| September 20, 2010
Art is not Life Begging is not Taking Anguish is not Progress Art is not Life “Is/Is Not” Part Two by Husayn Al-Kurdi Learning is Life Learning is Life Dedicated to the Professors of Revolution who decisively influenced my viewpoint: A.M. Aflaq and J.C. Terpstra |
Monday 20th September
The convoy was welcomed in the city of Vaulx-en-Velin, adjacent to Lyon, by the mayor, M Bernard Genin. The city has the distinction of being the only one in France to fly the Palestinian flag.
But not if the French government gets its way. The regional prefect, responsible for the central government administration of the area, has told the city that the flag has to come down.
‘I’ve written back to him to say that he’s welcome to try,’ responded the mayor, ‘if he can fight his way through the mass crowds who will defend it.’
The convoy left Paris early – the muster was 6am – after another night on the floor of the gymnasium. Most of the 85 had less than four hours sleep, but the road south was mainly motorway and the group, split into three elements, arrived at a service station outside Lyon shortly after 1pm. After a quick lunch provided by local supporters the convoy moved off first to the Hotel de Ville (town hall) in an ear-splitting cacophony of noise, horns honking and the sirens of the two Swedish ambulances screaming.
After the meeting with the mayor the convoy moved off again to the main square in Lyon, the Place Bellecour, parking the 36 vehicles in the middle of it and setting up a stage and amplification for a rally. Hundreds of people crowded around, dozens of postcards and posters were handed out and the organisers had to rebuff the appeals of dozens of people to come on the convoy to Gaza.
After another meal provided by VP local volunteers the convoyers were put up in a hotel, the first time they has slept on a mattress, between clean sheets since they set out.
Watch Press TV report on Convoy in Paris on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opgaEe34hG0
Watch convoy at La Place de La Bastille in Paris at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjVzDoujqOk
Altered image in state-run paper shows Egyptian president in lead role at Middle East peace talks
Al-Ahram’s doctored image of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and other leaders at the Middle East peace talks in Washington. Photograph: Al-AhramEgypt‘s oldest newspaper today defended its decision to publish a doctored photograph that appeared to put president Hosni Mubarak at the forefront of key figures at the Middle East peace talks in Washington.The original photo showed US president Barack Obama walking in the lead on a red carpet, with Israel’s prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah II slightly behind.
But the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper altered the image in its Tuesday edition to show Mubarak in the lead, with Obama slightly behind him to his right, then placed it over a broadsheet article titled “the Road to Sharm El Sheikh”, referring to the Egyptian Red Sea resort that hosted the second round of negotiations.
The original photograph of the five leaders. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty ImagesEgyptian bloggers and activists said the picture was an example of the regime’s deception of its own people. Critics also said the photo was an attempt to distract attention from Egypt’s waning role in the Middle East peace process.
But the newspaper’s editor-in chief, Osama Saraya defended the decision in an editorial today, saying the original photo had been published on the day talks began and the new version was only meant to illustrate Egypt’s leading role in the peace process.
“The expressionist photo is … a brief, live and true expression of the prominent stance of President Mubarak in the Palestinian issue, his unique role in leading it before Washington or any other,” Saraya wrote. The photo is still posted on the newspaper’s website.
Opponents of Mubarak’s near three-decade rule seized on the controversy to criticize the government, which is accused of widespread abuses aimed at suppressing dissent. Wael Khalil, the Egyptian blogger who first called attention to the altered photo, said it was a “snapshot” of what he called daily deception about a number of issues, including democratic change and social justice.
“They lie to us all the time,” he said. “Instead of addressing the real issues, they just Photoshop it.”
Saraya accused critics of launching a smear campaign against Al-Ahram, which was first published in 1876. The newspaper has enjoyed the widest circulation in Egypt but has faced a growing challenge in recent years from a new breed of private publications and the internet.
It is not unusual for Egyptian newspapers to retouch pictures of senior officials to improve their appearance or light.
A female CNN journalist heard about a very old Jewish man who had been going to the Western Wall to pray, twice a day, every day, for a long, long time.
So she went to check it out. She went to the Western Wall and there he was, walking slowly up to the holy site.
She watched him pray and after about 45 minutes, when he turned to leave, using a cane and moving very slowly, she approached him for an interview.
“Pardon me, sir, I’m Rebecca Smith from CNN. What’s your name?
“Morris Feinberg,” he replied.
“Sir, how long have you been coming to the Western Wall and praying?”
“For about 60 years.”
“60 years! That’s amazing! What do you pray for?”
“I pray for peace between the Christians, Jews and the Muslims. I pray for all the wars and all the hatred to stop. I pray for all our children to grow up safely as responsible adults, and to love their fellow man.”
“How do you feel after doing this for 60 years?”
“Like I’m talking to a fucking wall.”
Moral: I guess that Israelis should stop talking to walls and start to talk to people around them. Alternatively, if they are brave enough, they can also take a look in the mirror. By the time they do that peace will prevail.
I met the family of Mohammed by accident as I offered them a ride back from Gush Etzion colonial offices where they were seeking (unsuccessfully) a permit to enter Jerusalem for medical treatments (and I was called for questioning). What I learned about this family is almost unbelievable and could certainly be material for a whole book or at least a documentary.
The father was 12 year old when Israeli soldiers shot him in the head with a rubber coated steel bullet fragmenting his skull and damaging part of his brain. Ten years later, Israeli army officers severely beat and tortured him.
He got married to his cousin immediately after. The family originally comes from Al-Walaja village, the village was destroyed and ethnically cleansed in 1948. Most of this village land came under Israeli rule. The part that came under Jordanian rule was used to build a new Al-Walaja where some of the relatives returned and built homes in the early 1960s.
After having their first child, the young couple received a blessing in the form of a donation of a very small plot of land from their uncle and they built a humble one room house (literally one room) in Al-Walaja. Both had jobs.
They moved out of the refugee camp and lived in this house for 3 years during which time, they delivered their second child who then died at 18 days of age (by SIDS).
Then the Israeli army demolished the home saying that it was built without permit (Israel gave no permits for any houses in the village since the occupation began in 1967). The family rebuilt the house but Israeli threats forced them to abandon it and not live in it (Israel wants also some NIS 20,000 for the cost of destroying the home and wants to levy other fines on the family). So the young family lived in a small dwelling underground and without windows in the refugee camp of Dheisheh.
There, the third child (second who is alive) was born and they named him Mohammed. He turned out to have Bardet-Biedl Syndrome (a genetic disease characterized by obesity, eye problems, kidney problems, hexadactyly or six fingers and toes, developmental delay etc).
An uncle and an aunt of Mohammed (refugees in Jordan) died before age 20 with this condition). The first snow in years came and the roof collapsed. The husband had developed a psychiatric disorder and was treated at a local hospital. Both he and his wife were unable to hold jobs anymore. They had one more son (healthy) and she is now pregnant.
Thankfully, UNRWA rehabilitated the home in the refugee camp and the home in Al-Walaja remains unoccupied and unfinished (and no water or electricity). The family is loving, hopeful and steadfast (we call it sumud in Arabic). We spent a few hours during Eid Al-Fitr together and visited the home in Al-Walaja. I personally witnessed how the family cares for each other.
Their eldest son Khaled (in 5th grade) is simply brilliant and very loving for his two younger brothers. This is one of millions of Palestinian stories of tragedy and persistence after ethnic cleansing and under colonial occupation.
Hewlett Packard sells the Basel system technology to the Israeli military, so activists targeted stores in California asking back to school shoppers not to buy HP products.
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