Monday, January 26, 2009

A lesson in "Freedom of Speech"

Last week, Rush Limbaugh (here) a right wing talk show host, expressed his wishes for Obama to fail as a president. He said that his success would mean that liberalism would win and as a staunch conservative he does not want that to happen.

While meeting with senators on Friday, Obama jocked about it, warning the republicans from listening to Limbaugh if they want to get anything done. The media did not like that Obama mention the radio host thinking that is exactly what Limbaugh wanted !!!

Now, I don't know if you realize what it means for someone to want for his president to fail and thus for the country to fail, which is unpatriotic? In other countries this guy would have been accused of treason and jailed if he does not just disappear :).

What is amazing is that obviously Obama was irritated by this guy since he mentioned it in his meeting, and that the reaction of the analysts was that he should not have done that!!

Amazing, right? In fact it is not, it is the culture of freedom of speech. In arab countries, such incidents won't happen soon because we will never dare talk like Limbaugh, even though in this case he is pushing it. But this is not the first time. Here is an excerpt from an interview he did recently that was released today (here):

"We are being told that we have to hope he succeeds, that we have to bend over, grab the ankles, bend over forward, backward, whichever, because his father was black, because this is the first black president."

:)) This is just food for thoughts. I think it is too late of our generation to witness such freedom in our country, but if we raise our children to be self-confident, allowing them to talk about anything, question anything and discuss any matter, not shutting them down anytime they open their mouth, we'd probably give them a chance we'll never have...... but I still hope they don't talk like Limbaugh though :)

Sunday, January 25, 2009

I really can't understand the BBC decision ???

The BBC (here) refused to broadcast a charity appeal for Gaza aid. This ad is ordered by a Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) which includes the British red cross as one of its members. The reason invoked by the BBC is that by broadcasting the ad, it will compromise the impartiality of the network?? Isn't it obvious that by not broadcasting, it is just implying that?.....

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

President Obama's words to dictators and others...

“To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.”




“To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.”

Friday, January 9, 2009

What You Don't Know About Gaza ..

By RASHID KHALIDI
Published: January 7, 2009 by NY Times


NEARLY everything you've been led to believe about Gaza is wrong. Below are a few essential points that seem to be missing from the conversation, much of which has taken place in the press, about Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip.

THE GAZANS Most of the people living in Gaza are not there by choice. The majority of the 1.5 million people crammed into the roughly 140 square miles of the Gaza Strip belong to families that came from towns and villages outside Gaza like Ashkelon and Beersheba. They were driven to Gaza by the Israeli Army in 1948.

THE OCCUPATION The Gazans have lived under Israeli occupation since the Six-Day War in 1967. Israel is still widely considered to be an occupying power, even though it removed its troops and settlers from the strip in 2005. Israel still controls access to the area, imports and exports, and the movement of people in and out. Israel has control over Gaza's air space and sea coast, and its forces enter the area at will. As the occupying power, Israel has the responsibility under the Fourth Geneva Convention to see to the welfare of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip.

THE BLOCKADE Israel's blockade of the strip, with the support of the United States and the European Union, has grown increasingly stringent since Hamas won the Palestinian Legislative Council elections in January 2006. Fuel, electricity, imports, exports and the movement of people in and out of the Strip have been slowly choked off, leading to life-threatening problems of sanitation, health, water supply and transportation.
The blockade has subjected many to unemployment, penury and malnutrition. This amounts to the collective punishment — with the tacit support of the United States — of a civilian population for exercising its demoocratic rights.

THE CEASE-FIRE Lifting the blockade, along with a cessation of rocket fire, was one of the key terms of the June cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. This accord led to a reduction20in rockets fired from Gaza from hundreds in May and June to a total of less than 20 in the subsequent four months (according to Israeli government figures). The cease-fire broke down when Israeli forces launched major air and ground attacks in early November; six Hamas operatives were reported killed.

WAR CRIMES The targeting of civilians, whether by Hamas or by Israel, is potentially a war crime. Every human life is precious. But the numbers speak for themselves: Nearly 700 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed since the conflict broke out at the end of last year. In contrast, there have been around a dozen Israelis killed, many of them soldiers. Negotiation is a much more effective way to deal with rockets and other forms of violence. This might have been able to happen had Israel fulfilled the terms of the June cease-fire and lifted its blockade of the Gaza Strip.
This war on the people of Gaza isn't really about rockets. Nor is it about "restoring Israel's deterrence," as the Israeli press might have you believe. Far more revealing are the words of Moshe Yaalon, then the Israeli Defense Forces chief of staff, in 2002: "The Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people."

Rashid Khalidi, a professor of Arab studies at Columbia, is the author of the forthcoming “Sowing Crisis: The Cold War and American Dominance in the Middle East."

source via TunisNews.net

Thursday, January 8, 2009

براس والديكم اقلبوا علينا هالصّحن



ينعنبو التطّرّف الدّيني وينعل جدّ بو العلمانيّة و مذهب بو العقلانيّة و اليمين واليسار و حتّي الوسط المعتدل و تحيا الحريّة...

الزّح الواحد ولّي السّتراس قاتلو و ولّى كلّ شيي يجي بش يقولو يخاف لا ترصّلو في سبّة و تطييح قدر و هذا بهيم و لاخر كافر ولا كان سلّكها يتحطّ علي اليمين الاستغلالي ولاّ اليسار اللي ما عادش لاموضة و يولّي الواحد منّا يسيّب كلّ شي و يقعد يحلف اللي هو خاطيه و يدافع علي روحو كاينّو قدّام محكمة ..

ولّيت كي نحكي مع مرتي ولا الاولاد و نقول "واللّه" نغزر منّا و منّا نقول يسمعنيش واحد يقول خوانجي وكان واحد استدعاك بش تعمل كاس تتفجع و تقلّو "اش تكلم بشويّا" ولّاشي الواحد متكتك ماللي يتكتب علي المدوّنات

أنا زعما في بالي بعد أكثر من عشرين سنة في الغربة سايي خرجت من القالب و من الضغوط متاع المجموعة و كسبت خبرة و ثقة في النفس تسمحلي بش نقرا و نتبسّم لكن في هذا الفضاء الافتراضي متاع تن بلوغ كلّ حدث يولي ليه دعوة بالدين و اللا دين تبداشى بصّة و تقول كيفاش اختيار شخصى كيما هذا يولّي بهذه الأهمية تي هاو الحكاية فاتت الكورة و حتّي محبّين الترجي و الأفريقي ما عادش لاقين فضاء يتكلموا فيه يتعاركو و يسبّوا بعضهم فيه علي راحتهم , موضوع شخصي كيف الدين و اللا دين احتكر هذا الفضاء و شلّو و زيد فوق من هذا الموضة انك كان حكيت حكاية ما عندهاش دعوة بالدين ولا بغزّة يجيوك الجماعة متاع الوعض والارشاد و يعطييوك بالبوكس عي مناخيرك... تي ما لاحظتوش قدّاش من مدوّن بطّل يكتب وهذا في حدّ ذاته نوع من الصنصرة والقمع

لكن الحمدالله مشيت عملت حصص عند البسي و رجّعني للطريق الصواب الا وهو الحرية ,الحرية في ما أفكّر و في ما أفعل و في ما أحلم و في ما أحب و في ماأكره و مع من أتفاعل , و مع هذا ساحترم و أقري كل ما يكتب في هذا الفضاء و لن أحكم علي الاشخاص ولن احاول حتي أن أعرف هل هم من محبّي الترجّي أو الافريقي أو حتّى النّجم السّاحلي..

تحيا الحرّية و يسقط القالب