Bits and Bobs

The largest musakhan dish in the whole wide world was made today, in the village of Arourah in the Ramallah district. That's 3arourah. We are still awaiting pictures, and would have gone to the actual event if not for some inconvenient movie screening. This marks the third time we enter the Guiness Book of World Records, the previous two times for the biggest plate of knafe in Nablus and the longest thobe/traditional dress in Hebron. There was something about having the longest caricature on the Apartheid Wall as another record-breaker but we haven't heard anything. Watch Israel counteract by making the biggest 'heritage food' sample ever. Their falafel and hummus stink!

These dangnabbitty strikes are confuddling the shiznit out of us. This week was supposed to an open strike, yet on Saturday by the trusted (not) student grapevine we heard that no, there will be classes on Monday, then yesterday on the news the ticker presented the news that all public universities will be on strike Monday...Birzeit isn't a public university since the salaries don't come from the rotten PA...but because the decision came from the Higher Education Board, we thought that meant all universities. As a result, we didn't go to our classes today, and instead spent a lovely afternoon eating the heinously overpriced legendary Rukab ice cream.

The 36th Prisoners' Day was commemorated on the 17th in Gaza and the West Bank, where thousands of families turned out to morally support their loved ones in Israeli jails. Events were organized, and the kids had something to enjoy to soften the pain of losing their fathers to the occupation. In Ramallah, a half-assed demonstration, much like the one about the Infiltrator Order, was on show.

The Iceland volcano causing disruption all over Europe has a most beguiling name. Eyjafjallajokull. And we thought Kilimanjaro was hard to pronounce, with all the glottal and nasal sounds..ahem.

Old man Abbas has stated the groundbreaking revelation that Israel does NOT have the right to deport any Palestinian, and that the PA will simply not stand for it! You go Abbas! What has your government done so far about the 200 Palestinians already deported? Dick.