now, I am writing about consumerism and mass video clips in the Arab world... and the only "ethnography" is that provided on "cattle exchange amongst the Nuer"... no, really. How am I supposed to be inspired? By cattle shit? Anthropology was and CONTINUES to be a colonial field. end of discussion.

Harvard

I dislike prestige and prestigious institutions. Hampshire College adopted BDS after the Gaza 2009, later followed by Sussex in the UK, then by UC, Berkley and University of Michigan, Dearborn (2010). After Harvard sold Israel holdings, AlJazeera decided to speak about BDS and it didn't even invite those in Palestinian civil society who launched the campaign. Then again, Omar Barghouti does not have blue eyes and blonde hair.

Open Letter to Erdogan

We (PSCABI) write an open letter to Erdogan against appointment of Zionist and anti-human rights supporter Alvaro Uribe Velez

Ilan Pappe on Nakba Denial

This is the video link

Al Sammouni: Never to Forgive, Never to Forget

Here are the names of the Sammouni family that were killed by the terrorist state of Israel:
Names of children killed

• Azza Salah Al Samouni, 3 years of age
• Waleed Rashad Al Samouni, 17 years of age
• Ishaq Ibrahim Al Samouni, 14 years of age
• Ismail Ibrahim Al Samouni, 16 years of age
• Rifka Wael Al Samouni, 8 years of age
• Fares Wael Al Samouni, 12 years of age
• Huda Nael Al Samouni, 17 years of age
• Ahmad Atieh Al Samouni, 14 years of age
• Mu’tassim Mohammed Al Samouni, 6 years of age
• Mohammed Hilmi Al Samouni, 5 years of age

Names of Women Killed
• Rahma Mohammed Al Samouni, 50 years of age
• Safa’ Hilmi Al Samouni, 25 years of age
• Maha Mohammed Al Samouni, 22 years of age
• Rabbab Azzat Al Samouni, 32 years of age
• Laila Nabih Al Samouni, 40 years of age
• Rifqa Mohammed Al Samouni, 50 years of age
• Hannan Khamis Al Samouni, 36 years of age

Names of Men Killed
• Tallal Hilmi Al Samouni, 55 years of age
• Attieh Hilmi Al Samouni, 25 years of age
• Rashad Hilmi Al Samouni, 42 years of age
• Tawfiq Rashad Al Samouni, 23 years of age
• Mohammed Ibrahim, 26 years of age
• Ziyad Izzat Al Samouni, 28 years of age
• Nidal Ahmad Al Samouni, 30 years of age
• Hamdi Maher Al Samouni, 23 years of age
• Hamdi Mahmoud Al Samouni, 70 years of age*
There is only one word, bocyott this entity!

* From Lauren Booth's articleAn Open Letter to Israel. I think she shouls have ept it as an articlr and not an open letter... an open letter to israel?

Boycotting and the Left

"Why the left should support the boycott of Israel- A reply to the US Socialist Workers"

An Activist

A few days ago I heard that a colleague of mine converted to Islam for political reasons I'm assuming. She is a well known activist... to me she stopped being one anyway. From Zapatista to religiosity and religious movements... as we say in Palestine: There is nothing left from the left
و راحت ايامك يا جورج حبش و ما بترجع

Chick Corea

Chick Corea plans to play in Israel. We in PSCABI write a letter urging him not to.

Doctors in London

The elderly lady who rents me a room in her house in London, usually plays her radio all night on the news. So, when I wake up in the morning, I have the first updates of... where the traffic is, who's cooking whos potatoes, cheryl cole's something (who is cheryl cole?), and today I woke up with the news update that "top doctors in London believe smoking in front of children is a form of child abuse." This made me wonder about how these doctors would think of smoking White Phosphorous. Hmmmm. think doctors think