Good Shit

The first time we listened to this, our mouths stayed open a full ten seconds after the track had finished. Talk about killing it. Keep an ear out for the reference to Terrorist Goldstein.

End of Week Musings

Is it the end of another week? Thank Allah for time flying by.

*Stress. We whole-heartedly do NOT embrace you. You do funny things to our brains. You make our hair fall out. You make us eat bland tasteless peas. Please go away.

*Awesome weather. Raining non-stop for two days lifts our spirits no joke. WE.LOVE.RAIN!!

*BZU..sort out the strikes teachers and students! We don't want to finish this semester in the middle of July!

*People..they've been quiet and boring around us. Do something interesting dammit.

16 Years Since The Ibrahimi Mosque Massacre

On an early Friday morning in the month of Ramadan in 1994, a despicable racist criminal thug that goes by the name of Barukh Goldstein murdered 29 Palestinian men and boys who were praying the dawn prayer in the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron. This filthy animal, dressed in Israeli soldier's garb, opened fire with the men's backs turned, using hand grenades and a machine gun. It was the beginning of a horrifying day. The honorable IDF had full knowledge of this murderer's actions, as he had to pass through two checkpoints. Furthermore, they were responsible for closing the mosque's doors to prevent anyone from escaping. Protests took to the streets, with the IDF treating them as a battlefield, shooting at will and imposing a curfew on the city. Those who were helping the injured or carrying away the dead were shot at. Those who went to the hospital to donate blood were also shot at. At the end of the day, 60 people were killed. This heinous crime by a radical ibn kalb will never be forgotten. It will always be remembered in the pages of Palestine. To top all of this, the Israeli cabinet announced on Sunday that the Ibrahimi Mosque is now on the list of Israeli Heritage Sites. WTF?

Reham Alhelsi has written an excellent account of this massacre at http://avoicefrompalestine.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/one-friday-morning-in-occupied-palestine-the-ibrahimi-mosque-massacre-25-02-1994/.

Meen irhabi?

What's Going On Peeps

It's only Tuesday, but it already it feels like a long tiring week. Crawling through a paper on a very tight deadline was exhausting enough, then to find out after midnight that the due date has been postponed makes one howl like a deranged wolf at the moon. Never mind waking the neighbors up! Rising early to review for an exam and realize after half an hour you've toiled through two pages is not good either. Going home and sleeping for 3 hours straight is amazing though. According to our ever reliable student council (who do absolutely squat for the students, continuing on with the theme of Arab power and negligence of their people), there is a strike tomorrow Wednesday, in co-operation with the other student councils in the West Bank. The reasons are vague. Ok we don't know. We have a right to know of course. But really, a three day weekend is enough to make us shut our mouths and just go with the flow. Thursday is a day off too. The strikes will be every week Wednesdays and Thursdays, until the student councils get whatever it is they want. A rumor was floated around, something about the ministry of education stealing the money that was supposed to be for the students and scholarships. Gosh, we have such a bum deal. Happy 3 Day Weekend everyone!

End of Week Musings

* Go Bil'in protesters!! They managed to tear down 30 meters of the Apartheid Wall, which set the honorable IDF back a few hundred thousand sheikals. Then the protestors got sprayed by nasty sewage water.
haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1151032.html

* We met up (more like invited ourselves) with one third of Jerusalem's Arab rap group G-town. Nice chatting with you Muhammad Mughrabi!

* Busy week ahead, exams and papers and research..better get stocked up on shay and kirshella.

"...And that is to Resist!"

We have stumbled upon this gem of a poem and instead of hoarding it forever and for more, we decided to share it with you. The voice of this poem is Nader Abusumaya, an Arab American living in Chicago.


I was told 2 wrongs don’t make a right, but four rights make a box,

enclosed fixtures, locked and guarded wit 8 shot glocks.
I don’t got no time for circular motions, floating ideas, or miracle potions
Notions that prologue status quos, like armed Israeli soldiers facing sling shots wit stones
Or eighty year old souls clutching keys and deeds
Watching TVs that praise progress made for this so-called Mideast peace
Yo, I aint progressive, or idealist, a neo-con or a realist
I’m a straight aiming, steady-shot, hip hop in my veins, one stop shop, chip off the whole block
My moms and pops dropped
Their third seed on the 13th of September
Instilled nationalistic pride,
Instead of Santa, I’m sending letters to Palestine but they come back return to sender
maybe I forgot a stamp, or misaddressed it, I swore man I double checked it,
maybe that’s it….my mistake….next time fuck a pencil, im using some shit wit ink
permanently written, this time no excuses….but same story man, damn, this shits useless
Like Palestinian passports, or broken seatbelts going 85 on a head on crash course
Ha, that was funny….. like axis of evil comedy tours, but instead of punch lines I'm coming through rapidly wit force
Last resorts are plenty to come by….as this thick tear gas prevents me from seeing the sunshine
Learning to keep one eye open in my deep sleep
But I don’t got a good view as if im sitting in the cheap seats
Wit Bloody noses, IDF soldiers scattering crowds faster than white cops wit fire hoses
6 day wars imploded on contact, serine summer days voided like contracts,
I’ma combat erroneous facts, like mislabeled maps, I’m taken it back like spinal taps
You steady denying my existence? Calling me stubborn, but I am UNDENIABLY persistent,
I believe in One land for Muslims, Jews, and Christians
Olive trees, donkeys and chickens
Rolling hills, mountains, breathtaking views, unrestricted family visits
I’m all about Freedom fighters, graffiti writers, grass roots organizers
Minors that refuse the violence
Instead climbing Apartheid walls, slinging rocks and South African diamonds
I gotta deal with stagnated politics, fancy rhetoric, leaders falling asleep at the wheel like truck drivers on sedatives
The revolution will not be televised, instead I’ma blast fax it
My space alerts, facebook, and text messages, but that’s it
Its that quick, even faster than Zionist bastards reloading Uzi clips
Loosening grips of the nooses, I got my mind set on starting the next movement
From Palestinian streets in Jenin, Abu Qash, Tul Karem, Haifa, to beit Jeeze
to these chi town streets
Biting back the hand that feeds you,
or in this case
we fighting the man that’s evil
imperialistic prerogatives cramping my style?
Got me Hell bent on revenge, as I rage inside wit a half smile
As I stretch out my right arm and clutch a fist
We only got one option comrades
And that is
To resist!


thanks to kabobfest

Amreeka..Not What It's All Cracked Up to Be

This lovely movie from first timer Cherien Dabis tells the story of single mother Muna Farah and her son, Fadi, who make the big decision to leave their home in Bethlehem and go to the US and A. Borat is on this hag's mind, how can one ever forget that naked wrestling scene? Ahem..no more digressions. Mother and son go to a small town in Illinois where Muna's sister's family open up their home to them. See? The Arab hospitality knows no bounds. Muna has ten years of experience working in a bank plus two degrees but she found out the hard way that these credentials only get you a place at the local fast food restaurant in the land of opportunity. Fadi, although in the same class as his cousin, is having a hard time fitting in school where a few white boys personally blame him for one of their brother's dispatchment to Iraq. They call him Osama, associate him with Al-Qaida--which incidentally they spelled Al Kada on the cousin's car--even though Fadi is a Palestinian Christian. Those white boys think all brown people are the same duh. A laugh out loud moment is at the immigration center, where the man asks Muna "Your occupation?" and Muna replies with a relieved smile, "Yes..yes! We've been under occupation for more than 40 years!" Bless her heart. With the help and support of family and each other, the two new immigrants pass through the hardships, blending their heritage with the hard journey of finding a place to call home. From our experience, we would never go back to the US to live. As a 3 month vacation, but not to live. Eh..to each their own!

Activities for Activists

Ehna Gheer Voluntary Group is an organization that administers a number of voluntary work days on Palestinian land. Today, volunteers are to meet up at 8:30 AM in front of Baladna Ice Cream shop in Ramallah in order to go to the village of Al Mughayer, which has been subjected to repeated Israeli attacks on its land and as a result lost more than 400 trees. The volunteers today will help plant 150 if not more trees. For all you attention whores, Al Jazeera will be covering this event to show the world the Palestinian youth volunteering on their threatened land.

Of course, the weekly non-violent demonstration in Bil'in is also today, continuing its weekly protests that started in February 2005. Show some love, support, and amazing creativity!

Reel Bad Arabs

WOW was the first word that popped up in our heads after watching "Reel Bad Arabs" today in writing class. As in Goddamn-Mother-Heifer WOW. This is a documentary on how Hollywood vilifies and demonizes Arabs. Well that's what it says in this image anyway. In one part of the documentary a remark was made about the movie "Rules of Engagement" (Samuel L Jackson, perhaps a little too late, but it's on buddy) which at one point horribly maligns an 9/10 year old (if not younger) Arab girl. We were, at the very least disgusted with this. How can anyone denigrate a young child? So we got to thinking...what kind of idiot would believe that a young girl could be capable of such hatred and evil to the point where she holds a gun and starts shooting at the brave and brawny U.S Marines? Sadly there's an enormous number of imbeciles in this world who believe this crap. They believe in it even more when they see that the child is an Arab. An American kid in a movie would be portrayed maybe as a bully, a girly girl, rude, mean, sweet, kind- all the characteristics one would expect from a child, but never to the heinous extremes an Arab child is stereotyped as. To them (non-Arabs)all Arabs are "terrorists", which of course isn't anything new to us fobs. Other then children, Arabs in general have been portrayed as repugnant, lecherous, and hell-bent on making the world an inferno for the Western countries. The problem is, this isn't something new. Hollywood has been slandering Arabs since the 1940's. One of the most beloved cartoon movies of all time, Aladdin, has clear connotations of a 'barbaric' homeland. And yes, guess what, harems still exist! Chock full of subjugated veiled women belly-dancing like there's no tomorrow. The Arab race should not be used to entertain people in such a demeaning way, especially when they are always characterized in such a degrading manner. Take any movie, let's say Ah-nuld Shwarzenegger's "True Lies", and replace the word 'Arab' or 'Muslim' with 'Black' or 'Jewish'. Gasp--shocker! So how about this: Each race should vilify their own kind. For some, it would work better this way since there is no danger of a shortage of material. Dang, what a racist thing to say! If Americans want to vilify people then they should vilify themselves. Most of them are murderers, burglars, and rapists and would do anything to go to war and kill. Man, another racist thing to say! So keep in mind, dear ignoramuses, that Arab women in the REAL world are of a higher percentage than Arab males in universities. And that those who call for DEATH TO A-MARY-KA are a tiny minority that hide in caves or go underground and do NOT speak for an entire race of people. And that Arab men, with or without beards, are more concerned about their families and jobs, kinda like normal people! And that Arab children care more about playing and homework and hanging out with their play mates, which is what Suri Cruise will end up doing in a few years. Minus the homework part. And probably the play mates. From now on, learn to spot these crazy besmirching traducements about Arabs. We will like you more. And maybe invite you over for tabouleh one day.

SALAAAM

Hello bitches! Coming to you from the fruity tooty land that has known no calm since the days the dinosaurs roamed the planets..yes, including URANUS. This high school boy humor (or elementary..hmm) will unfortunately not be the staple of this pet blog of ours. Presented to you from the cleanly divided split personalities of two old hags, our grand total of two readers will be subjected to the mass abuse and whiny injustices that come with dragging our sore asses to the 'best' university in the Ramallah and its surrounding fob villages area, as well as highly amusing and thoughtful anecdotes of life under --ta-dum-- the occupation.

The original name for this treasured chest of ours was actually supposed to be Life on Bir Zift Campus, but maturity settled in at the last moment, after much hair pulling and bloody scratches between the hags.

Until then, bosom buddies!