A Statement for the Palestinian Protest in Haifa in Solidarity with Syria

@Budour48 has kindly shared her statement made for the Haifa protest today in solidarity with Syria. I'm privileged to share this from my blog:

دعما للثورة السوريّة ولاجئي مخيّم اليرموك
مظاهرة الخميس 19\7، 19:00، دوار البهائيين، حيفا
 
"من الشام لفلسطين، شعب واحد مش شعبين!"
"واحد واحد واحد، فلسطيني وسوري واحد!"
دوت هذه الهتافات في سماء مخيّم اليرموك في دمشق أثناء جنازة رمزيّة
مهيبة شيّع فيها لاجئو اليرموك 11 شهيدًا قتلوا برصاص قوّات النظام
السوريّ يوم الجمعة الموافق 13.7.
ولمن المفارقة أنّ النظام الّذي لطالما تشدّق بممانعته واستخدم القضيّة
الفلسطينيّة كشمّاعة لتبرير سحق الشعب السوريّ، لم يتورّع عن إطلاق
النّار على متظاهرين فلسطينيّين سلميّين خرجوا للتضامن مع القرى والمدن
السوريّة المنكوبة وللمطالبة بالحرّيّة والكرامة لهم ولأخواتهم وإخوانهم
السوريّين.
وليست تصريحات الناطق بلسان وزارة الخارجيّة للسوريّة، جهاد مقدسي، أن
الفلسطينيّين في سوريا هم ضيوف وعليهم الرحيل في حال "إساءتهم التصرّف"
إلّا دليلا واحدًا على ازدراء أبواق الأنظمة العربيّة المستبدّة
للفلسطينيّين.
لم يكن الهجوم على المتظاهرين في اليرموك أوّل مرّة يستهدف فيها النظام
السوريّ الفلسطينيّين في سوريا. فكيف ننسى قصفه بالسفن الحربيّة لمخيّم
الرمل في اللاذقيّة صيف العام الماضي واستهدافه مخيّم اللاجئين في درعا
قبل أسابيع قليلة واعتقالاته التعسّفيّة للناشطات والناشطين الفلسطينيّين
إمّا لمعارضتهم النظام وإمّا لمشاركتهم في إغاثة النازحات والنازحين.
وإنّنا إذ نعلن عن دعمنا للشعب السوريّ وللاجئات واللاجئين الفلسطينيّين
فإنّنا نؤكّد أن آلة النظام القمعيّة لا تميّز بين سوريّ وفلسطينيّ أو
بين عربيّة وكرديّة أو بين مزارعٍ وصحافيّ.
ولأنّ الوقوف على الحياد في ظل الظلم والاضطهاد هو تواطؤ مع الجلّاد،
سنرفع أصواتنا في حيفا المحتلّة دعمًا للثورة السوريّة المجيدة وحقّ
الشعب السوريّ بتقرير مصيره دون تدخّل أجنبي ومطالبةً بالحرّيّة لجميع
المعتقلات والمعتقلين السياسيّين وتأكيدًا على وقوفنا مع فلسطينيّات
وفلسطينيّي سوريا وتشبّثنا بحقّهم بالعودة إلى فلسطين وتأييدًا لجميع
الانتفاضات ضد الطغيان من سوريا إلى البحرين ومن القطيف إلى السّودان.
 
يوم الخميس 19.7.2012 في تمام الساعة 19:00 عند دوار البهائيين، حيفا
صرخةً واحدة ضد الأنظمة القمعية!
 
فلسطينيون لأجل ثورة سوريا

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Divisions amongst 1948 Palestinians over Syria

"It can seem strange sometimes. People who used to be known for their opposition to the “dictatorial” regime before the uprising now support it against “the conspiracy” and “the conspirators” targeting Syria. How did this happen? Is it truly about conspiracy or dislike of those who are opposing the regime? And how can the regime’s opponents so readily be labelled “agents”? Agents of whom?"

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The Gilad Shalit Deal - Something Stinks

I don't believe that Gilad Shalit has only now, after five years, been released simply because of the so-called Arab spring and because of improved relations between Egypt and Hamas. I think that Shalit has been released because Hamas are unhappy with Mahmoud Abbas' attempt to push for UN recognition of a Palestinian state, and this is an attempt to boost Hamas' popularity and relevance. Israel, similarly unhappy with Abbas, isn't really troubled with the release of over a thousand Palestinians held in its prisons, especially when it can round them all back within 48 hours if it so wished.

Am I expected to believe that Shalit, after spending five years as a captive in Gaza, is now to be released simply because of some 'breakthrough' in negotiations? And so soon after Abbas tried to get a Palestinian state recognised? Perhaps we can compare this to the Syrian regime's allowing a 'spontaneous' demonstration on the borders with the Golan Heights to cross the dividing line at the same time that Syria is facing unprecedented wide spread revolt against Assad's rule. Like Assad, Meshaal can announce from Damascus that the deal is a massive 'victory' for the Palestinian people, and that they have obtained most of their demands. We are then supposed to accept that this is all just a happy coincidence.

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The flotilla incident has boosted Sheikh Raid Salah's profile considerably. Last night al Jazeera had a documentary about him and interviews with his family. They all seemed wonderful, but it is not surprising to hear now that Israel might have been targeting him in the confusion. Men like him quickly become targets because they are effective and charismatic. I haven't read anything by him so I don't know how sophisticated his thought is, but he seems a genuine and honest man.

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Very interesting programme on al Jazeera about the burning down of the original Aqsa mosque after the occupation of Jerusalem by the Israelis in 1967.

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"Murder on the High Seas"

Following on from last night's post I have to say I was surprised at the number of deaths in the flotilla. Last night I wrote that If you are strong you don't need to worry about what people think about you. The killing of about 20 people yesterday conveyed a number of important messages.

Firstly it is that Israel is sovereign and international outcry is not a factor in its decision making when it comes to this sovereignty. There is a message to the Turks, you are not Europeans, you will be tolerated only so far. There is a message to the Europeans, we don't care what you think and then there is a message to Americans activists, what are you doing you idiots, your government is our ally and will never change. The second part of the message is that the Gaza siege is staying Nobody can help you and if they do we will crush them. That's it. I think Israel is moderately satisfied with the result, though they would probably have found it much more useful if this happened in broad daylight as the message would have been clearer.

It's quite sad that last night Idealism lost her virginity and not in the way she would have liked. Still, this will be an enormous propaganda coup for Syria, Hezbullah, Hamas and Iran. It puts enormous pressure on Israel's Arab allies and it introduces officially a new factor in the Middle East equation, Turkey. After much flirting it seems the role of Turkey is now increasing, and not just from a negotiations point of view. Turkey is strengthening its ties considerably with Syria and Iran on both a political and economic level. Unless there is a military coup there, or a change of government, then that situation is unlikely to change.

So the sad death of these people has not been entirely in vain. It does serve as a useful reminder to activists that this is a serious business. Twittering, blogging and wearing rubber bracelets with the Palestinian flag are nice in San Francisco or London but bullets don't see these things. There is a different world with different rules. Think of it like the difference between watching polar bears on a Coca-Cola advert and being face to face with one. It's not so cute when your life is on the line.

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Realpolitik and breaking the Gaza siege

I think it is admirable that anybody is trying to break the unjust siege of Gaza but for a nation that shamelessly killed thousands of people in Lebanon and Gaza in front of the whole world, I don't expect they will be too worried about stopping the flotilla. I think the day Israel starts to worry about what international public opinion says of it is the day that they have lost the war completely. That is a fact. If you are strong you don't need to worry about what people think about you.

In fact in the Middle East industry (yes - it is a living for many people on both sides of the divide), most people miss that point. Mao Zedong put it aptly, power flows out of the barrel of a gun and no one understands this better than the Zionist. Not that there is anything wrong with that logic. It is almost like a mathematical rule, in fact it is a necessity for anybody keen on surviving to understand the nature of power and how it flows like a stream through rocks and pathways, concentrating in little pools here and there. In that sense, when the student of politics examines the statements, political positions and public expressions of the Zionist government or military, you find expressions of strength and sovereignty in every nuance. It is something on which there is no compromise.

Machiavelli was demonised forever when he tried to sum up what a prince would need to do in order to acquire and then maintain his power. It was not about morality or right and wrong. The morality of nations is different from individual morality. To confuse the two risks injustice on a massive scale. Incontinent people, always ready to miss an opportunity at knowledge, refuse this equation foolishly. As the Arabic saying goes, الفرد في يد المنيح يدبح"the gun in the hands of a good man kills". What that means is that a weapon, in the hands of a self-styled good man, will kill because of his eagerness to do good. Good and evil have different meanings when it comes to the morality of nations and this requires individuals of a particular kind of stomach.

When one looks at the opposing camp, the majority of Arab nations lack this in their dialogue and that is because the majority have decided that they would rather become protectorates. Where you do find the same non-compromising, sovereign and power-conscious discourse is in the speeches, nuances and every detail that emanate from Iran, Hezbullah and Syria.

In this way you begin to identify the two opposing poles around which power is being concentrated. An alliance of Muslim and Arab countries on the one hand, and the Zionist state on the other. The key though is always to be able to recognise power. How is it expressed? Where is it located and what are its limits? Everything else is secondary whether it is culture, tolerance or 'freedom'.

To conclude, if your analysis of the Middle East lacks this nuance then it is flawed. Discussions of peace, tolerance and co-existence are irrelevant. Once the reins of power are assumed there is not a nation in history that has ever given them up willingly. The Cold War ended only with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Rome destroyed Carthage. Sparta defeated Athens. Nazi Germany and Japan were crushed to a pulp. This is a zero-sum game, it is neither tragic nor triumphant to recognise this fact. In the same way that you know two male lions will continue to fight until one of them is dominant, or two stags will continue to clash until only one of them wins the mate, so too the struggle for the Middle East.

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Al Zaytouna Theatre Group - Going on Friday night

Tomorrow I'll be taking a break from the business of exam revision to see a show by the amazing dabkeh group al Zaytounah, this will be my third show and if it is anything like the previous two then I expect it to be excellent. If you can, do try and come. Tickets are still available from their website.


Al Zaytouna is proud to present a new full-length production entitled Between the Fleeting Words, directed by Ahmed Masoud. The production fuses traditional dabke, contemporary dance, poetry, music and digital media.

The show is a unique tribute to the work of the late great Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, celebrating his poetry and the musical interpretations of his work, and using his words to tell the story of Palestine through the experiences of its people.

The show also commemorates the 62nd anniversary of the Nakba and explores themes of identity, struggle, loss and resistance.

Renowned Palestinian musician, singer & Oud master Nizar Al-Issa will be joining to play some of his distinguished traditional Middle Eastern music.

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From Fairouz to Nizar Qabbani to al Barghouti

رد نزار على فيروز ومن ثم رد البرغوثي على نزار

غـنت فيروز لفلسـطين:
الآنَ، الآنَ وليس غداً
أجراسُ العـودة فلتـُقـرَعْ...

فرد عليها نزار قباني:
غنت فيروز مُغـرّدة ً
وجميع الناس لها تسمع ْ
"الآنَ، الآنَ وليس غداً
أجراس العَـودة فلتـُقـرَع ْ"
مِن أينَ العـودة فـيروزٌ
والعـودة ُ تحتاجُ لمدفع ْ
والمدفعُ يلزمُه كـفٌّ
والكـفّ يحتاجُ لإصبع ْ
والإصبعُ مُلتـذ ٌ لاهٍ
في دِبر الشعب له مَرتع ْ؟!
عـفواً فـيروزُ ومعـذرة ً
أجراسُ العَـودة لن تـُقـرع ْ
خازوقٌ دُقَّ بأسـفـلنا
من شَرَم الشيخ إلى سَعسَع ْ.

ومنَ الجـولان إلى يافا
ومن الناقورةِ إلى أزرَعْ
خازوقٌ دُقَّ بأسـفلِنا
خازوقٌ دُقَّ ولن يَطلعْ.

أما البرغوثي فيقول من وحي العدوان على غزة ورداً على نزار:

عـفواً فيروزٌ ونزارٌ
فالحالُ الآنَ هو الأفظعْ
إنْ كانَ زمانكما بَشِـعٌ
فزمانُ زعامتنا أبشَعْ
من حُسْـني القـَيْءِ إلى جَعجَعْ
أوغادٌ تلهـو بأمَّـتِـنا
وبلحم الأطفالِ الرّضـَّعْ
تـُصغي لأوامر أمريكا
ولغير "إهودٍ" لا تركعْ
زُلـمٌ قد باعـوا كرامتهم
وفِراشُ الذلِّ لهم مَخدعْ

عفواً فيروزٌ ونزارٌ
فالحالُ الآنَ هو الأفظعْ
كـُنا بالأمس لنا وَطنٌ
أجراسُ العَـوْدِ له تـُقـرَعْ
ما عادَ الآنَ لنا جَرَسٌ
في الأرض، ولا حتى إصبعْ
إسـفينٌ دُقَّ بعـَوْرتـنا
من هَرَم الجيزَةْ إلى سَعسَعْ
فالآنَ، الآنَ لنا وطنٌ
يُصارعُ آخِرُهُ المَطـلعْ

عـفواً فيروزٌ ونزارٌ
أجراسُ العـَودةِ لن تـُقـرَعْ
مِن أينَ العـودة، إخـوتـنا
والعـودة تحتاجُ لإصبَعْ
والإصبعُ يحتاجُ لكـفٍّ
والكـفُّ يحتاجُ لأذرُعْ
والأذرُعُ يَلزمُها جسمٌ
والجسمُ يلزمُهُ مَوقِـعْ
والمَوقِعُ يحتاجُ لشعـْبٍ
والشعـبُ يحتاجُ لمَدفعْ
والمدفعُ في دِبر رجالٍ
في المتعة غارقة ٌ ترتـَعْ
والشعبُ الأعزلُ مِسكينٌ
مِن أينَ سيأتيكَ بمَدفع ْ؟!

عفواً فيروزٌ... سـَيّدتي
نـِزارٌ قـال مقـَولـتهُ
أكلـِّم نزاراً... فليسمع ْ:
إنْ كانَ زمانكَ مَهـزلةٌ
فهَوانُ اليومَ هـو الأفظع ْ
خازوقـُكَ أصبحَ مَجلسُنا
"يُخـَوْزقـنا" وله نـَركع ْ
خازوقـُكَ يشرب من دمنا
باللحم يَغوص، ولا يَشبَع ْ
خازوقـُكَ صغيرٌ لا يكفي
للعُـرْبِ وللعالم أجمَـع ْ!

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I am Yousef and this is my brother

This evening I went to watch the play "I am Yousef and this is my brother" performed at the Young Vic in Southwark by "Shibr Hur". It was nice but I think I was in a restless mood and probably didn't give the show all the attention it deserved. The co-star of "yousef" was the lead actor in the film Paradise Now, as were a number of the cast. One thing which annoyed me, not that I needed it, was that the subtitling which was being projected above was sloppy and people who didn't speak Arabic wouldn't have fully understood all that was happening. I enjoyed some of the subtleties in the plot and there were some quite emotional scenes especially near the end.I also thought there was a bit too much water splashing around on stage and wasn't really sure what effect it had, apart from creating a mess. Overall these guys made a good effort with the limited resources they had and they deserved the applause for all their hard work.

Afterwards, we met with the director, screenwriter and actors in a small private function room. They are all from the Arabs of '48 and mostly from Galilee if I wasn't mistaken, they seemed to be nice people. In a quirky way, I still find it a novelty when I meet Arabs who actually live in the Israeli state, it is like they are from another planet, which they might as well be, cut off from even each other within occupied Palestine. I hope they come back to London next year.

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Israel/Palestine: Aspects of a Prolonged Occupation

This lecture in international law caught my attention, I'm going to try to leave my Tort lecture early on the day and attended this. Hosted by the UCL Faculty of Laws & the British Branch of the International Law Association. It was promising that they use the word "occupation". If I make it there I will post my thoughts on it when I get back.

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The body of Dalal Moughrabi (age 20) being stripped by Ehud Barak in 1978.

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Egypt back on centre stage?

The steel wall Egypt is erecting on its border with Gaza has given Egypt a whiff of the former importance it once held in the Arab world. Seen as a puppet of the United States, Egypt has, since the signing of the peace deal, moved when the United States has ordered it to, spoken when the United States has ordered it to, and remained silent when ordered to do so. As a result, the role of Egypt has been usurped by countries such as Syria and even Saudi Arabia. But the erection of the steel wall has given Mubarak's regime a leverage that it has long been missing. Iran might be a little concerned about the wall, and Larijani's visit to Cairo last Sunday may be taken as a sign of this worry. Khaled Mishaal in turn has also gone to Tehran, most likely to discuss how Hamas is to deal with Fatah and Egypt during the upcoming negotiations that we will be hearing of.

Where to from here? Iran will allow Egypt a "prominent" role in the Hamas-Fatah negotations, as a broker. A little bone is thrown to Mubarak before he dies and Egypt repays some of the political debt that it has accumulated.

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Israeli settlement building and the pied piper of Washington

While the Palestinian house is in disarray over conspiracy theories, Israel continues to push through its settlement building aggressively. In times like this, it is appropriate for us remember the treachery of that pauper Anwar al Sadat and the damage that he and his dwarf followers have inflicted on the Arab world. Prior to 1973, the Israelis would have kissed the shoes of any Arab leader to at least consider having direct talks with them, today, it is the other way around. In order to even be graced with an Israeli negotiators presence, concessions must be made to the Zionist state. Obama is apparently deeply unpopular in Israel, so it was not surprising that a boost in settlement building took place after he took office. In this way, the world sees Israel as sticking its middle finger to the new magician in the White House, whilst giving it an extra bargaining chip, more concessions to freeze the settlements, meaning that before anybody has even discussed preconditions for meeting, the Israelis have already gained whilst the Arabs lose. So is somebody going to tell us who killed Arafat?

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I mean seriously, whether or not Abu Ammar was poisoned or not - does that really matter? Muhammad Dahlan and Abu Mazen are guilty of far more serious crimes to which they must answer to, treason for a start.

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The Nakbah - 61 years on

I cannot believe it has been a year since I posted about the anniversary of the Nakba. In the space of one short year many things change, our hopes are raised and then dashed countless times. Hours merge into days, months, years. Whether it has been 3 months or 61 years since your world was shattered, what difference can it make when you cannot escape the all pervasive sorrow of the now? Angrily chasing a lost life in a maze of lies?

I'm too tired to analyse, to berate, to discuss. The dark difficult road to Palestine is lit by beautiful and vicious looking orange flowers, spurting brightly from the muzzle of a Kalashnikov...that is the only way. All other roads lead to death.

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Rest in peace Abu Jihad

On this day Khalil al Wazir fell under a hail of bullets as an Israeli death squad attacked his home in Tunis. The Zionist state mistakenly believed that by killing him they would kill the Palestinian Intifada but, more than twenty years later, the Palestinian people are still resisting.

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"The only Israeli that wanted to be pushed into the sea was saved by a Palestinian. How sad!"

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Poverty in Philosophy - another look at Sari Nusseibeh

I've just finished reading two lectures made by Sari Nusseibeh at Harvard University last November. They are labelled "Philosophical Reflections on the Israeli-Palestinian War". I don't think I've ever had any respect for Sari or his thoughts, not since first discovering his writings a few years ago. Here we have a man from one of the oldest Arab families of Jerusalem, supposedly highly educated, yet who can be easily overtaken in terms of 'enlightenment' by the humblest fruit or vegetable seller in downtown Cairo or Basra. I have no time to write a detailed criticism of what he is saying in these two lectures, but to summarise he breaks down the "Israeli/Palestinian" conflict into something which can be broken out of if people are courageous enough to break out of some rigid identity that is imposed internally and externally, and come up with clever solutions to this "problem". He takes us through many hoops, citing both Hannah Arendt and Isaiah Berlin, through conceptions of freedom, what it means to be an "actor" and the relationship of intellect, will and action. The aim for any of Sari's "actors" is to be a fox, cunning enough to grasp reality and then to desire, pursue and put in place, alternative futures which are far from inevitable. All he is really saying is, if we were all just somebody else then everything will be fine and we can end conflict, end war. Thank you, but I thought that with a Phd from Harvard you could come up with something a little bit better than this vapish argument.

One thing which is prominent throughout Sari's article is the distinct lack of any context in any shape or form to his arguments, something he himself sometimes criticises people of in those very same lectures. Throughout the article he assumes the mantle of an impartial commentator to events, actors and the world around him, amazingly, he manages to internalise the naive and childlike idiocy of Americans and Europeans who bring their International Relations and Diplomacy 101 workshops and theories over to Africa and Asia to teach people how to live. His example of the Russian invasion against Georgia is only coherent for somebody who relies on CNN or perhaps the BBC for all their analysis of what is happening.

With regards to the problems of the Middle East, not once does he consider that perhaps colonialism, the mandates and the occupation of Palestine by marauding, racist and murdering Europeans could perhaps be a source of grievance. Apparently he believes he surprises people by claiming that the Israel/Palestine conflict could be ended if Mahmoud Abbas and Ehud Olmert locked themselves alone in a room. He neglects to consider that it is not Mahmoud Abbas who speaks for the Palestinian cause - a man most Palestinians would prefer to see hanging from the gallows. The person in that room should be the Palestinian farmer who has seen his land taken over and his trees uprooted by a Jewish settler from Brooklyn, New York. Or perhaps the woman who has had five of her ten children murdered by Israeli soldiers whose parents or grandparents came from Eastern or Western Europe. Only one man will leave the room in that scenario and this is the fact that Sari ignores by manipulating his argument to the conclusion that he wants rather than the one it should be. In the plush offices and lecture rooms of Harvard, a pillar of the American intellectual and political establishment, Sari conveniently forgets the truth staring Palestinians in the face every day since 1948 - they are facing a war of extermination.

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From one of the worldwide protests in support of Gaza:

"To their royal highnesses, tfoo!"

Whilst throwing shoes at someone is particularly offensive in the Arab world, Western intellectuals and experts have yet to realise just how offensive spitting on someone can be as well. I think somebody should write a book about this bizarre cultural phenomenon...

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