Feels like 200 degrees out there! So hot it feels like you’re melting…Big mistake to go out for lunch…I couldn’t even walk straight!

In light of all that’s been going on in our mad world, I thought this prayer by Faisal Husseini fits well :

When that bullet whizzed by my head I knew it was not an accident. It was supposed, or expected to lodge in my head. It was an involuntary movement that I made to evade death, to face a new beginning. I continued to wonder if that bullet did not really strike me in the head. Has that bullet and the ones following it, really not killed me? I mean has it not killed the human being that lived in this body up till that moment. Has that human being died and I am now another one? That place was full of hatred and anger, of fears and doubts of the spirit of revenge thirsting for blood, of hurricanes that wreck human values. I was forced to breathe in all that with the tear gas that the police had fired in the holy place.

No, that human being that lied in my body for years did not die, but was born again, with a new will a new strength and a profound faith. It was a new birth, where things were more refined, clearer and more illuminated, with a light that guides and almost builds the pathway. All around me, moans were gunpowder congested noses and eyes. In the midst of this shifting atmosphere, gloomy with death and catastrophe, I began to prepare my plea and my prayer: (Read on …)

It’s their pride speaking!

Lebanese casualties are rejecting aid from Jordan in protest at what they view as its failure to press for an end to Israeli air strikes in the 17-day-old war against Hizbollah.

“They’ve been here three days and we have seen no casualties treated here,” said a parking attendant near the field hospital in the Verdun area. “They cannot give the green light for this strike against us and then show up to treat us. We don’t want their sweetness or their bitterness.”

Beirut airport opened for the first time since July 13 to allow in three Jordanian planes bringing the field hospital and meant to take out Lebanese wounded. The planes returned empty, as have two other flights carrying humanitarian aid from the kingdom.

“I asked casualties to travel to Jordan for treatment but they refused either because they feel everything is available here or because they don’t want to leave their country,” Lebanese Health Minister Mohammed Khalife said.

“They said … if the Arab countries want to do something, they should use their influence to stop the aggression against us. “This was shocking to us — even those who had lost their legs refused.”

“One woman with an amputated hand was invited to go to Jordan to fit a prosthetic limb and she said: ‘My house is gone, my son and husband are gone, what do I need my hand for?’. “The plane returned without a single casualty.” [source]

It’s bizarre out there…
People have become strangers…
Life is tense…
There is no mood for anything…
Too much mess all over…
In your own thoughts, on the road, even at home…
It’s all sickening…

To go to bed Friday night and wake up Monday morning…

Drained…

Israeli police were hit by a state of panic following the announcement of a Turkish-Palestinian organization to hold a joint marriage ceremony for 76 young couples on Thursday afternoon on the Al Haram Al Sharif, the courtyard of the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem.

The police had issued a decree prohibiting the Turkish-Palestinian organization, “Ofoq-Mafar”, from holding the celebration, and rushed to deploy a large number of policemen at the gates of the Old City and at the gates of the Al Aqsa Mosque. The police then prevented citizens from entering the Al Haram compound. The police arrested seven of the bridegrooms and took them to the Al Qashlah police station inside the Old City’s walls. Police also set up checkpoints outside the Old City and checked citizens’ IDs in order to prevent spouses and guests from entering and participating in the wedding. The ceremony was scheduled to start after the noon prayers under the slogan “Happiness despite the wounds”.

The Ma’an correspondent in Jerusalem reported that there was “a state of confusion and uncertainty” among the police and said that they acted in an unprecedented and extraordinary manner regarding this celebration. The organizers said that the aim of the celebration was to encourage young people to marry.

The police justified their measures saying that the organizers of the wedding were intending to carry out acts of protest after completing the joint wedding ceremony. [Source]

Happiness despite the wounds? not that easy I guess…Unbelievalbe! Absurd! and yeah, so much for being the region’s only ‘democracy!’ … I am out of expressions!

“We received yesterday at the Rome conference permission from the world… to continue the operation,” israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon said.

He said that in order to prevent casualties among israeli soldiers battling Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon, villages should be flattened by the Israeli air force before ground troops moved in.

He added that israel had given the civilians of southern Lebanon ample time to quit the area and therefore anyone still remaining there could be considered a Hezbollah supporter. “All those now in south Lebanon are terrorists who are related in some way to Hezbollah,”  Ramon said. [Source]

Yeah, sure! … Like this one, right?

I cannot express my deepest disgust with the term terrorist! It has become the most misused term of all languages!Seriously!  

This is so heart breaking! What kind of a lifetime is this?!TYRE, Lebanon (CNN) — The last time I sat down to write something, it was about the cost of war. As I looked ahead to the coming days, the last words I wrote were: Who will die?

Today, I found out.

Standing in front of this 8-year-old boy lying in a hospital bed, the “conflict in the Middle East” and the “cost of war” seem endless and suffocating. His pain cannot possibly be imagined as he shakes uncontrollably in and out of shock. He has blood coming from his eyes.

His name is Mahmood Monsoor and he is horribly burned. In the hospital bed next to him is his 8-month-old sister, Maria — also burned.

This story, for the Monsoor family, started out as a typical one, probably one that most of us have experienced. They had simply gone on a family vacation to some lovely sunny beaches, but these beaches were in southern Lebanon.

The six of them, like thousands of others, were fleeing the fighting — trying to get north, waving white flags, when an Israeli bomb or missile slammed into their car. (Watch how the littlest victims are suffering — 2:54. Viewer discretion is advised.)

Today, as I finish I am sitting in the same spot and the shells are still falling. Hezbollah rockets are firing toward northern Israel. I can imagine another reporter, in another flak jacket, standing over an 8-year old Israeli boy.

I’ll finish by asking another question: Are any of us making a difference?

Tomorrow, I’ll let you know.

More from Cal Perry of CNN’s Behind the Scenes

Quite impressive. I wish we were all as thankful and not selfish as Faerlie is…

Staying On
Why I’m not evacuating Beirut.
By Faerlie Wilson

From my balcony this afternoon, I watched as French, British, and American evacuees boarded chartered cruise ships in Beirut’s port about a half-mile west of my apartment.

And over the last few days, while bombs and artillery pummeled the southern part of the city, I made the decision not to leave Lebanon. Explosions rock my building even as I write this, but I’m staying put.

I’m not crazy, and I harbor no death wish. This is simply the rational decision of someone who has built a life in Lebanon, who believes in this place and its ability to bounce back. I choose to bet on Beirut.

After five visits to Lebanon over as many years, I moved to Beirut from California this February. I’m a 24-year-old American with friends but no family here. But Lebanese hospitality makes it easy to feel at home; it’s a warm society that exudes and embodies a sense of interpersonal responsibility. Live here for two weeks and then go out of town, and you’ll get a dozen offers to pick you up at the airport upon your return. (Read on …)

Over dinner this past weekend, Maryam -my sister- goes around the dinner table asking every single person at the table the same question: “Are you proud to be an American?” the answers were quite unique and varying. The explanations to why each chose her answer were even more interesting. Anyway, I wont get into the details of that conversation here, but this article ( a long read, but worth it) puts a completely different perspective on being proud to be an American:

Do you know that Israel is engaged in ethnic cleansing in southern Lebanon? Israel has ordered all the villagers to clear out. Israel then destroys their homes and murders the fleeing villagers. That way there is no one to come back and nothing to which to return, making it easier for Israel to grab the territory, just as Israel has been stealing Palestine from the Palestinians. (Read on …)

One thing that really really really really turns me off in a man - or anyone for that matter is hypocricy.

If you strongly believe in something, despite the fact that it goes against society’s norms and you feel strongly about it and view it under your own set of standards and is in accordance with your principle then just do it! But if you don’t believe so, don’t do it out of ‘looking good to the rest’

I had my own similar experiences when visiting Palstine. It irritates me seeing graffiti on the walls, piles and piles of garbage in the street, cars slamming into each other…there is no order what-so-ever …and when asked “why is there graffiti on this wall?” or “Why don’t you use the garbage can next to you instead of throwing it on the floor?” or “Why did you drive through that red light?” or “Why are the kids running in the middle of the street barefoot?” The answer is always well , this is all a result of the occupation. Like Magnus says, Many things here can be blamed on the Israeli occupation, but can the mind-set of the people be? Palestinians need to take advantage of what ever resources they have and make sure that their Palestine is beautiful with clean streets, clean walls, clean homes, nice gardens. I’ve walked through villages and towns that were extremely clean and well maintained, however I walked through many more that looked worst than the biggest slums…and that is a very depressing site. The town people can and have the capability to maintain their towns by having kids in summer camp take on projects that include cleaning the streets, planting flowers and much more. We can only blame the occupation for so much. We should not allow it to take control of our mind-set! If we cannot handle a simple task as keeping our towns clean, how are we supposed to head a state?!

This is what Magnus of Ma’an Images Johansson has to share: (Read on …)