israeli soldiers speaking out (Breaking the Silence) about their role in the daily brutal occupation of Palestine.

All israel has to do is simple: Accept to withdraw from all Arab lands it occupied in the 1967 war, accept the creation of a Palestinian state and agree to a just solution for Palestinian refugees. Today Condi appealed to Arab states to reach out to israel…and this is exactly what the Leaders of 21 of the Arab League’s 22 member states (Libya is boycotting the summit. I haven’t looked into why yet. I think boycotting should be illegal, for many out there are using it for the wrong reasons!) will do at the two-day Arab Summit starting Wednesday - the summit will focus on reviving the 2002 initiative. The initiative that Palestinians and Arabs will not settle for anything less than. The Arabs and Palestinians have been reaching out to israel for years now, it’s israel’s turn to reciprocate. If israel truly wants peace & stability in the region, it will accept the aforementioned…I’m inclined to say that the outcome of this summit is rather predictable… after all, israel’s main interest is expansion.

Let’s wait and see!

I Promise to:

Not complain no matter how tempting it may be
Not file my nails on the train
Pluck any piece of eyebrow hair as it becomes visible
Strictly follow my running training program
Buy my tennis outfit
Buy my ticket for the AAAEA dinner
Buy sunglasses
Get a pedicure
Go to dinner with Lilian now that she’s back from Brazil and catch up. I missed you, Lili
Finish reading The Audacity of Hope (this title is so loaded with meaning! I stare at it everyday repeating it silently to myself as I absorb its deep meaning)
–

I am not so sure what, exactly, has gotten into me lately. This whole entire month of March - the month in which my glorious existence is celebrated - has been the crappiest month of 2007 thus far! I am very thankful for the good things that have happened this month …after all, each day that I wake up breathing is supposed to be a good day…taken for granted? Yes…but good nonetheless…however, the bad seems to always overshadow the good…Why is that we humans always love to dwell on the bad?! Or am I the only special one? It happened, so what? It could’ve been much worse than that! Why not just let it go and move on…after all, tomorrow is another day!

Some are having a great time right now… while others are moping around feeling miserable… Why feel miserable over something you cannot control?!
Here are a few fundamentals of happiness I read in ‘Don’t Be Sad’ by Al-Qarni that I need to remind myself of today and every single day:
Know that if you do not live within the scope of today, your thoughts will be scattered, your affairs will become confused, and your worrying will increase - these realities explain the hadith: ‘When you are in the morning, do not expect to see the evening, and when you are in the evening, do not expect to see the morning.’

Forget the past and all that it contained. Being absorbed in things that are gone is sheer lunacy. [ ]

Do not be preoccupied with the future. Because the future is in the world of the unseen, do not let it bother you until it comes. (True, but you have to relatively plan for the future…you cannot be that spontaneous in every aspect of life…that’s when it becomes carelessness)

Do not be shaken by criticism; instead, be firm. And know that , in proportion to your worth, the level of people’s criticism rises.

Faith in Allah and good deeds: these are the ingredients that make up a good and happy life. (I’ve been relatively distant from God … which probably explain my state of restlessness)

Whoever desires peace, tranquility, and comfort can find it all in the remembrance of Allah (I so desire it …more than anything else!)

You should know with certainty that everything that happens, occurs in accordance with a divine decree (Yes, so why fret about it! it was meant to happen before I was even born!!)

Do not expect gratitude from anyone (I really don’t )

Relief comes from one hour to the next.

Calamities should strengthen your heart and reshape your outlook in a positive sense.

Indeed, with each difficulty there is relief.

Do not be angry…Do not be angry… Do not be angry. (that sentence in itself sounds too angry!)

Most evil that is supposed to happen never occurs. (I read this 20 times)

One more week to this March Madness’ end!

I’ll get back to reading the book for the 10th time!

:)

So, this is it …my last week in some place I’ve become to dread lately for many reasons I shall jot down in my mental diary!  I’ll be moving on to something more exciting, in a more vibrant enviornment. I am looking forward to it!

Heartbreaking. Can either Bush or Blair answer Baghdads’ children? A reminder* to all of us of the misery and hardship Baghdad, its men, women and children are enduring due to selfish, dirty politics. A great civilization in ruins, innocent men, women & children dead & continue to die. While ’scars are souvenirs you never lose,’ Baghdad la tata2alami … I hope for the day in which Iraqis are able to live in peace & harmony. I wish Baghdad, its men, women & children happily ever after…

*I have no idea why posting videos directly in the body of the post never works for me

I want to be able to travel through out Palestine without having to flash my passport at every checkpoint as I wait hours and hours to get to one city from another! I want to see children finishing a full academic year free of school closures due to israeli occupation… I want to see university students graduate on time without having to worry about making up the years missed spent in israeli jails…I would love to witness all that in my lifetime… Working together on any project that helps promote all these things to come possible , just peace, is something I’m a strong advocate for…But, as Hadil took the words right out of my mouth, some initiatives, as enthusiastic and genuine as they may be, never cease to amaze me with their shallowness.. As if 60 years of struggle, misery, injustice and despair…and political differences can be simply swept away with goofy posters! I also couldn’t help but notice how this project attempts to fight racism and prejudice while sticking posters on the very wall which represents the very concepts it’s trying to overcome. Talk about outright irony!

I saw the most despicable, ruthless action happen before my eyes as I was walking to lunch with my co-worker today. As I got near, I slowed down in shock trying to digest what I had just witnessed.

An older woman was walking on the sidewalk with her guide dog (obviously she’s not fully capable of seeing … possibly blind)… A middle aged man, smoking a cigarette, walking in the opposite direction.

The man intentionally stopped right in the middle of the sidewalk, facing the older woman approaching as he continued to smoke his cigarette. He literally stood there and did not move - waiting for her to bump into him. She walked right into him. I couldn’t really make out what she said to him, but she did sound angry.

I felt very sad for the woman and I almost followed the man and asked him what his problem was. My co-worker didn’t think it was a good idea and said: “ If you were a big man then, I wont mind you going up to him and punching the crap out of him, but he may as well be a psycho who will pull a gun out and wouldn’t have a problem using it.” I was still in shock and thinking out loud. Yes, it’s true that maybe he’s not mentally stable, but looking at him, one would never guess that this man is a bum or someone who would do such thing. I am not that gullible; I know that looks could be deceiving. But I’d like to believe that what I see is what I get sometimes. My God, and to think that this man could actually be a parent? Raising children? What an example! My co-worker, obviously wanting to change the subject said: “Iman, you just have to let it go. You have to believe that there are cruel people who live amongst us in this world. Not everyone is as caring and deep as you are. So what do you wanna eat?”

How can I enjoy my meal after seeing that?! But I tried.

It’s true when someone once said “I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me.” We often look for those who tend to agree with us on virtually every detail in life, forgetting that not much ‘value’ will be added to ours!

When you think you’ve seen it, read it, heard it all .. something pops up and proves you wrong … All I have to say is F$#% off! I don’t have time for jackasses!

Have a lovely week, everyone!

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt. What would you say? Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and —————

*inspired by a newspaper insert