GO RACHEL CORRIE June 4, 2010

BREAKING: MV Rachel Corrie approached rapidly by Israeli navy

June 4th, 2010 | by Jesse Bacon | Add a Comment

By Jesse Bacon

I was interviewing Mairead Maguire, Irish Nobel Peace Laureate, when the MV Rachel Corrie was rapidly approached by the Israeli Navy, 65 miles from Gaza. We ended the call to keep the line clear. Hopefully the whole world really is watching.

http://theonlydemocracy.org/2010/06/breaking-mv-rachel-corrie-approached-rapidly-by-israeli-nav/

First Arab Woman goes to North Pole

Elham Al-Qasimi is the first Arab woman to go to the North Pole. Here is a video from CNN: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/international/2010/06/02/ime.arctic.arab.woman.bk.f.cnn


Here's her blog:
http://elhamalqasimi.com/

Go Elham! Let's see how the media will cover this following Rima Fakih's story and SATC 2

Update: Flotilla and #flotillafreedom finally trending on twitter

Finally they are trending! Yesterday there was censorship over flotilla, today, it showed up as trending topic! Spread the word everyone, let the whole world know who the real terrorists are! Keep it up - we are so technologically advanced these days and this can help in so many ways! Spread the truth While you're at it check the hype on twitter, it's breathtaking.


Trending: Worldwide

Spinner Change

* #4wordsbeforedeath
* #freedomflotilla
* #memorialday
* Mockus
* iPads
* Flotilla
* Quit Facebook
* Cookouts
* Bofo
* Oil Spill


My twitter home page:


1. Electronic Intifada intifada

We, from Gaza, call on you to demonstrate and support the courageous men and women who went on the #FreedomFlotilla http://j.mp/9KuDRl 3 minutes ago via Nambu Retweeted by Zeinobia and 7 others

2. Zeinobia Zeinobia

"Photo from Getty Images" via @Daylife - http://www.daylife.com/photo/0duF0ze229597 #Gaza #flotilla 2 minutes ago via web

3. Joshua IsraeliSoldier

'Where is Gilad? Where is Gilad' shouts the protestors 2 minutes ago via TweetDeck

4. Tamer Mowafy kalimakhus

RT @Amiralx: RT @jonjensen: Protesters shouting "Down with Israel!" and praise for Turkey. #freedomflotilla #Cairo #Egypt 5 minutes ago via TweetDeck Retweeted by Zeinobia

5. Engy Ghozlan EngyG

RT @kalimakhus RT @Amiralx: RT @jonjensen: Protesters shouting "Down with Israel!" and praise for Turkey. #freedomflotilla #Cairo #Egypt 4 minutes ago via Nambu

6. Engy Ghozlan EngyG

RT @moselim RT @mrmeit: مصادر: النواب المصريين بخير ، وهم أسري الأن لدي الكيان الصهيوني http://bit.ly/a1hmAM #Egypt #freedomflotilla 4 minutes ago via Nambu

7. Joshua IsraeliSoldier

Crowds continue to grow. Amazing mix of people here 5 minutes ago via TweetDeck


8. Engy Ghozlan EngyG

RT @3arabawy thousands of protesters inside the mosque it's almost full. There r protesters outside.police dispersing them via @mohamedwaked 5 minutes ago via Nambu


9. twibbon.com twibbon

Stay healthy! Today is World No Tobacco Day. Get your Twibbon here - http://bit.ly/b3gxWn 5 minutes ago via web

10. Sarahcarr Sarahcarr

Biggest demo since 2008. Very orderly. 9 minutes ago via Ping.fm Retweeted by Zeinobia and 2 others


11. Engy Ghozlan EngyG

RT @ielsakka RT @wael RT @souhail_: The police is using tear gas against protestors approaching the israel embassy in Paris #FreedomFlotilla 7 minutes ago via Nambu


12. cathypreety cathypreety


13. Joshua IsraeliSoldier

Never thought I'd enjoy Israelis honking their car horns so much... 7 minutes ago via TweetDeck

14. Engy Ghozlan EngyG

Demo in Cairo #freedomflotilla RT @Sarahcarr Biggest demo since 2008. Very orderly.

Happy Memorial day: Flotilla carrying aid to Gaza attacked!

TOday is Memorial day. TOday, also an international aid flotilla was attacked on the way to Gaza! Read the article below for more information, stay informed, tell people about it, protest. This is a human rights issue! Stand up for humanitarian rights! Let's remember the killing of innocent people, innocent volunteers going to Gaza to help children, women, innocent people who are affected by the Israeli government. Twitter it also and make it a trend:#flotilla

We are with you Gaza. We are with you flotilla, you are our heroes today.

I'll blog with any updates.

10 killed in Israeli attack on aid flotilla bound for Gaza

JERUSALEM, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Israeli forces on Monday attacked an international flotilla carrying aid to besieged Gaza, killing at least 10 people, an Israeli television reported.

A human rights organization Free Gaza Movement also said clashes happened between an international aid flotilla bound for Gaza and Israeli navy, causing several casualties.

Israeli commandos dropped from a helicopter onto the deck of a Turkish ship at about 4:30 a.m. and immediately opened fire on unarmed civilians.

Israel Defense Forces spokesman's office cannot confirm the report at the press time.

Live image from the flotilla shows that Israeli soldiers from the helicopter and a number of speedboats boarded one of the ships at night. Activists wearing life vests were treating what appeared to be injuries for unknown reasons.

Israeli navy on Sunday night sighted the pro-Palestinian "Freedom Flotilla" bound for the Gaza Strip and ordered the convoy to dock at an Israeli harbor.

Troops boarded the flotilla and clashed with the activists after they ignored Israeli orders to turn back, Turkey's NTV reported Monday.

The flotilla of six ships set sail from a port in Cyprus on Sunday and was expected to reach Gaza by Monday morning, Al-Jazeera reported.

The flotilla, originally made up of nine ships from Turkey, Britain, Ireland, Greece, Kuwait and Algeria, were carrying around 10,000 tons of aid including cement, water purification systems and wheelchairs. One of the ships had not arrived and two others had been damaged.

Sex and the city 2 vs. hijabies in the city

So I watched Sex and the City 2 and wow do I have some mixed feelings about it.

First of all it's filled with stereotypes. Rich Arabs in "Abu Dhabi," dubbed the "new middle-east" which equals to "modernized." So the four ladies go to Abu Dhabi and stay at this super luxurious hotel with fancy shmancy butlers and food. The ladies are awed by the females who are at the hotel, wearing 'niqwab' which is actually supposed to be 'niqab.' I mean if you're going to make a film in an Arab country (the filmed was set in Morocco by the way) then at least get the Arabic words right.

Anyway, so they think it's funny how the niqwab-ed ladies eat french fries and poke some fun at them as well as the female swimmers in burkini's (a head to toe swimmin suit). At that same scene, however, they were talking about how pretty a girl's abaya was because of it's embroidery and this was popular among young liberal females.

Fast forward to dull, unoriginal boring scenes, (and a couple of Samanatha's disturbing scenes which I thought gave American ladies a bad image --i.e. think sexual desires at 52) and in the end you see some niqwab-ed ladies take off their head covering and abayas and are dressed in sexy stylish clothing and look hot.

Anyway, the movie emphasized that in Abu Dhabi (or any Muslim country), people dressed modestly and mixing and touching of the opposite sex is illegal (Samantha got arrested for what she was doing on the beach).

At times it portrayed Arab men as controllers, but it also showed that American men the same way as the lawyer lady (I forgot her name) kept being silenced by her male colleagues). So treatment of women was an issue in the movie, that both American, Arab, Muslim, non-Muslim females can be treated negatively and unfairly.

However, most of the strict scenes that happened in the movie, is most likely not true in a country as liberal and diverse and UAE. I mean if this movie took place in Saudi Arabia, then I'd understand.

Now, for any non-muslim who sees the movie and wonders if arab women are really like that, I'll leave you with a question. Are all american women like samantha?

It was also a bit awkward to walk out of the movie theatre after the movie was done with my friends (being all hijabi's and the movie had a bunch of stereotypes). But we wore stylish clothes, handbags, sunglasses, and walked out in confidence with our hijabs on proudly and out into the city -- Hijabies in the city.


Here's an article that critics the movie:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/25/sex-and-the-city-2-review_n_589155.html

Bear hugs: spreading the love, one cartoon at a time

It's May 20, "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day."

If I had to leave every or page on Facebook except for one, it would be the "It's not that serious" page.

So you've probably heard about South Park controversy where South park depicted Prophet Muhammad as a bear. South Park then censored the episode after the creators were threatened by some guy who claims he's a Muslim and thinks he's tough, apparently.

I found the cartoon offensive. Other Muslims had found the cartoon offensive. But it's South Park. Doesn't the show poke fun at everything and everyone? Including Jesus and Moses. So why didn't Mr. Chester (of Revolution Muslim Website who posted the warning), say something a long time ago when they were being made fun of? All prophets are created equally and we should respect all. People watch South Park because of its satirical, profane humor. It's just a cartoon, therefore it's not that serious to threaten people's lives.

But Mr. Chester took it personally and threatened to kill the creators of South Park, which the media loved and made a big deal out of anything relating to such "Muslims are evils, see I told you" type of news stories because that's what people want to watch and read about.

So, on behalf of bunch of other Muslims who were flabbergasted at what Mr. Chester had said, let me clarify a couple of things. Be warned: the media might not like what I may have to say and maybe even ignore it.

A Jewish woman once brought a lamb that was poisoned to the Prophet Muhammad and he ate it. Afterward, people suggested they kill the woman. But the Prophet refused, although he felt the effects of the poison for years. The Prophet was a forgiving person. In another story, Prophet Muhammad had stones thrown at him by the people of Al-Taif. He bled from head to toe. He could have then asked cursed the people or punish them, but no. He prayed for them. In another example, Prophet Muhammad had sheep intestines thrown at him while he was prostrating in prayer, and he just prayed for justice.

See? It was all not that serious to the Prophet Muhammad. Did he threaten to kill anyone who harmed him? His acts were peaceful, just like a Muslim's acts should be. Just like any human being's acts should be. And if you did find the cartoon offensive because our beloved Prophet was mocked, then express your feelings in other ways. Blog about it. Create dialogue with others. Write a letter to the editor. Send the creators a message telling them it was offensive to you and other Muslims. But it will still go on. People will make fun of prophets and have been making fun of prophets and religion for a long period of time. There are other ways to let the anger out. In a peaceful way.

Prophet Muhammad would give a bear hug (no pun intended) to his enemies if he could, because he was so merciful and just.

As for the Facebook group "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" on May 20, it's your freedom to draw whatever you wish, if it makes you feel good about yourselves. However, Muslims will not threaten to kill you. We will just invite you to read about who Prophet Muhammad really was.

So on a final note to Mr. Chester, South Park Creators, creators of the Facebook group, and the media: I'll quote the Joker: "Why so serious?"

Because it's not that serious. It's just a cartoon, get over it. Now let's just give each other bear hugs and spread love and peace throughout the world! And draw non-offensive cartoon, as well.

What are your opinions and thoughts?

Sorry it's been a while: updates, hummus, MISS USA, immigration laws!

I apologize for not keeping up to date on my blog. I don't think anyone reads this, but one day maybe someone will! Anyway some updates on things that happned the past couple of weeks:

Saudi Woman beats up virtue cop <--- sweet!

Elvis Costello cancels Israel Concerts <-- even more sweet!

Muslim designers mix the hijab with latest fashions <--- i like hijabi fashion

CAIR Video: Fla. Mosque Attack Called Terrorism, Reward Offered <--- not sweet

Arizona Ethnic Studies Classes Banned, Teachers With Accents Can No Longer Teach English <--- pathetic along with the new illegal immigration law

Congratulations America, a Muslim is Miss USA 2010 <--- seriously the most ironic thing ever. someone representing america is 'muslim and arab' hahaha. bahaha. oh and dont forget since president obama is "muslim" also, and wasn't even born in the "u.s." we have two people represeting the usa who are muslims. be. afraid. be. very. afraid. they. are. taking. over.

and the best for last (dedicated to this blog)
Biggest Serving of Hummus ever made

Not in the mainstream media: Arab-American sworn into Lackawanna office

Arab-American sworn into Lackawanna office

Well, this is good.

Arab-American sworn into Lackawanna office
By Dale Anderson
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: January 05, 2010, 10:13 pm / 19 comments
Published: January 04, 2010, 6:36 am

It was proud day Sunday for Abdulsalam Noman.

Before a crowd of about 200 family members and friends from Lackawanna’s Yemenite community, the incoming First Ward Council member took the oath of office on his father’s copy of the Quran and became the city’s first Arab-American elected government official.

He’s also the first Arab-American elected to public office in New York State and only the second in the nation. The first was in Michigan.

Lackawanna, which counts 4,000 Yemenites among its 18,000 population, also has elected two Arab- American School Board members, one of whom currently serves on the board.

All of Noman’s five brothers, including the one from Michigan, and three sisters attended the ceremony in Curly’s Banquet Facility on Ridge Road. Lackawanna City Judge Frederic Marrano swore in Noman.

Missing were only his uncle in Arizona, who wasn’t feeling well enough to make the trip, and his father, Kassim, who died in November, two weeks after Noman was elected.

“I’m proud to be an American citizen,” the new Council member said Sunday.

Noman came to Lackawanna from Yemen in 1975 with his mother and one of his sisters, two years after his father emigrated. They followed his uncle, who came to work in the steel plant in the 1950s, and another sister. The other brothers and sister came later.

He graduated from Lackawanna High School and earned a history degree at the University at Buffalo in 1986. Now the father of four, he has been a teacher’s aide and Arabic translator for the Lackawanna City School District, and the high school soccer coach, a job not nearly as bruising as the campaign for the First Ward Council seat.

“It was a tough election,” he said Sunday night. “There were four running in the primary and three candidates in November. It helped that the endorsed Democrat [Joseph Jerge, whom he defeated in the primary] threw his support behind me.”

Among his hopes as a Council member is to add more diversity to the city’s work force, which currently has only two Arab-Americans.

As for the troubles in his native land, he said he’ll be glad to see the United States send military aid to the Yemenite government.

“What’s going on over there is unacceptable,” he said. “I’d like to see the United States root it out. I support President Obama 100 percent.”

United we stand--Christians and Muslims in Egypt?

From what I read, this started when a "Coptic" raped an Egyptian girl a couple months ago. So the "Muslims" wanted revenge and attacked a Church. What the hell? You people live together, are neighbors, work together, go to school together. What's with all the stupidity? Both sides need to calm down a bit and stop playing the 'you started it you deserved it' game. What happened to Egyptians bonding, regardless of religion? Christians and Muslims are friends, especially in Egypt. And watch Hasan w Mor2os for a refresher.

Link: Suspects in Egypt's Christmas slayings surrender