Promoting Peace: West Bank Story

West Bank Story is a musical comedy about David, an Israeli soldier, and Fatima, a Palestinian fast food cashier - an unlikely couple who fall in love amidst the animosity of their families' dueling falafel stands in the West Bank.

Tensions mount when the Kosher King's new pastry machine juts onto Hummus Hut property. The Palestinians ruin the machine and the Israelis respond by building a wall between the two eating establishments.

The couple professes their love for each other, triggering a chain of events that destroys both restaurants and forces all to find common ground in an effort to rebuild, planting a seed of hope. Source.

Here are few words said by the co-writer and the director of the movie Ari Sandel:

Why did you make the film?

I wanted to accomplish three things with the movie:
1. I wanted to make a film that would get attention and also make people laugh.
2. I wanted to make a movie that was pro-peace and offered a message of hope.
3. I wanted to address the situation in an even-handed and balanced way so that Jewish and Arab audiences would feel fairly represented enough to let their guard down and laugh WITH the characters from the “other side”. I thought, if we can make a movie that Israelis will watch and like the Arab characters and that Arabs will watch and like the Israeli characters then that will be something valuable.

What is your background? Are you from the Middle East?

I was born in the United States and am the son of an Israeli father and an American mother. I studied Islam, Judaism, and the History of the Middle East in college and have traveled the Middle East extensively having been to Israel (almost every year), Palestine, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, and Dubai. I currently have family that live throughout Israel. Source

Watch Trailer

Free Syrian Prisoners of Conscience

As a Syrian citizen, I call to free all the Syrian prisoners of conscience; the professors, lawyers, writers, activists and students.

As a step to show my solidarity with the brave Syrian citizens who were selfless enough to worry greatly about the development of Syrian and less about their personal safety, I publish a letter published originally by a Syrian blogger named Fares.

Though I have to say that I disagree with the letter's argument on terrorism and its linkage to "poor" countries only, that is no reason whatsoever but to support, enhance and speak up for the prisoners' misery and their legal right for freedom.

Free Syrian prisoners of conscience.

From the Prisoners of Conscience in Damascus Central Prison Al Adra
April 29th, 2007

We are prisoners of conscience and opinion in Damascus Central Prison, lawyer Anwar Al Bunni, writer Michel Kilo, Dr. Kamal Labwani, activists Mahmoud Issa, and Faek Al Mir, and Professor Aref Dalila who could not be reached as he spends his sixth year in solitary confinement. After the sentencing of lawyer Anwar Al Bunni on 24 April 2007, we would like to say thank you and greet our families, friends, and all the people, groups, committees, organizations, associations, parties and political assemblies of Arabs, Kurds and Assyrians in Syria and the Arab world. We thank and greet the official representatives, countries, media and websites that support us by protesting our trials and arrests, and denying the accusations against our colleague Anwar Al Bunni.

We would like to send our heartfelt greetings and thanks to all of you and hope that your noble and brave attitude will not stop only with denying these accusations and supporting our cause. Our case as prisoners of conscience is part of the continuing crisis of basic freedoms and human rights in Syria that began with the Emergency Law 44 years ago. This crisis reached its height in the 1980s and again today by an increase in tyranny, arrests and the suppression of fundamental freedoms.

Tens of thousands of Syrians have paid a horrible price, some with their lives, others with the loss of years and youth from inhumane prison conditions and cruel torture. Still more have suffered by being forced to escape the tyranny or enter into voluntary exile, another difficult experience. Other Syrians stayed, throwing salt on their wounds and binding their tongues to save themselves pain. Those that couldn’t live with their tongues tied faced a future in prison, homeless and alone. For the few people that climbed to the top of the tyranny and darkened Syrian society, they have contributed to the corruption, theft and poverty that have strangled the necks of the people.

The denial of fundamental human rights in Syria is the main case that we work for and your support for prisoners of conscience is part of this fight. Fighting for the release of these prisoners is a duty, not only to decrease their suffering and their families’ pain, but also to encourage others by knowing they are not alone. We must give society hope, making sure its doors and streets are not closed. With the power of hope it is possible to fight the crisis of freedom and human rights in Syria in a peaceful way.

Terrorism is the enemy of mankind and civilization itself. It flourishes in societies that lack freedom and close doors to peaceful expression, leaving violence as a way of expressing oneself. Inside these societies suffering from poverty, where they find no well being on earth they will turn to the heavens and the answers that it may provide them. The lack of basic freedoms and human rights coupled with poverty are two faces of the same coin in the Third World. Syria is at the forefront of totalitarian countries, ruled from an isolated point of view with its citizens either idle passengers or doomed to be labeled traitors.

The lack of freedom, means of expression, political participation and accountability leads to the growth of corruption, despotism, looting of public funds, rampant poverty and the collapse of moral values. The real fight against terrorism must not only be about combating extremist ideas. These ideas have existed throughout history, though they will always remain on the periphery, isolated and shunned, unless they find fertile soil to take root and grow. If they are allowed to develop in the soil of society, they will spread like toxic plants, poisoning communities and innocent people.

Addressing the root causes of terrorism requires opening up pathways to free expression and the peaceful exchange of ideas. By giving people unfettered freedom we can blunt the sword of injustice, oppression and domination to grant full political participation, a hand in future decision-making, accountability, the preservation of equality and a life of dignity. This would make the world a safer place and improve international security.

Syrians have paid a high price for their rights and freedom and we hope to be the last group forced to pay this price to help the great Syrian people. To do this we need more than your solidarity and denunciations. We need constant and tireless efforts to compel Syrian authorities to respect human rights, international law and the treaties and agreements it has signed which demand freedom of expression and opinion. The release of political prisoners is a necessary first step, including the abolition of the State Emergency Law and other such laws like Decree 49 signed in 1980 or the Hasakah Accountability Decree of 1962. Syria must abolish the State Security Court, compensate those that have suffered, create an independent judiciary, end torture and hold perpetrators responsible. They must stop political arrests and ensure the freedom of the press, allowing political participation and the formation of parties, organizations and civil society.

They must stop the looting of public funds and policies of impoverishment and domination. However, these steps are just the beginning necessary to put Syria on the path to security and move towards development, progress and the protection of national unity that now suffers from division and tension. These rifts and divisions are now impossible to conceal, despite the dancing and celebrations and empty rhetoric about a healthy society that in reality is sick and suffering. As prisoners of conscience and opinion we are apprehensive about the future of our homeland, our children and our very decision to shape Syria’s future. However, we will not be deterred by threats, intimidation, and the repression of long years of imprisonment that we face to save our country and ourselves

Adra Prison. 28-4-2007

Syrian bloggers in solidarity with Syrian prisoners of conscience:

Fares

Philip I

Golaniya

Abu Kareem

Rime Allaf

Syrian Brit

Yazan

Shadi

Why You Should Boycott Nestle & Starfucks

It has been hectic and tense lately in AUB and in Lebanon in general. With the mourning of the two kids, Ziads, the Lebanese recall the "civil war" days where people used to be kidnapped and killed.

May Ziad Kabalan and Ziad Ghandour's souls rest in peace.

It is more than just a story, the Lebanese story.

With all of these chaotic feelings, AUB witnesses some very hectic events itself. In the last couple days, and in the context of the kidnapping and the murder of the children, I have attended four events:

1- Dr. Marcy Newman's club screening.
2- Memorial of and a call to free the Lebanese detainees in Syria.
3- Memorial of and a call to free the Lebanese detainees in Israel
4- Robert Fisk lecture.

After Fisk finished his lecture, people left the Hall to hear the murder of the two kids.

This post is about the first event, followed by other posts on the rest.

I have to say that after the Israeli aggression on Lebanon, I have decided to boycott American products seriously, so I quit smoking Marlboro and going to Starfucks among other stuff. But this movie sheds the light on some other serious issues which is humane to boycott capitalists companies, if you don't want to look at it from a political perspective.

The documentary talks basically about how US along with Euroape manage to make Thirld World countries dependent on aid rather than enhancing their local economy.

The documentary is a story of the Ethiopian coffee farmers who earns half a dollar a day while their very product is sold in US, the cup of coffee, for 7 $.

the reason for this problem is that US and Europe are the ones who assign the price of the coffee kilo in the first place. And it is ironic enough, that Ethiopia will be five time economically better, if the price of the coffee kilo is doubled. it would actually save US and Europe aiding her. But the question is, do they want to enhance Ethiopia, along with Third World countries, economy?

US and Europe speak of helping and aiding the poor countries where they are ones who are responsible for their very poorness in the first place.

This documentary made me decide to boycott Nestle, for they have refused to get interviewed by the movie makers and they are one of the capitalists companies who are responsible for the misery of the coffee farmers.

What should you drink instead of Nescafe? well, Najjar, and other local products that would enhance my local economy and gradually affect theirs'.

It is worth noted that the coffee farmers are now switching to growing Chat which is sort of a drug. you can imagine how that would affect the society now.

Here's Dr. Newman's review on the film:

It is an amazingly powerful film that focuses, primarily, on how Starbucks, Phillip Morris, Nestle, and Sara Lee are starving Ethiopians out of fair wages for coffee and the ways in which it is affecting their health and education as a result.

And here's Dr. Newman's club, Lebanese Campaign to End Israeli Apartheid', review:

Tracing the path of the coffee consumed each day to the farmers who produce them, Black Gold asks us to “wake up and smell the coffee”, to face the unjust conditions under which our favorite drink is produced and to decide what we can do about it. In particular, it follows Tadesse Meskela, a representative of the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union in Southern Ethiopia, as he tries to secure a living wage for the 70,000 Ethiopian coffee farmers represents. Black Gold goes inside the coffee auctions in Addis Ababa, London, and New York where the fate of the coffee growing nations is decided, exposing how international commodities markets are rigged against the nations of the global South.”


Be the change you want in the world. Ghandhi.

My Visual DNA

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

If Convicted, Death Penalty or Life Behind Bars for Azmi Bishara

Taken from Haaretz

Legal analysis / Maximum penalty: Death, or life behind bars
By Ze'ev Segal

The suspicions against Azmi Bishara relate to the most serious offense in criminal law. The charge of assisting the enemy in its war on Israel carries a maximum penalty of death or life in prison. In the event of a conviction, one of those sentences is mandatory. The relevant clause in criminal law requires that the act be committed with the intention of aiding the enemy, and that it actually did so.

The clause defines "assistance" broadly, "including transmitting information with the intention that it reach or may reach the enemy." It doesn't matter if at the time of the transmission, no war was going on. The other offense for which Bishara is being investigated is "transmitting information to the enemy." According to the law, the maximum penalty for knowingly transmitting information to or for the enemy is 10 years in jail. If the information helped the enemy, then the sentence increases to 15 years. If transmitting the information was intended to harm state security, the sentence could be for life.

In the event that negligence, without criminal intent, led to the transmission of useful information to or for the enemy, the offender may receive up to three years in prison.
There is also an investigation into contact with a foreign agent. Criminal law states that anyone who knowingly contacts a foreign agent and has no reasonable explanation for it can be punished by up to 15 years in jail. The term "foreign agent" is defined broadly. It includes anyone who may reasonably be suspected of working for or being sent to work by a foreign country or terror organization, in collecting secret information or other deeds that could harm state security.

A conviction on this offense requires proving that the suspect intended to harm state security. Moneylaundering suspicions hinge on a law stating that trying to conceal or camouflage the provenance of property is punishable with a 10-year sentence. Because of the severity of the security charges against Bishara, it clearly appears he would be arrested were he to return to Israel. It is also likely he would be held without bail for the duration of the legal process. Because of the severity of the charges, it is hard to believe Bishara would return to Israel in light of the fact he no longer has parliamentary immunity.

Please sign petition and voice your solidarity with Azmi Bishara.

Sign petition here.

View petition statistics here.

One of those who are in solidarity with Azmi Bishara is the 23 year old Belgian cartoonist Benjamin Heine.

http://www.blackgoldmovie.com/

انا "معارض" ازن انا بطل

بدون تعليق


النائب تويني والنائب بشارة: الفارق السوري

صبحي حديدي

اغتيل جبران تويني لأسباب عديدة، معظمها يذكّر باغتيال شهيد دار "النهار" الأوّل وأحد أنبل شهداء لبنان والعرب سمير قصير، وبعضها وثيق الصلة بمعادلة الصوت الذي يستفزّ كاتم الصوت والكلمة الشريفة فضّاحة الكلمة المرتزقة، وجلّها يعود إلى حرب الاستقلال الثاني التي يخوضها لبنان معركة تلو أخرى. أخال استطراداً أنه يحقّ لي، أنا المواطن السوري، أن أشدّد على السبب السوري تحديداً: أن الراحل، ورغم بعض الاختلاف في وجهات النظر، كان أحد أبرز أصدقاء نضالات السوريين من أجل سوريا ديموقراطية، كريمة، حرّة، ومتحرّرة من الاستبداد.

وما خلا القليل من الأصوات الشريفة الشجاعة، لم تحظ حركة المثقفين السوريين المطالبين بالتغيير الديموقراطي وإحياء المجتمع المدني بتعاطف ملموس، صريح أو حتى خجول، من المثقفين العرب الذين كان في وسعهم، بل كان من واجبهم، رفع صوت التأييد عالياً بليغاً. ورغم أنّ ما جرى في سوريا من وراثة وتوريث، ثمّ وأد في المهد لتجربة المنتديات وما سُمّي "ربيع دمشق"، كان ويظلّ بمثابة «بروفة» لما سيحدث على الأرجح في أنظمة عربية أخرى، فإن الغالبية الساحقة من المثقفين العرب لزمت الصمت أو اكتفت بغمغمة أو تأتأة هناك.

وفي صفوف ذلك الصنف الخاص من المثقفين والكتّاب والصحافيين العرب الذين يجمعون بين مهنة القلم ومهنة السياسة، لم تكن حال التضامن هذه غائبة فحسب، بل حدث أحياناً أنها لعبت الدور النقيض، فطبّلت وزمّرت لنظام الاستبداد، وجمّلت المستبدّ الابن استكمالاً لتجميلها المستبدّ الأب، وأشبعت المعارضة السورية دروساً في علم السياسة وعلم الديموقراطية وعلم المجتمع المدني!

لهذا فإن خبر اغتيال تويني ذكّرني، على الفور، بأحد هؤلاء الفرسان: النائب الفلسطيني في الكنيست الإسرائيلية عزمي بشارة.

وذات يوم غير بعيد، لم يكن غريباً على الذين سنحت لهم فرصة مشاهدة الرجل في برنامج «حوار العمر» على الـ LBC، والإصغاء إليه يتهكم على المثقفين السوريين ويسخر من بياناتهم ويؤكد جهلهم بمعنى الديمقراطية، أن يفركوا الأعين قليلاً قبل أن يتساءلوا: أهذا وزير الإعلام السوري، أم عزمي بشارة؟ أهذا ناطق باسم حزب البعث الحاكم في سوريا، أم زعيم "التجمع الوطني الديموقراطي" في فلسطين؟ أهذا لسان حال الاستبداد والقمع، أم داعية الديموقراطية وحقوق الإنسان؟ والرجل الذي أتاحت له الديموقراطية الإسرائيلية، أيّاً تكن اعتراضات بشارة واعتراضاتنا عليها، أن يصل إلى الكنيست، وأن يجاهر بآرائه في الناصرة كما في عمّان وبيروت والقرداحة، وأن يتحدّى العنصرية الصهيونية من داخل قوانينها... كيف يحقّ له أن يسخر من أشقائه المثقفين السوريين إذا كانوا يطالبون بعُشر الحقوق العامّة التي تجعل من عزمي بشارة... عزمي بشارة؟

كيف يكون من حقّه أن يتّهم الإسرائيليين بأنهم "تلاميذ صغار بالديموقراطية وحقوق الإنسان"، على خلفية محاولات الكنيست رفع الحصانة عنه، هو الذي استكثر على المثقفين السوريين أنهم يتطلعون إلى الديموقراطية وحقوق الإنسان؟ أم أن النقب والمثلث والجليل جديرة بالديموقراطية، ودمشق وحلب وحمص ليست جديرة إلا بالجمهوريات الوراثية وحكم الحزب الواحد الأوحد؟

في الحقبة نفسها كانت "النهار" تفتح صفحاتها للصوت السوري الديموقراطي على اختلاف تيّاراته، وكان مديرها العام نفسه لا يكتفي بالافتتاحيات المساندة بل يشارك شرفاء لبنان تضامنهم المباشر مع أمثال رياض الترك ورياض سف وعارف دليلة. فكيف، اليوم، لا يذكّرنا غياب النائب جبران تويني بهذا الحضور الغائب للنائب عزمي بشارة؟.

s.hadidi@libertysurf.fr

And I'm Staying Home..

I vote when I DO have the "right" to..

Boycott Elections...

( my move is similar to Syrians like Riad Seif and dissimilar to people like Ghaderi)

Numbers

In the US, there is a saying that two things are only certain: Death and Taxes. Tax deadline in the US was this Monday April, 16 so here are relevant facts and figures for US taxpayers:

Percentage of US discretionary budget spent on education and other Social services: 8%

Percentage of US discretionary budget spent for military: 57% (but the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan are funded in supplementary budget requests so must be add to that!)
US Military Budget as a percent of World total military expenditures:49%

Number of Americans classified as “food insecure” in 2004: 38 million
Number of Americans without health insurance: 45 million

Total direct aid to Israel 1948-2006: $255 billion
Total Cost of US Support for Israel: $1.688 trillion (not counting money and lives lost in Israel propelled wars like Iraq, not counting loss of $trillions in business with the rest of the world because of US support for Israel etc)

Federal aid for each resident in Louisiana in 2002 (from their taxes):$1,500
Direct U.S. aid for each Israeli citizen in 2003 (per capita income in Israel-$16,710; they do not pay taxes to the US): $581

Direct U.S. aid for each Ethiopian citizen in 2004 (per capita income in Ethiopia - $110): $2.50
Percentage of U.S. foreign aid that goes to Israel: 27%
Population of Israel as percentage of total world population: 0.1%
Number of Palestinian minors killed by Israeli security forces (2000-2007): 814
Total number of Palestinians injured or killed (September 2000-April 2007): 31,296
Number of bullets fired by Israeli security forces in the first week of the second Intifada: 1,300,000
Number of unexploded Israeli bombs strewn across South Lebanon after the 2006 war: 1,000,000 or 1.4 per resident

Taken from TLAXCALA.

Zionsim at AUB??

Marcy Newman is a professor at the American Studies Department at AUB.

She announced that the Lebanese Campaign to End Israeli Apartheid (LCEIA) will be screening two films, Supersize Me andBlack Gold: Wake Up and Smell the Coffee.

At her surprise, she received a mail from another AUB professor, only pro-Zionism one, calling her a self-hating Jew!!? Read the story here.

Salute to Pro. Newman, salute to all those who refused to go with the flow for the sake of justice.

Sign Azmi Bishara Petition!

Every now and then we are reminded by the state of Israel and its institutions, that the Arab Palestinians constitute a strategic threat to Israel. Such a tendency has been always voiced in different degrees of frenzyness and nakedness, yet its current pitch is unprecedented. At this point, the Palestinian Arabs face a trying phase in their relation with the State of Israel as a result of their legitimate and just demand that the state of Israel should be a ‘state of all its citizens.’ The fact that Israel continues to define itself as a ‘Jewish Democratice State,’ trying the impossible mission to be aknolwedged as a model of a modern democracy, yet to the preserve the ‘Jewishness’ of its identity, is no doubt the root-cause of all forms of oppression and discrimination against the native Palestinians. The Palestinian citizens of the state of Israel have continuously and restlessly tried to put an end to the deformed relationship with the State and to right the wrongs by venturing the moral and democratic alternative of ‘the state of all its citizens.’ However, no results whatsoever were realized towards attaining the collective rights of the native Palestinians, nor lifting the barefaced discrimination against them.

The state of Israel has been systematically keen in passing legislations that serve the persecution of the Arab political leadership of the Palestinian citizens. Therefore, the state of Israel is to be blamed for the deterioration of the relationship with its Arab citizens who have been always wronged and discriminated against .The renewed persecution of the the intellectual and political nationliast Azmi Bishara and his Party—who has been challenging the ideological and political foundations of the contradictory Israeli democracy—is, indeed a persecution of the very existence of the Palestinian citizens of the State.

Acknowledging the rights of the Palestinians to their land, and other rights based on their aboriginality and citizenship that should never be compromised under any justification—we condemn all forms of oppression, threats, persecution and any restrictions on the freedom of speech.

The campaign waged by state of Israel and led by the head of its Secret Services (the Shabak) constitute a real threat to democracy and the values of freedom and liberty that are supposed to be guarded by the state itself. The appalling and racist locutions such as describing the Arabs in Israel as a “strategic threat,” and stating that “anybody who tries to change the nature of the State, even via democratic means, would be persecuted”—voiced by the head of the Shabak, reflect the dangerous degree of the formal incitement against the Palestinians. It is a moral obligation to resist this campaign promptly and firmly by all individuals, political parties, institutes, that believe in the human right of the Palestinians to live with dignity in their own homeland enjoying freedom and liberty.

We, the signatories of this petition, based on what has been stated above, declare the following:

1. We strongly condemn the frenzy campaign against the intellectual and nationalist Dr. Azmi Bishara, and call for an immediate cessation of this political persecution.

2. We appeal to all political parties and the Arab leadership in Israel to face jointly and firmly this campaign which targets the collective Arab presence on their homeland.

3. We call upon all Palestinians, friends, and supporters allover the world to unite in putting an end to this racist campaign and use it to persecute the proponents of discrimination and ethnic cleansing instead of persecuting the advocates of equality in "a state of all its citizens."

Taken from Arab 48.

Sign petition here.

يا ريّس

عندك شعب حيّ

ببلد

من كم شهر

شاف الموت

بكل الوانو

طلع غبش بوشي

(الى الراقصين الفلسطينيين واللبنانيين في تاء مربوطة)

سكرانه

عم اسمع

كلن سقفولو

بدي قوم

الله يرحمك يا عبد الحليم

بس مو وقتك هلأ

الدربكّه

الدربكّه

الناس تركو اكلن

وشربن

وسكرتن

وقامو عالدربكّه

ماعاد بدي شوف الايميل الفاضي

ولا ابو الحلقه

بدي العود يوقف

والعالم تأسّع

بدي اسكر

على ابو الدربكّه

عتّمت برّا

وزحّمت جوّا

ولساتني سكرانه

عالزلغوطه

الناس كنّت

لما كنّت الدربكه

الناس ملّت

انا صحيت

اكتشفت

انو كل عربيّة

نقطة ضعفا الدربكّه

One Syria, One Star!

Update: One Syria, One Flag! (i usually hate it when am wrong, but am OK this time ;-)

There is this group on Facebook that is making a huge fuss on many controversial topics in Syrian modern history. The group's photo adopted not the current Syrian flag but the Syrian independence flag.

Here is a short overview on the story of the Syrian flags followed by my own flag.

History of the Syrian Flag (1918-Present time) The colors of the Syrian flag throughout the modern history of Syria are those of the pan-Arab movement: White symbolizes the Umayyad dynasty; Green symbolizes the Fatimid dynasty; Black symbolizes the Abbasid dynasty; Red symbolizes the blood of martyrs.
	1918: Flag of the Great Arab Revolution, it was adopted after Arab troops liberated Syria from the Turkish rule.
	1920: Flag of the short lived Kingdom of Syria under King Faisal.
	1920: The flag imposed by the French authorities in the first month of the French mandate.
	1925: The flag imposed by the French authorities after the Syrian Revolution against the mandate.
	1936: The flag adopted by the Syrian government following the signing of the Franco-Syrian treaty which gave Syria partial independence.
	1958: Flag of the United Arab Republic, with the two stars symbolizing the union of Egypt and Syria.
	1961: When the union with Egypt was split, Syria readopted the 1936 flag.
	1963: The Flag adopted by the Baath Party after it came to power in March 1963.
	1971: Flag of the Federation of Arab Republics, which consisted of Egypt, Libya and Syria.
	1982: The Federation of Arab Republics split after Egypt made separate peace agreement with Israel. This current Syrian flag was adopted in 1982.

source: History of Syrian flags.

here is the flag I think it makes more sense:

Robert Fisk Lecturing at AUB

I do not like this guy, i don't like his reading to the Lebanese so called "civil war"..i think he is another orientalist, in a tricky way. nevertheless i'll be there and see what he is got to say now.
Click here to read articles recently written by him.

The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud

Center for American Studies and Research (CASAR)

Cordially invites you to a lecture on

After the Collapse: Disengagement in the Middle East

By Dr. Robert Fisk

Thursday, April 26, 2007

West Hall, Bathish Auditorium

6:00 pm

Robert Fisk is correspondent for the British newspaper The Independent. He has over thirty years of experience in international reporting, beginning with 1970s Belfast and Portugal’s 1974 Carnation Revolution, and including the 1975-1990 Lebanese Civil War, the 1979 Iranian revolution, the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, the 1991 Persian Gulf War, and the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Robert Fisk received a Ph.D. in Political Science from Trinity College, Dublin, in 1985.

He was one of two Western journalists to stay in Beirut during the Lebanese civil war. He is the author of several books and articles including Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War (1990) and The Great War for Civilization: The Conquest of the Middle East (2005). Fisk is the recipient of numerous awards and honors such as the Lannan Cultural Freedom Prize (2006) and the British Press Awards’ International Journalist of the Year which he won seven times. He was also awarded honorary Doctorates from the University of St. Andrews (2004), the Political and Social Science Department at Ghent University in Belgium (2006) and the American University of Beirut (2006).

--
Nancy Batakji
Administrative Assistant
CASAR
453 College Hall
American University of Beirut
P.O. Box 11-0236
Riad El Solh
Beirut 1107 2020 Lebanon
961-1-350000 ext. 4195
nb22@aub.edu.lb

Local W Nos!

- Are you local?

- Yes, I am Syrian..

- I am half Syrian..

- Oh, sorry to hear that!

;-)

(Happy Independence Day Syrians)

I Blog to Change

Even though I initiated this blog to get out of my social solitude here in Lebanon, and ironically it is the "virtual" that made be deal better with the "real", I recently find myself in a different position when it comes to blogging.

The sexual harassment post was not just a post, I might have acted in a way that is "bloggingly" incorrect, but it did change my perspective on blogging. Hence I decided that I will blog for a change, the change I personally believe in. My posts might be "provocative" or "offensive" but so be it, it won't be "sexy" and "cute" anymore.

I thank you Karin for this nomination that I do not truly deserve but I'll be working hard to deserve it. Your faith and trust in me is needed here in my virtual life and you are truly an inspiration for my new phase I am going through right now "I blog to change."

I like lots of blogs and lots of bloggers, but lately I am finding myself affected by these five:

Street: Middle East's Angry Anarchist, is a striking revolutionary female from Lebanon. She is in two words angry academic; her posts are cited and informative. She introduced me to authors I am now eager to know more about. (alla yostor ma nitla3 Anarchist kaman) If I ever agree with her, I agree with her for the different reasons, meaning that she gives me reasons to rethink my reasons. She blogs to change.

Maysaloon, our Wassim ma gheiro :-)
I've known his blog ever since Ayman Haykal found him (or Wassim found Ayman) and now I am a regular reader to his blog. He, as our Anarchist, is also academic and enlightening; his article on sexual harassment pushed me to learn more, in a professional way, about the sociopolitical context of the whole thing. I enjoy "learning" from his blog. He too, blogs to change.

Yaman's Amateur Ramblings blog is essential to reading the current sociopolitical context surrounding our region. I have to say that though I haven't been reading him for a long time, his blog is a crucial read. His post on the immigrants in the Syria and Lebanon was thought provoking and actually pushing me personally onto thinking seriously of making that project of mine on Syrian workers in Lebanon; a documentary.
His latest post on "terrorism" as a term is just soothingly refreshing. It made me go like "yes!!!" to shut up my everyday enemies (and they are so many).

Eatbees, is another academic hardworking blogger only this time from our dear Morocco. What I like about Eastbees is his critique on developments surrounding us as well as on us surrounding these events. He is truly a blogger who is eager to make a change in the Arab World and he is starting from himself:

The real question is not one of choosing the right time, because “when” is always now. Rather, the real question we should be asking is “how.” How to change? How to say no to things as they are, and impose our own ideas? How to begin? How to plant the seeds of confidence among our people? This question of confidence is important so long as people continue to fear being the victims of police repression. How can we change things without ending up in a cycle of violence?... as long as people have no understanding of the role oppression plays in their lives, no attempt at change can be useful. To start with, we need to find ways to stimulate people’s consciousness in order to better engage them in the process of change.

(I just love to quote him)

Finally, my dear Marxist from Lebanon whose blog has been pain in the ass ever since he is gone faaaaar toooo academic with his everlasting posts!! :D
Though I sometimes disagree with him and I sometimes have no idea what he is talking about :P but I do share with him his understanding to current Lebanese politics; enno ya3ni all are evil!
Actually it was MFL who introduced me to the committed blogging. He gave me a hint on how to blog my thoughts in the future, that is when I think I am qualified.
MFL blog is an indispensable read for those who care to read a credible and documented overview on Lebanese politics as well as on Marxist theory.

All these bloggers exist on windows and on my screen but managed to penetrate my daily life and consciousness. There has been no mention of a Palestinian blogger for these five bloggers blog for Palestine as they blog to change.

I'd like to say, and I am not trying to suck up anyone, that there are many bloggers who are smart enough to have their say on just about anything, but I think they, including myself (bikol tawado3), we are lazy to do so.

(to the winners please check Karin's post to know how this tag works).

What "Peace" are we Talking about Here??

Update: excellent article written by Rime Allaf critiquing the recent article written by that Liz Cheney and exposing the suspicious visit of that Ibrahim Suleiman.

There is also another review in Arabic on Suleiman's visit on Al-Akhbar newspaper site.

Looks like Suleiman asked the Israeli Knesset to allow him to see the 12 Syrian prisoners in the Israeli prisons, but the the request was denied.

I, as all Arabs and Iranians, do not want war with anyone, we want just peace; a peace for me is never going to be on the expense of Palestine or Lebanon. It is either peace for all or never.

This is taken from GABRIEL KOLKO's The New War Israel's Last Chance

The Syrian Option

It is in this context that the peace of the region will or will not evolve. Olmert will do what is best for his political position domestically, and retaining power will be his priority-no less than his predecessors and most politicians everywhere. It is not at all promising. But for technical, social, and morale reasons Israel will not win another war. At every level, it has become far weaker. It can inflict frightful damage on its enemies but it cannot change the fundamental balance of all forces that leads to victory.

Making peace with Syria would be a crucial first step for Israel, and although the Palestinian problem would remain it would nonetheless vastly improve Israel's security-and disprove the Bush's Administration's contention until very recently that negotiations with Syria or Iran on any Middle East question involves conceding to evil. The Israeli press reported in great detail the secret 2004-05 Israel-Syria negotiations, which very advanced and involved major Syrian concessions-especially on water and Syrian neutrality in a host of political controversies with the Palestinians and Iranians-- in return for merely making the Golan Heights a demilitarized park with Syrian attendants. It also reported that Washington followed these talks closely and that it-especially Cheney's office-opposed bringing them to a successful conclusion. At the end of January many important members of Israel's foreign policy establishment publicly urged reopening these talks.

Olmert dismissed Syria's gestures categorically after they became public. "Don't even think about it" was Secretary of State Rice's view of a treaty when she saw Israel officials in mid-February. [H, feb 23. Also Ynet, Feb 21 olmert] But though Mossad supported the obdurate Rice-Olmert view, military intelligence argued that Syria's offers are sincere and serious. Moreover, its head warned that Syria is growing stronger and peace was very much to Israel's interest.[H, march 3 ] He was supported by most of the Foreign Ministry and Defense, including Minister of Defense Amir Peretz. Olmert demanded, and got, their acquiescence.

A treaty could be finalized with Syria within four to six months, Alon Liel, former director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry who negotiated with the Syrians, reported the Washington Times on March 7. Liel was asked to come to the US embassy in Tel Aviv about this time and tell the entire political staff of his talks. The reports in Haaretz, which included the draft treaty, were by then quite definitive. Then the Knesset, Israel's parliament, invited Ibrahim Suleiman, Syria's representative to the talks, to speak to the foreign affairs and defense committees. Such invitations are very rare, not least because Syria and Israel are legally in a state of war. [, mar 8, 9; Wash Times, Mar 7} But if the Syrians and Israelis go to war again, the normally hawkish Martin van Creveld concluded at this time, Israel "could wreak much destruction, but it could not force a decision." In three or four years the Syrians would be ready for a protracted war that would prove too much for Israel. After running through its bizarre alternatives, and the state of its morale, van Creveld concluded that reaching a peace with Syria was very much to its interests-and that even the Americans were coming to the position that talking to Syria and Iran (as the Baker-Hamilton panel had recommended last December) was rational. "Where the master leads," he predicted, "the follower cannot be far away-or else." [forwards, arch 9]

Syria has been attempting desperately to improve its relations with Washington, if only to forestall some mad act on its part. When Israel attacked Lebanon last July, Elliott Abrams, in charge of the Middle East at the National Security Council, along with other neocons in Washington, urged it to expand the war to Syria. [Lobe, IPS, Mar 14] At the end of February Syria renewed its appeal to the US to discuss any and all Middle East issues with it in "a serious and profound dialogue." [Daily Star Feb 21] For over two years it has made similar attempts; Baker knew all about these. [AT, March 15] Talking to alleged adversaries is perhaps the most fundamental point of difference between Cheney, his neocon alliance, and Rice, and it covers North Korea, Iran, and many other places. Basically, the issue is less the nature and goals of American foreign policy but how to conduct it-by the application of material power and even the threat of war versus more traditional means, such as diplomacy.

In the past several weeks, taking her cue from the Republican Establishment in the Iraq Study Group last December, Rice has been winning points in this debate but her successes are transitional only. Cheney is a powerful, determined and cunning man who knows how to succeed all too well with the President.

America's overwhelming problem is Iraq and, above all, Iran, and apparently the Bush Administration has now decided that Syria can help it in the region. Ellen Sauerbrey, an Assistant Secretary of State, was in Damascus on March 12, nominally to discuss refugees but she heard from the Syrians "that all the questions are linked in the Arab region and that a comprehensive dialogue is needed on all these questions." [Yahoo, Mar 12] Syria has also mobilized the European Union, which now favors a return of the Golan Heights to it. [, arch 14] On March 13 the US ambassador to Israel publicly stated a bald lie that the Americans had never "expressed an opinion on what Israel should or should not do with regard to Syria." [H, Mar 14]

It is now entirely in the hands of the Olmert government whether to negotiate with Syria. At least for this moment, the Bush Administration has reversed itself.

Israel has ignored Washington on at least four very important issues, starting with the Sinai campaign in 1956, and acted in its own self-interest. The Americans were Olmert's alibi but he can use them no more. [H, March 3] There are other crucial issues, such as the Saudi plan for the resolution of the Palestine question as well, and never has Israel had a greater need for peace than at the present. Instead, like the US, its head of state may be the worst in its history, motivated by short-term political advantage and a consummate desire to retain power.

But the Syrian option is there for the taking. If there is war then the brain drain out will accelerate and migration in will fall; demography will take over. Israel will then become the only place in the world a Jew is in danger precisely because he or she is a Jew. If this opportunity is lost there will eventually be a mutually destructive war that no one will win-the Lebanon War proved that Israel must now confront the fact that its neighbors are becoming its military equals and US aid cannot save it.

Indeed, America's free gifts caused Israel to begin a war last July with illusions identical to those that caused the Bush Administration to embark on its Iraq folly.

Gabriel Kolko is the leading historian of modern warfare. He is the author of the classic Century of War: Politics, Conflicts and Society Since 1914, Another Century of War? and The Age of War. He has also written the best history of the Vietnam War, Anatomy of a War: Vietnam, the US and the Modern Historical Experience. His latest book is After Socialism.

Check This Blog

Looks like we have another expat in Syria; Dave's The Road to Damascus.

Petition to Release Michel Kilo

Many thanks to Mazen for telling me about the article.

This has been taken from L'Orient Le Jour newspaper. Since it is written in French i have asked the help of AltaVista online translator.

Nearly 80 intellectuals Lebanese and Syrians lace a call for the release of Michel Kilo and his companions More than ten months ran out since the arrest in Syria of the writer and Syrian journalist Michel Kilo and several of his fellow travellers, pillars of the movement of defense of the humans right and of freedoms public in Syria, and considered, for this reason, like motive fluids of the Syrian democratic opposition.

On this occasion, nearly 80 intellectuals Syrian and Lebanese published a joint call claiming the release of Michel Kilo and his companions. The document starts by recalling that Michel Kilo and his companions were stopped because they signed "the Beirut-Damas/Damas-Beirut declaration", preaching "a cordial cleansing of the relations" between Lebanon and Syria "in the interest of the two countries and the two sister countries".

"Michel Kilo is a cultural figure of foreground and it is known for its moderation on the political level, underlines in particular the call of the intellectuals Lebanese and Syrians. He is a president of the Center of freedoms for the defense of the press and the journalists in Syria. He publishes political articles and of reflexion in the Arab press. He plays an active part within the commissions of reactivation of the civil company, preaching the reform by peaceful and democratic ways ".

"the signatories of this call pay homage to Michel Kilo for his courageous attitude vis-a-vis with its imprisonment and for its determination to preserve the freedom of expression and thought. We invite the thinkers, the intellectuals and the journalists to raise their voices to claim freedom for the thinker and journalist Michel Kilo and his companions, captive of opinion in Syria. We ask the Syrian authorities concerned to release it without delay, like his/her companions, or to judge them in an equitable way, in accordance with the universal Declaration of the humans right, with the International Conventions and the local legislation ". And the call to conclude: "the cause of Michel Kilo is that of the prisoners of the declaration of Beirut-Damas, that of the prisoners of opinion who have the right to recover their freedom, and to join their close relations and friends in order to live a normal life. It is more than ever inconceivable, whatever the pretexts, to maintain Michel Kilo and his companions in detention at the sides of simple criminals ".

The signatories of this call are, Lebanese side: Ahmad Bzoun, Ahmad Beydoun, Ahmad Oulbi, Émilie Nasrallah, Amourieh Amine, Élias Khoury, Élias Chaker, Antoine Seif, Bilal Khoubeiz, Jacques Kabangi, Jihad Zein, Jawad Sidaoui, Habib Sadek, Hossam Itani, Hasnaa Wrinkled Mekdachi, Kheirieh Kadouh, Rachid Kadi, Raymond Gebara, Zahwou Majzoub, Salwa Saad, Sleiman Takieddine, Chabib Diab, Charbel Kfoury, Chafic Bekaï, Sader Younes, Assem Salam, Abbas Beydoun, Abdo Wazen, Ezzat Cherara Beydoun, Issam Jawharji, Issam Khalifé, Akl Awit, Alouieh Sobeh, Omar Fadel, Fehmieh Charafeddine, Fawaz Traboulsi, Karim Mroué, Kamal Hemdane, Maged Fayad, Mohammad Abou Samra, Mohammed Hajj, Mohammad Kechli, Mahmoud Soueid, Massoud Daher, Michel Jeha, Michel Akl, Nabil Kharrat, Najah Taher, Nassim Daher, Walid Safi, Yahya Jaber and Youmna Eid.

The signatories, Syrian side, are: Aslane Abdel Karim, Akram el-Bani, Borhane Ghalyoune, Jad Karim Jebaï, George Katen, George Sabred, Hassan Abdel Azim, Hussein Awdate, Hamid Merhi, Razan Zeitouné, Radwane Ziadé, Riad Seif, Sleimane Youssef, Samar Yazbek, Samira Khalil, Sobhieh Bahbouh, Abbas Abbas, Abdel Nabi el-Okari (Bahreïn), Ali Abdallah, Omar Amiralaï, Omar el-Kouch, Farouk Mardam Bey, Fayez Sara, Fawaz Tello, Kassem Kaddour, Mohammad Ali Atassi, Mohammad Najati Tayyara, Maaz Hammoud, Maha Jedid, Mohannad el-Hosni, Wafaa Lahham, Walid el-Bani, Yassin Hajj Saleh and Youssef Kaddah.

l3ama

Tagged by Arima..

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

that is so not fair!!!

:S

Azmi Bishara Responds to Israeli Newspapers

I panicked since people were telling me just few hours ago that Dr. Azmi Bishara is resigning the Knesset and that he is leaving Israel. Few Israeli newspapers as Jerusalem Post, Yedioth and Haaretz mention that Bishara is to leave both the Israeli Parliament and Israel.
I harried to view Arab 48 and I found out that the Balad Party run by Bishara has denied "rumors" but does not say which. The response doesn't really say that Bishara "stays":

Arab 48

أصدر التجمع الوطني الديمقراطي بيانا، اليوم (الأحد)، حول الشائعات التي تدور بشأن د. عزمي بشارة والتجمع، فيما يلي نصه:

"ينفي التجمع الوطني الديمقراطي أخبارًا غير دقيقة وغير صحيحة تناقلتها وسائل الإعلام بخصوص د. عزمي بشارة ونواب التجمع.

"ما لدى التجمع ليقوله للجمهور العام، سيقوله لهم مباشرة.

"عزمي بشارة متواجد خارج البلاد ضمن برنامج واسع موضوع سلفا في ضمن عطلة الكنيست الحالية، خاصة انه لم يغادر البلاد طيلة العام وتراكمت عليه مواعيد وانشغالات كثيرة.."

وفي حديث مع موقع عرب 48 قال عوض عبد الفتاح، سكرتير عام التجمع، إنّه تثار في الآونة الأخيرة شائعات ضمن حملة تحريضة على التجمع والأحزاب السياسية والجماهير العربية، وإن هدف هذه الشائعات هو إثارة البلبلة بين الناس، تحضيرًا للهجمة القادمة

This is really personal news. Azmi Bishara is one of those rare people who choose the hard way to live their lives. He's one of the rare Arabists I look up to. I have deep respect and appreciation for him and it would be harsh news to hear him gone. I hope he stays.

Batroun: Happy Easter

Better late than never..Happy Easter..

i had my Easter touring Koura last night. It was marvelous, Mazen, an old friend of mine, took me to Batroun, amazing amazing mini city, and to Jbeil again, then to Amshit and finally back to Beirut where we settled down at one of Jemmeyzah's pubs- boring pub though :S




Batroun..










i remembered the Syrian TV series; Bab el 7ara..

Amsheit..





and finally Al Jemmayzah

Celebrate Syria's Independence Day

Update: Event Canceled!


Hope we celebrate soon Palestine, Golan and the Lebanese South's too!

On April the 17th. Syrians kicked some French asses, earned respect and took its autonomy from the occupiers!

For those who would like to celebrate Syria's Independence Day, you are welcome to join me on one of Old Damascus' cafes..Albal Café (3albal) we can meet up on other place, am open to suggestions.

Time and Place

Date:

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Time:

6:00pm - 10:00pm

Location:

Albal Cafe (3albal)

Street:

Old Damascus

Contact Info Email:

arab.spring@gmail.com

(those who are on Facebook check the event on my page)
oh, and we are out of girls, am afraid. so bring girls dudes! leave a comment if you're in.

Release Anwar al-Bunni

Send the email here.

The situation of human rights defenders in Syria has deteriorated over the past year. Peaceful human rights activists have been subjected to increasing repression. The May 2006 "Beirut-Damascus, Damascus-Beirut" Declaration that called for better relations between Lebanon and Syria was followed by the largest crackdown on civil society since the repression of the "Damascus Spring" in 2001. A dozen human rights activists and intellectuals who co-signed the Declaration were arrested by the Syrian authorities. Three of the signatories, writer and journalist Michel Kilo, human rights lawyer and activist Anwar al-Bunni, and pro-democracy dissident Mahmud Issa are still detained.

Numerous other human rights defenders and peaceful civil society activists remain in prison. Among them is the prominent academic and pro-democracy advocate, Aref Dalilah, who was arrested as part of the crackdown on the "Damascus Spring" in 2001 and continues to serve a 10-year prison sentence for criticizing the government. In 2006, he suffered a severe stroke and was reportedly denied proper medical care by the prison authorities. Activist Kamal al-Labwani, who has been detained since November 2005 upon his return from a trip abroad during which he met with European and American officials, has been repeatedly beaten by the prison guards and other inmates. Al-Labwani has been placed in solitary confinement since the beginning of last week. He too is reportedly suffering from health problems and has been denied appropriate medical treatment.
The year 2006 was also marked by the increasing use of travel restrictions on human rights defenders, preventing them from pursuing their legitimate activities. Among those who were barred from traveling last summer are film director and civil society activist Omar Amiralay; Radwan Ziadeh, director of the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies; and Suhair al-Atassi, founder and president of the Jamal al-Atassi Forum for Democratic Dialogue. These three and many others have been added to a long list of activists, artists and intellectuals unable to travel freely.

In addition, to further stifle the activities of the human right community, the Syrian authorities have also systematically denied human rights organizations permission to register as legally recognized non-governmental organizations. For example, the Ministry of Social Affairs has denied registration to the Committee for the Defense of Democratic Liberties and Human Rights in Syria (CDF), the Syrian Organization for Human Rights, the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Syria and the National Organization for Human Rights.

Since his arrest on May 17, 2006, Anwar al-Bunni has been detained in harsh conditions at Adra Prison near Damascus. Last January, al-Bunni was subjected to physical abuse by prison guards who beat him and forcibly shaved his hair.

On October 9, 2006, an investigating magistrate charged al-Bunni with "disseminating false information likely to undermine the morale of the nation in wartime," "slandering and insulting state institutions," and "joining an international group without the government's authorization." The first two charges are related to al-Bunni's denunciation of the use of torture by security forces and his calls for democracy and reform in Syria. The latter charge is connected to the formation of a center for human rights training in Syria funded by the European Union. Al-Bunni briefly ran the center that was closed down by the authorities in March 2006 before it even started its activities.

Although two of the charges brought against al-Bunni were recently dropped as a result of a general amnesty, he is still being prosecuted under articles 286 and 285 of the Syrian Penal Code for "disseminating false information likely to undermine the morale of the nation in wartime". He could face up to 5 years in prison if found guilty.

Al-Bunni is being tried before the Damascus Criminal Court. In a final hearing that took place on April 3, 2007, al-Bunni and his lawyers presented their closing arguments. The verdict is scheduled to be delivered on April 24, 2007.

On January 11, 2006, Anwar al-Bunni's brother, Akram al-Bunni, also a well-known human rights defender, was prevented from leaving Syria by the security services. He was about to fly to Brussels to attend meetings with European Union officials on the situation of human rights in Syria. Syrian officials have not given any explanation for this arbitrary travel restriction.

Anwar al-Bunni is a founding member of the Syrian Human Rights Association and the Freedoms Center for the Defense of Journalists and Journalism in Syria, and a member of the Committee for the Defense of Prisoners of Conscience. He is a leading figure of the Syrian human rights and democracy movement and has devoted his legal career to defending those in Syria who face persecution for the non-violent expression of their opinions, including intellectuals and human rights activists arrested as part of the crackdown on the "Damascus Spring."

For years, al-Bunni has been persistently harassed by the Syrian authorities to punish him for his human rights activities and deter him from representing prisoners of conscience as clients. Mr. al-Bunni and his family have received constant threats and have been under permanent surveillance by the security forces. The authorities have also orchestrated defamation campaigns against him to dissuade potential clients from seeking his services. Instead of protecting one of its members, the Bar Association in Damascus, under the control of Syria's ruling Ba'ath Party, has taken part in the harassment campaign against al-Bunni by fabricating disciplinary charges against him resulting in repeated suspensions from practicing law and threats of disbarment.

Despite the persistent attempts of the authorities to obstruct his work, al-Bunni has never stopped his struggle for human rights and democracy in Syria and is currently using his trial before the Damascus Criminal Court as a platform to denounce the government's human rights practices. In his response to the charges brought against him, Anwar al-Bunni told the Court that disclosing the use of torture by state authorities does not undermine the morale of the nation. He declared:

What really undermines the morale of the nation, weakens it and even threatens its very existence are those who practice torture in prisons and detention centers, those who detain political opponents and sentence them to death only for their political affiliation, those who ban newspapers for denouncing corruption... those who abduct people from their homes who subsequently disappear for years and years, those who violate the independence of the judiciary, interfere in its work, block the implementation of its decisions and use the law and special courts to terrorize the society, and those who jail prisoners of conscience in extremely harsh conditions and torture them.i

And he adds:

Furthermore, do you believe, or does the one who fabricated this charge expect that people's minds are stupid to the extent of believing that this trial and my detention for more that ten months is due to this charge. You know and I know and people know that there are other reasons for this detention and trial that everyone knows. Source

Email sent by:

Fares

Razan

Notes on Unconscious Arab Sexism

My sexual harassment post triggered many to comment, mostly to support and few to criticize (not to critique).

This is my response to the two criticism I received not from a female blogger, not from an non-Syrian male blogger, but from a Syrian male blogger.

First let's have an overview on the commentators:

31 people commented on the post, 12 of them were females. It is worth to note that i have never been that widely commented at by ladies. And again, there is not a single lady found herself far from what I've described. All ladies identified with the post.

Unfortunately, while the ladies and the larger portion of men were supportive, few Syrian guys acted, I think, in "the" defensive pattern in two different ways and levels.

The first criticism is that my post was "exposing the dirty laundry of Syria" as they say in Arabic. So don't you lady dare to damage Syria's image, people might use that and think: "oh this is Syria!!".

So the guy was worried about the image of "Syria". And here I wonder: what is Syria if not the people??

This way of thinking is really troubling for two reasons, first, it is very Assadian; human rights international organizations cannot come to Syrian jails not to damage Syrian image. Ironically enough, both the guy and Assad are risking damaging Syria's image by hiding its dirt!

Another reading to this criticism is that it is very masculine and sexist, women are trying to disgrace Syria's image and a man comes along to protect the "honor" of Syria!

so "Syria" is treated as a female here and is overprotected by males.

Of course now I am going to get new forms of criticisms; some men fail to realize how sexist their perspectives on usual daily talks.

The second criticism was that women have the right to speak up as long as they don't "portray the thing as a morbid phenomenon"..hence the new poll question- please take a minute and have your say..

Here is another masculine tone, first the guy is supporting not the event in itself, but the event-not-morbid-phenomenon.

He is giving "certain" space to ladies to speak up, as the father who gives his daughter time to get back home.

i am talking about authority from a male given to women, you can talk in the form i authorize!

The same guy, asked me: "were you Razan wearing conservative clothes?" believes that sexual harassment in Damascus is not a morbid phenomenon.

He clearly has no idea that women, veiled and unveiled, get harassed daily in Syria yet he is confident enough to say that it is "not a morbid phenomenon".

Here I ask myself, Razan, were you there when Israel bombed Lebanon? Do you know how is it like to be under occupation? No, I was not and no I don't know. So am I credible enough to have a say on the matter? Or it is better if I sit down and hear out people who've "been there" giving them full support and "full" space??

I DO know how is it like to be walking in the streets of Damascus, you however, don't. you can only assume. Yet you choose "to think" that you know.

So our guy assumes that he knows the whole thing and wants us ladies not to view it as a morbid phenomenon.

Of course, needless to say, that as long as girls see naked men on their way home, as long as girls are touched on their way to school, as long as girls cannot walk safe and sound, Syria is suffering from a morbid phenomenon.

Having said that, I have my theory on such phenomenon.

Street sexual harassment is a not due to sexual needs, and by believing it is, we are becoming "apologists" to such event. (Ibn Khaldoun said the women have greater needs than men on the matter ;-)

Street sexual harassment is due to social reasons. I lived in Syria and in Lebanon; Damascus is three hours away from Beirut yet i was never been harassed, not even once, not a single word in Beirut. While in Syria i've been touched on a regular bases. Syrian guys have sexual needs and Lebanese don't?? (Lebanon suffers from sexism but in a different shape, but that's Lebanese girls' business, not mine).

and here I quote form a Moroccan blogger named Eatbees (taken from the comment section)

You compare Lebanon and Syria, and you say that in the more conservative society there is more harassment of women. This doesn't surprise me, because men who grow up in a society where women have more freedom, must learn more intelligent approaches to women. The problem is for the whole society to solve, and the first step is to bring it into the open as you are doing.

I think the problem lies in our families, in our very homes, where girls are the "honor" of the family; she cannot be as socially active as a man, she cannot be as professionally active as man, she is treated as a second reliable opinion at home, at work hence in society.

How does that affect the whole issue?

Well, i think those who touch ladies fail to "see" her as their equal. Girls are for dates, cook and for sex, not really as functional citizen. Not as them (men). So they start to reduce her to a piece of meat. But if they see her as an essential factor in societythey start to "treat" her as one.

How many of you been to classes in college? How many girls speak in those classes compared to boys? Girls are girly when they are silent, men are manly when they shout!

I, along with my girlfriend, were the only females who used to challenge the professor at Damascus University. You should see the Lebanese girls how they talk in classes, they are amazing!

I had many discussions with Syrian girls encouraging them to continue their studies and make some changes in their lives, but their "content" at their passive roles in society can be read as a form of denial; girls are accepting the already -male- made -role as the "ideal" women in a masculine society.