Feelings and words

Trying to squeeze

Feelings into words

Is no act of justice at all

It distorts… it disfigures

It belittles… it demeans

It’s a great offence without a doubt

And to my shame and disgrace

Indeed I am to blame

Truly “Guilty” I declare

Defend me not

I don’t deserve



For feelings can only be felt



So, when I write about my love

Don’t ever think

That I’m making sense

No language can ever convey

The eternal

For expression falls short

By far



And feelings can only be felt



When I write about my sorrow

Don’t dare believe

My words or verses

My speech is nothing

But hollow hues

How can the infinite

Ever be defined



Feelings can only be felt

And truly “Guilty” I declare

35 Inspiring Quotes from Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein (March 14, 1879 – April 18, 1955), the famous theoretical physicist, developed the theory of relativity and is considered the father of modern physics. The nuclear physicist Robert Oppenheimer shared his impressions of Einstein by saying, “He was almost wholly without sophistication and wholly without worldliness . . . There was always with him a wonderful purity at once childlike and profoundly stubborn.”

Due to his brilliance Einstein was often called upon to offer opinions on topics beyond the realm of physics; thus the wide range of inspired quotations.

“Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.”

“Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler.”

“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.”

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” –

“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”

“The splitting of the atom has changed everything except for how we think.”

“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”

“A human being is part of a whole called by us the universe.”

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

“If there is any religion would cope with modern scientific needs, it would be Buddhism.”

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”

“A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be. “

“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”

“A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?”

“A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?”

“All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree.”

“Anyone who doesn’t take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either.”

“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex… It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.”

“Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools.”

“Concern for man and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations.”

“Everyone should be respected as an individual, but no one idolized.”

“All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual.”

“Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.”

“He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.”

“I am not only a pacifist but a militant pacifist. I am willing to fight for peace. Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war.”

“I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.”

“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”

“Information is not knowledge.”

“Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.”

“Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.”

“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.”

“Joy in looking and comprehending is nature’s most beautiful gift.”

Upon refusing surgery at the age of 76, he said: “I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share, it is time to go. I will do it elegantly.”

A Simple 6-Part Prescription for Greater Happiness

One of the drawbacks of the internet is the way it exponentially increases the opportunity to compare yourself with others.

Instead of having a relatively small circle of friends, acquaintances, and co-workers, you may literally be exposed to hundreds of new people in any given week.

Have you ever noticed how it can seem like everyone in the blogosphere is so brilliant, leading an epic life, in touch with their true self, bold beyond belief, a fountain of unconditional love, and making loads of money to boot!

Whenever you suddenly feel like you are shrinking in the midst of all these bright lights, it’s time to put on the brakes.

A Simple Prescription for Happiness

Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, M. D. offers this prescription, especially for people who need to ease up on themselves.

No blame.
No fault.
No guilt.
No judgment.
No comparing yourself with other people.
No expectations.

The idea is to methodically apply the prescription to thoughts about ourselves and others.

How?

When you notice one of these thoughts arising, you simply drop it. And repeat. Again and again.

You see the mind is just caught in a bad brain loop. It’s possible to overcome these deceptive brain messages that feed low self-esteem and make us unhappy, but it takes mindfulness – being aware of the thoughts that are arising in your mind – and repetition.

Sure, it can be hard. In the beginning, it may seem impossible. At first, you may just catch and release a few self-defeating thoughts each day. The secret is to celebrate each small success and keep moving forward. Some days it will be tougher than others, but then you’ll have days of exceptional success too.

If you keep with it, these patterns of negative self-talk will gradually diminish.

Just like each drop of water adds up to a great ocean, transforming one thought at a time is the way to create more space for happiness and contentment to fill-up your life.

Reference: From Fatigued to Fantastic, Jacob Teitelbaum, M. D.

CLUES

Religions are illogical

Irrational

There is no room

For mind, reason or commonsense



Talk about God… for example

You can’t see

You can’t smell

You can’t hear

You can’t touch

You can’t taste

You can’t comprehend

You can’t prove



Therefore

God can’t be real

He said



Can you see ultraviolet light?

Can you smell a virus?

Can you hear electromagnetic-waves?

Can you touch the rainbow?

Can you taste the sky?

Can you comprehend infinity?



You can however

Test their effect

They leave clues behind

Hint… hint

I am here

You can reason… use your mind

You can feel… use your heart



So does The Most Gentle

Most Sublime

Fine tuning… supreme order

Perfect laws… astounding beauty

Trails of magic… tales of love



How can I deny?

The question of faith

Having lived in the West for decades, and having witnessed how religion is used, misused and abused by every corrupt, arrogant and greedy, I understand and sympathize with the views of atheists and agnostics who tend to throw the baby with the bath water as a reaction to such malevolent behaviour by some of the so called religious people, institutions or entities.

In my approach and personal experience, I beg to differ with the observed generalization, blame and hostility against religion.

When George Bush claims for example that “God told him to attack Iraq”, and when I read that Jesus said “love thy neighbour as yourself”, unlike the former, the latter resonate in my most inner being as meaningful, Godly, profound, beautiful, and true.

When discussing Belief Systems (including Atheism), one must distinguish between the principles of a given ideology and the practice of those principles by followers or those who claim to be followers.

The ideals and principles are the pure form of a belief system, and the practice is the human interpretation and implementation of those ideals.

The existence of people who try to justify their bad deeds, control or manipulate others by hiding under the banner of religion does not pollute the principles, nor does it change the fact that their deeds are in contradiction with these principles.

Abusers and fanatics of every ideology exist; criminals and those who act evil for their self interest or out of ignorance also exist in every society.

Coming from a different background, with different exposure, understanding and experience with regards to religion and faith-related matters, I certainly have arrived to and hold a different view, which is not as hostile to religion as yours.

Allow me to explain:

Arriving at where we are in our understanding of the world has much to do with our long painstaking quest for answers through our diverse and profound personal experiences, and of course directed and predisposed by our intellectual capabilities, emotional capacities, cultural influences and psychological tendencies.

We all arrive to this world without a choice of our own, and as soon as we open our eyes to the wonders around and within ourselves we are driven to question, and to long for meanings that explain our existence.

Our curiosity is magnified as we grow.
Drawing on my personal experience, this inquisitive curious mind was no different from anyone else, as a little girl I parched and yearned for answers.

I started asking questions and thinking about the world and later on about my very own existence, and about God, at a very young age.

As a toddler I lived in a small village in Palestine, I was fascinated by my surroundings, the trees, birds, flowers, people, but more so the sky, how vast! How beautiful! How perfect!

It was always urging me to look at, at first to admire and then to question. I spent endless hours staring at it day and night.

As I grew a little older my fascination and curiosity grew deeper, I started to look for meanings and explanations, trying to make sense of what’s around me.

“What is all this? … Why is all this? … Who am I? … Do I really exist? … How and why I can comprehend the fact that I exist? …. Why am I here? … Is there a purpose to my life? If there is, what is that purpose?”

Endless questions burned in my little head.

I thought and contemplated for many years, I used to be drawn into this inner world of mine searching for meanings and answers.

The only explanation and conclusion I was ever able to arrive at was always that there must be a mastermind, an intelligent power, a supreme Being, a perfect designer who is greater than I, who is more intelligent than I, and who is more loving than I.
My perception of that Being is what I call “faith”, “spirituality”.

Later, and as I went through certain spiritual experiences I came to feel God in the real sense.

(By the spiritual experience I mean that profound feeling in which you are overwhelmingly moved by the sensation of total awareness and nearness of a Sublime Most Loving Presence that you are ever so grateful for).

As I prayed, an overwhelming, sublime, gentle, subtle, loving, magnificent presence engulfed me.

Words always fail me and fall very short, for I can’t put that feeling in words.

God for me was as real -if not more- than my own reality. So in my own perception God is a certainty; however, that does not give me the right to impose my perception upon others.

Now then, if faith and the concept of God provides a logical explanation to my existence, and if it helps me understand myself and the world around me in a rational manner, if it can give me a sense of fulfilment, contentment and satisfaction, if it enables me to survive adversities of life with minimum trauma and more patience, grace and sanity, if it fills my soul with love, joy, peace and tranquillity, if it makes life more fun, more enjoyable and my experiences more real and intense ; then how and why should I complain or deny?

After all there is nothing to lose and everything to gain. My logic concludes.

As seen from above, and taking me as an example, my embrace of faith was an organic evolvement and a natural outcome to my specific circumstances and life-journey; I did not find faith through indoctrination or manipulation; but rather through genuine inner quest for meanings and thirst for answers.

Through my fascination with this breathtaking beauty that I see all around.

Through my amazement, astonishment, and wonder at my ability to think and use logic and reason.

Through the heart melting awesome feelings that engulfed me as I felt my baby’s hand wrapped around my finger.

Through the superb fabulous sensation as I caress a soft velvety rose and as I fill my being with its sweet scent that leaves me speechless and awe struck.

Through the marvellous, splendid and magnificent sensation of love that captures my soul and overwhelms me with infinite joy and bliss

Having said that, I also found that my faith helps me through my suffering, it enables me to rise above and overcome hardships and adversities

My faith gives me inner strength; I don’t need rely on anything; people, things, or mind-blocking substances to cope with the adversities of life, pain, worries or sorrow.
My faith is my inner strength.

It gives me a sense of purpose, it gives my life a meaning, it gives my mind a sense of direction, it gives my heart endless fulfilment and fills it with boundless love, and it gives my soul overwhelming sensation of joy and delight.

My faith brings to me none but the most pleasant, most amazing feelings of contentment, tranquillity, peace; that life could be raging around me but I am sitting there ever so calm, ever so still, ever so safe, as if sitting in the eye of the storm.

My faith enthuse me with hope, happiness and bliss that nothing, absolutely nothing in this life I’ve ever experienced can be weighed against, measured up to, or compared with those intense wonderful experiences.

It is like trying to describe the feeling of your magnificent love to some one who’s never been in love before.

The feeling of exhilaration of intellectual stimulation, the joy and delight of being in love and feeling loved pale into insignificance compared to the overwhelming enchantment and ecstasy that the soul enjoys in one moment of closeness and inspiration.

Can I ever give it up for anything? Can I ever swap it with the entire material world and all of what’s in it?

Never

Not even if I were to be chopped and diced into pieces or burnt at the stake.

Finally, I consider my choice to have faith as an essential part of my Human Rights and my right to Freedom of Though in as much as I see it anyone’s right not to have faith, as long as neither of us impose his/her belief of others, nor cause others harm through it.

-nahida the Exiled Palestinian-

A letter from the heart of a Muslim woman

A letter from
the heart of a Muslim woman

" to the American people who support Israel and its
wars "

Dear friends



I am writing
this letter to you because of the devastation that is caused by your government
in our lands, and because of the immanent threat to world peace that I see your
government pushing for, again.

The way
things are moving now, I foresee great danger, and terrible risk to peace and
security to the whole world.

I am writing
to you because I care very much about humanity and I love our planet, with all
its inhabitants.

I am writing
to you because I believe in civilised dialogues, where people can express
themselves freely, without being patronized, silenced, ridiculed, imprisoned or
even killed for their beliefs.

I am writing
to you to build bridges not walls, and to take you on a short journey so you
may see things from our perspective.

I am
writing to you for the purpose of advancing more realistic and humanistic
understanding and for trying together to achieve a more tolerant and peaceful
world.

I see
systematic efforts by most of your media pundits, to work endlessly at
dehumanizing Muslims and their faith, and I see that as pre-emptive
justification for more military attacks against more innocent civilians, aiming
at our total destruction.

When a group
of people (Muslims in this case) are seen as intrinsically evil, and when their
faith and beliefs are portrayed as violent, malicious, and aggressive, then,
anything done to those people is acceptable and defensible.

Without
talking to one another, and without trying sincerely to put extra effort to
understand the other, we will all be losers, and we’ll be driving our beautiful
world towards catastrophe and devastation… that breaks my heart, as a mother,
and as a human being.

Is it
too much to ask “to open our hearts and our minds and listen to what the other
has to say” ?

Can we learn
something from little children; where prejudice and bigotry are non-existent ?

Words
in your media are used and manipulated to imply deceptive meanings, so you are
kept in a state of constant fear, watching over your shoulders in panic from
"Islamist monsters bent on invading and destroying you", never mind
how absurd and ridiculous such allegations in reality are.

The
zionist-controlled media has hijacked our language, and vocabulary and
disfigured our religion

They drilled
in people’s heads that:

Islam is
terror

Jihad is holy
war

Fatwa is
death penalty

Muslim women
are the manifestation of oppression, uneducated, forced into wearing the veil,
and enslaved by their men.

Muslim men
are fanatics, cruel, sadistic wife beaters

Muslim
children are terrorists in the making

When a c rime
is committed, the criminal is a criminal, but when a Muslim commits a crime,
even a petty one, he is immediately labelled a "Muslim criminal"
irrespective the fact that his faith opposes such crimes. A Muslim
criminal committing a crime becomes "a Muslim terrorist", and he
committed the crime because he is a Muslim and his faith teaches evil!

If only
Americans could understand that what is published in US medias and blogs, is
not the truth, but as much a lie as when your bankers all told you could borrow
almost limitless and never suffer any economic consequences.

The hard
facts about Islam and Muslims, are different, and the vast majority of Muslims
would not fit to this ugly stereotype.

Islam is
peace: the root of the word Islam is Salam, which is one of the Holy Names of
God. Salam is Arabic for Peace. The meaning of the word Islam is
beautiful as Islam is Arabic for bring into Peace.

The word Salam
is used for greeting others. Saying "as’Salam alaikum" to someone
means "Peace be upon you!"

When a Muslim
greets another person with "Peace be upon you," the greeter is in
fact proclaiming a contract of Peace with the other person. Hence, if the
greeter has non-peaceful intentions towards the other person, he would be
engaging in hypocrisy, which is one of the Major Sins in Islam!

“When a
(courteous) greeting is offered you, meet it with a greeting still more
courteous, or (at least) of equal courtesy. God takes careful account of all
things” Quran (4:86)

Jihad is
an Arabic word that means the endeavour to do your best to make this world a
better one:

Any
effort to help achieve that is called jihad, or struggle, going to school to
learn is a form of jihad, being a mother rearing children is jihad, spreading
knowledge through teaching or writing is jihad, treating patients is jihad,
looking after sick parents is jihad, also defending yourself when attacked is
jihad, and struggling against oppression is jihad.

Any action
that one undertakes in order to bring good to mankind is jihad

Life with all
its ups and downs is a jihad

The highest
form of Jihad, however, is the inner Jihad, which is the Major Jihad that means
the never ending inner struggle against one’s arrogance, greed, and selfishness
in order to achieve the Generous Temperaments.

The Prophet
Muhammad, Peace be upon him, declared "Verily I was sent to this World to
define (and live by) the Generous Temperament."

According to
him, the codes of Generous Temperament (makarem elakhlaq) are seven:

“Pardoning
those who have oppressed you

Giving to
those who have deprived you

Connecting
with those who have shunned you

Benefiting
those who have abused you

Counselling
those who have deceived you

Forgiving
those who have maligned you

Forbearing
with those who have angered you.”

Contrary to
common beliefs, the concept of holy war does NOT exist in Islam; it is a
European concept from the days of the crusaders, and has absolutely no
equivalent in Islam, it does however in the minds of the new crusaders as it seems
from so many video clip we have seen, of your hypocrite politicians and zionist
"evangelists", and in the sick minds of those who invaded our lands
and murdered our people.


To translate the concept of Holy War into Arabic is almost impossible. It would
sound something like “Harb Muqaddassah” which does not exist in Arabic, even
the concept of it is unheard of, never used in spoken or written language, as
it is too contrary to Islamic principles and values !

How
misleading and dishonest is the translation and misconception of jihad as a
holy war then!

By writing
this, all I am doing is reclaiming my language back.

Fatwa is
nothing but an expression of an opinion by an informed person:

Being
what it is, it is not for any one to enforce their “fatwa” / opinion upon
anyone.

There is no
hierarchy system, no priesthood, no church institution, and no clergy in Islam;
and that is something totally misunderstood, and rarely ever mentioned.

Any Muslim is
entitled to make his/ her opinion from their understanding of the Qur’anic
text.

If those
opinions are expressed by some knowledgeable person, they are called “fatwa”.

All this
falsification, distortion, and misrepresentation of Islam (deliberate or not)
if not addressed and sorted out urgently, logically and with open-mindedness
and compassion, then our world is doomed!

Being a
Muslim woman and knowing exactly what Islam teaches, I feel dismayed and
heartbroken at the image that you are made to believe as a true representation
of us and of our faith

Now, if I
come to you and say: “well, no in fact Islam teach this or does not teach that”
would you take my word for it?

Of
course not, so, I “quote” some of the specific teachings in order to
reflect-precisely- the position of Islam, from the most authentic source to
Muslims: the Qur’an.



Democracy and
Freedom of choice:

“No
compulsion in religion or ideology” (2:256).

“Say: O
you that reject Faith! I worship not that which you worship, and you do
not worship that which I worship… To you be your Way, and to me mine”.
(109:1-6)

“We showed
him the Way: whether he be grateful or ungrateful (rests on his will)”. (76:3)

“Let
there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining
what is right, and forbidding what is wrong: They are the ones to attain
felicity”. (3:104)

"And
their affairs are (conducted) through consultation among themselves."
(42:38)

“If any one
does a righteous deed, it ensures to the benefit of his own soul; if he does
evil, it works against (his own soul). In the end will you (all) be brought
back to your Lord”. (45; 15)



Relations
with others:

‘O mankind!
We created you from a single soul, male and female, and made you into nations
and tribes, so that you may come to know one another. Truly, the most honoured
of you in God’s sight is the greatest of you in righteousness. God is
All-Knowing, All-Aware’. (49.13)

“And
among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations
in your languages and your colours: verily in that are Signs for those who
know”.(30-22)



Women’s’
issues



“Whoever
works righteousness, man or woman, and has Faith, verily, to him will We give a
new Life, a life that is good and pure and We will bestow on such their reward
according to the best of their actions”. (16-97)

“The
Believers, men and women, are protectors one of another: they enjoin what is
just, and forbid what is evil: they observe regular prayers, practise regular
charity, and obey God and His Messenger. On them will God pour His mercy: for
God is Exalted in power, Wise”. (9:71)

“If any do
deeds of righteousness, be they male or female – and have faith, they will
enter Heaven, and not the least injustice will be done to them”. (3-124)

“Then shall
anyone who has done an atom’s weight of good, see it! And anyone who has done
an atom’s weight of evil, shall see it”. (99:7-8)

“It is He who
created you from a single soul, and made its mate of like nature, in order that
he might dwell with her (in love)”. (7:189)

“And among
His Signs is this: He created for you mates from among yourselves that ye may
dwell in tranquillity with them, and He plants love and mercy between your
(hearts): verily in that are Signs for those who reflect. 30-21



“For Muslim
men and women, for believing men and women, for devout men and women, for
truthful men and women, for men and women who are patient and constant, for men
and women who humble themselves, for men and women who give in Charity, for men
and women who fast (and deny themselves), for men and women who guard their
chastity, and for men and women who engage much in God’s praise; for them has
God prepared forgiveness and great reward”. (33:35)



War and
peace:

The
general rule is:

Fighting is
only allowed in case of self-defence, against Aggression (odwan) or Persecution
(fitnah).

‘You may
fight in the cause of God against those who fight you, but do not initiate
aggression. God does not love transgressors.’ (2.190)

"O
believers, be you guardians of justice, witness for God. Let not a group’s
hostility to you cause you to deviate from justice; be equitable – that is
nearer to being God-conscious." (5:8)

“To those
against whom war is made, permission is given (to fight back), because they are
wronged; and verily, God is most powerful for their aid; (They are) those who
have been expelled from their homes in defiance of right,-(for no cause) except
that they say, our Lord is God”. (22:39-40)

“God commands
justice, the doing of good, and liberality to kith and kin, and He forbids all
shameful deeds, and injustice and antagonism: He advices you, that ye may be
reminded.” (16-90)

"No soul
shall be made to bear the burden (liability) of another." (35:18)

“But
show them forgiveness, and say "Peace!" and soon shall they know!”
(43; 89)

“The
recompense for an injury is an injury equal thereto (in degree): but if a
person forgives and makes reconciliation, his reward is due from God; for (God)
loveth not those who are wrong-doers”. (42:40)

‘If they seek
peace, then seek you peace. And trust in God for He is the One that heareth and
knoweth all things.’ (8.61)

“But God does
call to the Home of Peace” (10-25)



“Ye who
believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to God, even as against
yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or
poor: for God can best protect both. Follow not the desires (of your hearts),
lest ye swerve, and if ye distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily
God is well-acquainted with all that ye do. Thus, have We made of you a nation
justly balanced, that ye might be witnesses over the nations, and the Messenger
a witness over yourselves” (2-143)

“Show
forgiveness, speak for justice and avoid the ignorant.” (7:199)

“It may well
be that God will bring about love (and friendship) between you and those with
whom you are now at odds.” (60:7)

“Nor can
goodness and evil be equal. Repel evil with what is best: if you do so, he who
is your enemy will become a close friend.” (41.34)

**********************

I am only a
mother, and I am also a person who detests violence, war, weapons, killings…etc

I am sick to
death with war and violence

And I wish
what I have seen and what my people had seen on nobody.

Centuries
of imperialism, and illiteracy followed by the brutal uprooting of a whole
nation from their homeland in order to give it away to people from other parts
of the world just because of their Jewish-ness, and to free the European’s mind
of the guilt of the holocaust (which we –Muslims and Palestinians- had nothing
to do with, but ended up having to pay the price for Europe’s crimes)

Year
after year, decade after decade of injustice towards the Palestinians, accompanied
by unequivocal support from USA and Europe to the Zionist entity, led the
Muslims to resent the hypocritical policies of the Western world.

This blind
support of the Zionists was/ is perceived by Muslims as an act of aggression
and grave injustice.

Yet those
fundamental basic facts are not represented to you, what you led to believe is
that Muslims hate your freedom, your democracy, they are jealous of your way of
life, and they hate peace… what a load of nonsense!!!

Muslims feel oppressed
and persecuted by YOUR government, its unjust policies, its unconditional
support of the terrorist zionist regime and its criminal wars and aggression

They
feel that justice had been denied to them, and that they have been constantly
under attack.

Exposed to so
much injustice and oppression it is only natural that people would have
resentments and would look for ways to liberate themselves from oppression and
modern slavery, which is precisely the case in many Muslim countries nowadays.

And instead
of trying to right the wrongs you’ve done over decades of oppression and
injustice, what do you do?

You go yet
again and attack more Muslim countries; you bomb Afghanistan and Iraq reducing
them to rubble! And go on to threaten Iran with nukes!

You kill over
a million more!

And what is
more ridiculous is that you are doing so whilst claiming that you’re doing it
for the sake of liberating us from our backwardness, ignorance, and our
fanatics…

What
are you thinking? Do you think we are idiots?

We are
sick to death with your interference in our lands, and our countries

We are sick
to death with your domination and your attitude of superiority towards us and
the rest of the world.

We are sick
to death of you trying to impose on us your ways, your thinking, your problems
and your solutions.

Imperialism
has no room in the future of our world, and most certainly, that must include
thought imperialism.

WE WANT TO BE
FREE

We want to be
free in our homelands

We want to be
able to exercise our rights to choose our representatives and our governments

We want our
human rights that enable live peacefully and with dignity with no threat of
bombing or ethnic cleansing

We want our
right to go home and not to live forever as refugees

We want our
right to believe in God or not to believe if we so wish to

We want our
right to be equal human beings with equal value to our lives

We want to be
free to solve the ills of our societies in our own ways not by copy-pasting
your experiences and your solutions.

It’s
not good enough to try to justify the horrors that you’ve inflected and still
inflecting upon us, by dehumanizing us and belittling our faith. Period

Where
to go from there?

Yes indeed,
where to go from there?

Is there a
way out?

As an
optimist, yes of course there is always a way out:

To begin
with, you must start with opening your hearts and minds to see us as equal
human beings, worthy of life, love, and freedom.

Remove
your prejudice against us, and with sincere efforts open dialogues with us, not
to tell us what should we do or how should we think, or whom to elect as our
leaders, but to listen to us as your equals in humanity. A dialogue is a two
way system.

It’s also
good to start educating yourselves a bit more about us, not taking your
information from Hollywood but from us and our authentic sources.

We have
so much to tell you, so much to share, so much good we can offer you and the
world.

And that is
not exaggeration; that is simply the truth. Because we are humans just like
you. We all have so much to offer the world.



May I give
some suggestion towards a solution?

Why not
end your occupation of our lands?

Why not stop
supporting those puppet regime and dictators your successive governments have
forces upon Arabs for the sake of "Nation Building" which is the most
heinous word one can imagine, and why not continuing by accepting our FREELY
elected representatives, whom we chose through democracy ?

Why not
visit and even come and live in Muslim countries without your army uniform, and
without offering your bombs and missiles as gifts?

Why not drop
your arms and come to us with open arms rather than coming carrying machine
guns and riding offensive tanks?

Instead of
pushing like crazy towards Armageddon; why not gently, lovingly, tenderly and
with compassion, why not embrace a world of justice, tolerance and respect, as
Jesus “peace be upon him” would’ve done if he was alive today?

Why not
attentively listen to each other? Why not dream and work for a more peaceful
world built upon diversity and richness of multiplicity, a world where humanity
is celebrated and variety is rejoiced, a world where all are respected, where
all are free to think, to believe, and to live their own way without infringing
on each other, or imposing our ways upon each other?

As of now,
the world already can see that the American dream is a nightmare, your
s-elected and corrupt governments have made your country the most loathed
country, and they have robbed you exactly as they robbed those "Arabs out
there"

If you look
more vigilantly, more attentively, and closer to home, you will find the REAL
terrorist worthy of your alarm and disgust, are the ones amongst your midst,
ruling your country, robbing your resources, thriving on your poverty,
rejoicing your misery.

So why not
transform this mad nightmare and ideologically driven devastation, back into a
dream…. a reality?

Who is there?

Oh
human

Can’t you
see!

I am
precisely like you

I don’t like
being humiliated

I am no one’s
doormat

I’m person in
my own right



When I was
born

I was born
innocent

Happy and
free

And I
want to live

A normal life

With dignity

Wouldn’t you?

I
realise there is a dawn

Waiting to be
born

And that…
after hardship… passes away

Ease will
come to life… very soon

But…
they’ve inflected so much

Pain and
cruelty

Upon this
little girl

And upon her
homeland



The world is
watching

Eyes open
wide

In
bewilderment

And disbelief

“What we are watching

Is a fiction
movie

It’s not
really true”



While in
exile

Puzzled… I
agonize

Wiping tears
off my saddened face

Searching
around

Any one
there?



Looking up…
into sky

Did You hear
my cries?

Did You
witness the crime?



Suddenly

Knock… knock

A gentle tap

Yes,
coming

Who is there?

Hope is here

Smiling at my
heart

Standing by
my door

Less Earning, More Learning

I’d like to share a story, a personal story, a common story, an American story. For nearly two decades, I have carried the burden of a crushing student loan debt, well over six figures and impossible for me to fathom paying off in this lifetime. While I have written before about debt in a more generalized sense — advocating for a “Jubilee” as the ultimate stimulus and a chance for all of us to start anew — I’ve never connected it publicly to my own plight. The reasons are complex, but have to do with fear, fear of vulnerability, fear of judgment. I suspect that many people burdened by debt feel similarly and are often constrained to bear the pressures silently.

My story is relatively straightforward. I attended a private college (majoring in physics and astronomy, which did not yield any obvious career potential for me) and then a private law school. After clerking for a federal judge for a year, I was hired in the fall of 1992 to work at a large corporate law firm in mid-town Manhattan, complete with the accoutrements of privilege and compensation. I seemingly “had it all,” at least on the outside, and any rumblings of discontent — after a lifetime of being a working-class person — seemed somehow ungrateful.

Still, a series of events eventually forced that discontentment to the surface. Working for corporate polluters, white-collar criminals, militaristic multinationals, and the like can have its deleterious effects on one’s psyche, no matter what it pays at the end of the month. I realized in fairly rapid fashion (about ten minutes, actually, even though it took me ten months to extricate myself from the firm) that I could not separate my ethics from my earnings or my morals from my meals. I wanted to work with people, not for (or even against) them, and likewise had a strong desire to try and make the world a better place rather than the worsening one experienced by the vast majority of people.

In the end, the expensive suits and loft apartment couldn’t mask the fact that my soul was sick and my spirit dying. Yes, I could have worked at the high-powered firm for five to seven years (which sounds like a prison sentence, in retrospect) and likely paid off my debts, and then written my own ticket (financially speaking) after that — but the implicit (and carefully concealed) violence I would have done to human and ecological systems in the process simply made the cost too high. Indeed, it is mainly the manner in which our lives are shielded from the true costs of our actions and choices that makes modern society even possible to endure, and it is the steady erosion of this thin veil of constructed ignorance that is beginning to alter the widespread “false consciousness” in ways that are simultaneously horrifying and promising.

One of the experiences that helped prompt me to walk out the door and never look back was the nascent friendship I had randomly struck up with a homeless man on the streets of the city. I didn’t realize it fully at the time, but his impact on me was as great as any person’s in my life, and he’ll likely never know it. The emerging realization of this came to me one day when some colleagues from the firm saw me having lunch with my homeless friend, and afterwards commented to me how nice it was that I was trying to “save” him. I thought about this for a minute, and (in a moment of personal recognition) replied that “he’s actually saving me.”

A few weeks later, I had quit my high-paying job, sold most of my belongings, and had nothing but the unknown road ahead. I spent the next couple of years mostly car-camping, sleeping rough, staying with friends, eating potatoes, bartering, writing bad poetry, making music, getting healthier in my own skin, following signs (literal and figurative), and otherwise chasing rainbows. I also used the time to plant the seeds of the next chapter in my life, which serendipitously emerged in the opportunity to attend graduate school and pursue a doctorate in Justice Studies. While ambivalent about the institutional nature of this move, I realized that it had the potential to allow me to reclaim my core values while still participating more directly in the world at the same time.

The following years found me living on about $10,000 or less annually, riding a bike or skateboard to school, learning about justice in its fullest sense, and becoming an advocate and activist around issues of homelessness and poverty. My dissertation was completed in 2002 and spoke directly to these themes, and in 2008 a revised version appeared as the book Lost in Space. In 2001, I was hired as an instructor at Prescott College to teach Peace Studies, which doubled my salary but still left me at about one-fifth the level I was making in my law firm days. Despite this sense of apparent downward mobility, I realized that I had found a calling.

But then another sort of calling began in earnest: debt collectors calling me, repeatedly, at work and elsewhere. For about a decade I hadn’t earned much more than $20,000 in any given year (and most years far less), but once I was hired as a faculty member (again increasing my salary but still leaving me way down on the scale for someone with two doctorates) the sharks started to sense blood and swarm around me. At first I felt paralyzed with a mix of remorse, shame, and fear, so I did nothing. Soon after, my wages were being garnished, which embarrassed me at my place of employment, and the fuller experience of the stress that comes with the realization of permanent impoverishment and lifelong indebtedness began to emerge. Despite having studied poverty issues and being well-versed in the social psychology attendant to them, I still felt the internalized stigma of societal “failure” at not having “made it” by the usual measures of success.

In 2008, I took a second full-time job (again nearly doubling my salary) as Executive Director of the Peace and Justice Studies Association, driven partly by my life’s work as someone dedicated to the pursuit of peace and justice at all levels, and also partly by the fact that I now had two young children in the mix. At this juncture, I was able to finally work out some sort of agreement with the student loan collectors, lumping everything together to the tune of over $150,000 and making regular monthly payments that push myself and my family to the brink (past it, actually) of being able to make ends meet. But the recognition, in all likelihood, of never being able to get out from under this massive burden still weighs on me every day.

Just recently a reminder of that pervasive vulnerability — the one that comes from a lifetime of being working-class, always one paycheck away from dispossession, and having no savings whatsoever to fall back on — was delivered to my doorstep. Apparently, one relatively small student loan had been somehow omitted from the consolidation process, to the tune of about $5000, and the collection agency began calling random people at my place of employment in an attempt to shame me into calling them back and paying it off. This was quite likely illegal, in that they identified the company they were with to these colleagues, but it had the desired effect of making me feel, again, vulnerable and exposed. Now I have to pay them another $100 per month on top of the already-untenable figure being paid on the larger debt.

Two decades after walking out of a corporate house of mirrors in search of more useful and meaningful horizons, I remain tethered to that choice through years of compound interest, penalties, fees, and such. Yet I am grateful in some ways for that, since it serves to keep my life “real” on many levels and even perhaps ensures that I maintain a reflective process about who I am, what I am doing, and why. Still, it yields a great deal of perpetual stress, constrains my life choices in the world, and impinges upon my capacity to provide for my family. I suppose, at the end of the day, that the corporate masters get their money either way — a pound of flesh or the equivalent in monthly payments. But they did not get my soul, and perhaps that makes all the difference…

I mention all of this here with a mix of fear and hope. While the experiences of my own life serve to inform my writing, I generally strive to keep the personal details and motivations in the background rather than the foreground. But why? In my daily life and activism, I hold firmly to the belief that personal choices are eminently political ones, and vice versa. I try to live simply, consume consciously, treat others how I would be treated, be of service to the world, and in general “walk the talk” as much as possible — so why don’t I feel safe writing about things in those terms? I surmise that the uncomfortable nature of personal vulnerability is also bound up with the collective (and perhaps ultimate) vulnerability of living in a time when the continuation of our human existence hangs in the balance by increasingly delicate threads. To some extent, this palpable sense of vulnerability has been individualized and privatized, much like the debts one accrues in pursuit of an education and the basic desire to be socially useful.

Will telling this tale change the paradigm? Unlikely. But maybe if we all begin to do so — to connect the personal and political, to share the fear rather than bear it alone — maybe things will at least improve enough in our own lives so that we become more empowered and learn to explore the bonds of authentic community in the process. If my personal financial burden is useful even a little bit in that regard, then it is, in the end, one that I must acknowledge as a debt of gratitude.

( by : Randall Amster, J.D., Ph.D., is the Graduate Chair of Humanities at Prescott College. He serves as Executive Director of the Peace & Justice Studies Association and as Contributing Editor for New Clear Vision. Among his recent books are Lost in Space: The Criminalization, Globalization, and Urban Ecology of Homelessness (LFB Scholarly, 2008), and the co-edited volume Building Cultures of Peace: Transdisciplinary Voices of Hope and Action (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009).

Setting the records straight

“We see attacks on Jews who might be involved in the pro Palestinian Movement simply because they are Jews” claims Steve Amsel

This sentence is a huge falsification and obfuscation of truth.

Contrary to what Mr Amsel and his cohorts want people to believe, when we Criticise some Jewish anti-Zionist persons or groups, we do NOT do so “simply because they are Jews“:

We criticise their obfuscation of truth, by acting as filterers of information, attempting to prevent people from learning about issues, vital to understanding the Palestinian catastrophe;

We criticise the hysterical manner in which they react against people who attempt to examine and understand the global and powerful Jewish-Zionist networks and lobby and it’s ramification on Palestine and the Palestinian cause;

We criticise their hypocrisy in the way they frantically accuse people of racism simply because we expose and oppose one of the ugliest forms of racism, while they turn a blind eye to what we came to know as Jewish racism (no motion is presented to PSC to oppose that kind of racism);

We criticise their irrational performance, appointing themselves as “Thought Police” and “Political Commissars”, forbidding people from reading what THEY deem unsuitable, or associating with those who THEY condemn to be excommunicated;

We criticise their primitive and tribal behaviour, insisting to protect the interest of Jewish communities despite the irrefutable fact, these communities are by a good majority supportive of “Israel”;

We criticise their perplexing protecting the future interest of Jewish-Israeli genocidal occupiers, which is no doubt contrary to Palestinian interest;

We criticise their pushy dominance on the solidarity movement, and their insistence to steer it and to define its aims and objectives rather than leaving that mainly to Palestinians on whose behalf was the campaign created;

We criticise their irritating arrogance by insisting to impose their definition of words and concepts (like anti-Semitism and Holocaust-denier) leaving no room for other intellectuals to put their case or views;

We criticise their detrimental and harmful agenda, (divergent from the Palestinian agenda) on the Palestinian movement and on the shaping of the future of Palestine;

The fact remains that many of those whom they accuse of “anti-Semitism” are themselves either have Jewish ancestry like Richard Falk, John J. Mearsheimer, Gilad Atzmon, Paul Eisen, Jonathan Azaziah, OR Semites themselves like: Samir Abed-Rabbo, Ramzy Baroud, Nahida Izaat, Sammi Ibrahim, and sameh Habib.

So, to come whining and shouting “anti-Semites”, “anti-Semites” whenever confronted with truthful, sincere and scrupulous criticism is not only childish and wasteful, but –and time will tell, is also counterproductive if not destructive, and will only yield more trivialization of the word they have misused and abused so much, namely “anti-Semitism”.

For us who engage in that type of intellectual criticism, the fact that those -whose agenda and actions we criticise, are Jewish is irrelevant, it is absolutely not the issue, they could be of any racial or religious background. What we criticise is THEIR POLITICS and THEIR AGENDA which we redeem more geared to further the interests of Jewish “Israelis” and organizations and communities supporting them, rather than Palestinians, hence it is harmful to Palestine.

The fact that THEY are Jews or define themselves as Jews is extraneous, except in the detail that they USE this reality as a pretext to attack and defame activists and intellectuals who disagree with them and who dare to criticise their agenda. They USE this to excommunicate activists and intellectuals who care deeply about Palestine and whose prime objective is the LIBERATION of Palestine, and whose main concern is the protection of interest of the long-oppressed Palestinians.

So, Mr. Amsel, (yourself an occupier and part of a system that bans me and millions like myself from returning back home, and yourself ban me from even commenting on your blog) would you please get your facts right; we do NOT criticise some of the Jewish supporters “simply because they are Jews“, this is a big dishonest and misleading lie, which only mirrors the ADL and Alan Dershowitz type of lies .

Are you a “Certified Cuckoo”?

In the land of the insane, it is of no use to have a brain !

Like the ideological, authoritarian, cemented narrative of the Holocaust, 911 has become an ideology revealed by the establishment. You are forbidden to discuss, read about, question, or investigate except through the parameters defined by them, on their terms and as laid down by their think-tanks.

Failing to conform would grant you the “lunacy” title, you become a “conspiracy theorist”, a “certified cuckoo” living in “LaLa-land”.

Complying with this, the “Thought Police” of some “Friends of Palestine” demanded the removal of any information, links or even mention of 911 from the group’s website.

Having your “best interest” at heart, they want you to stop looking at “controversial topic”, to stop asking questions, and to overlook any inconsistencies or contradiction… In their eyes “Earth is Flat, and it is “anti-Semitic” to question that, pure and simple.

You see, it’s all for your own good; limiting your capacity to use your brain, will save you much valuable time and effort. Reducing your ability to think, will remove the burden of hard work from you. They will do all the work on your behalf, what more do you want?

“If it’s my head you are relying on….
but if it’s my head you relying on,
you gotta realise
you got to save yourself…. save yourself, YEH!“
Robert Wyatt