16 November, 2005


Iraq's government faces calls for an international inquiry into abuse at a secret prison in Baghdad where inmates were reportedly tortured, beaten and starved.
The call by the Sunni-based Islamic Party on Wednesday comes after revelations that about 170 detainees, mostly Sunni, were illegally held at a centre run by the Shia-dominated Interior Ministry, in a case likely to embarrass the US military supervising local security forces.
"We insist on having an international investigation," Islamic Party spokesman Alaa Makki said.
"There have been similar cases in the past, and investigations into them led to nothing," said another party spokesman, Ayad Samarrai. "We want an international and impartial inquiry as we are beginning to think there are people high up in government who are responsible, or at least accomplices." US forces blamedMakki also blamed US-led forces for the abuse, saying it could not happen without "their green light".
Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari has ordered an investigation into the allegations, with a committee due to report its findings within two weeks.
Al-Jaafari's spokesman Laith Kubba told the BBC the prime minister was "outraged" by the alleged abuse, adding: "It goes pretty much against all the core values that this government holds."
The case came to light after US forces raided the underground facilities of an Interior Ministry complex in south Baghdad on Sunday.


Hussein Kamal, Iraq's deputy interior minister, told CNN television he saw evidence of torture. "I saw signs of physical abuse by brutal beating. One or two detainees were paralyzed. And some had their skin peeled off various parts of their body."
Torture evidentThe Association of Muslim Scholars, the main Sunni religious organisation in Iraq, accused Interior Ministry services of "resorting to torture and ransoming prisoners".
Committee spokesman Shaikh Abd al-Salam al-Kubaissi said that his organisation had "filmed testimony of released detainees who had been tortured" and that the videos were handed over to Arab League chief Amr Mussa when he visited Baghdad last month.

Al-Kubaissi also accused Interior Ministry services of "detaining people at night in their homes on terrorist charges and then torturing them into making confessions, parts of which are then broadcast on television". Some detainees were released a month or two later "after paying a bribe, with no charges being brought against them", Kubaissi added. The US embassy and US military issued a statement welcoming the Iraqi government's decision to investigate the case and stressing that the mistreatment of detainees was "totally unacceptable".
Abu GhraibUS Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and General George Casey "have discussed this case with the leaders of the Iraqi government at the highest levels", it added.
A scandal over the abuse by US forces of Iraqi detainees at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison last year led to international condemnation of the United States as it struggled to defend the March 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq.
The United States will provide "technical assistance, including support from US law enforcement elements of the department of justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation" to help the Iraqi government look into the matter, the US statement added.
DetentionsThe revelations come a month ahead of general elections for a permanent government, the final stage in Iraq's transition to democracy after the ouster of Saddam Hussein.
In London, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw spoke of his "deep shock" and said: "Whoever carried out this abuse must be caught and brought to justice, regardless of rank or background."
The UN mission in Iraq on Monday accused the Interior Ministry of holding hundreds of people in detention despite judicial orders for their release.
Sunni Arabs, who provide the backbone to the anti-US fight, have repeatedly accused Iraq's security agencies, some of which have allegedly been infiltrated by Shia militias, of engaging in torture and extra-judicial executions.
EU concernThe European Union has added its concern over the alleged abuse at the detention centre, saying it showed the need to bolster human rights in the violence-scarred country.
EU external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner noted that al-Jaafari had ordered an investigation into the reports and stressed that the facts were not confirmed.
But she said: "If it were so, it's clear ... that human rights are part of our very, very strong values, and those values that we want also to export to Iraq."
Speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, she recalled that the EU agreed this year to fund training of Iraqi judges and senior police.
"What we can do is to contribute ... by building up a police corps that does not torture, a police corps that really knows where the limits are, but at the same time tries to restore order," she said.

15 November, 2005




They are waiting..they have the keys...but not the homes






Endless pain and humiliation that started in 1948



They stole the land, but they can never steel the hope of returning back




When you were assassinated nobody did anything…they even work hard to hide the truth but everyone knows that you were killed…However u will be the always on our minds……..





Palestinians light candles and hold portraits of Arafat, a former guerrilla leader who won a Nobel Peace Prize, on Friday during a rally in the Gaza Strip town of Rafah. (AFP)




A Palestinian woman near Damascus, Syria, holds a picture of late president Yasser Arafat during a ceremony on Friday to mark the first anniversary of Arafat's death. (AFP)



How to be rich!!!!!!!!!

13 November, 2005

How to be rich…. Well if you know how please tell me? lolI guess the formula got some important ingredients. For example, you need to be so ambitious. Some people were born to depress you and convince you that it’s difficult to begin from scratch. Well don’t give then an ear. Actually lots of people like this type surrounds me J
Apart of ambition, we need to be willing to be something and spontaneous when it comes to grapping chances.

Many people who are rich today came from either poor or modest families with modest financial abilities. It’s really wonderful to learn about such personalities. Learning from their experience gives me a great and strong push, optimism, and colorful hope, which encourage me to take the same track.

Take for example the story of the Lebanese ex-prime minister Rafiq Al Harririe who was assassinated in Lebanon last year. He came from a very poor family in which his dad was a farmer. Then he traveled to Saudi Arabia to work there. After years of struggle in collecting his wealth, he went back to Lebanon to build his empire and involve in politics. His contribution to rebuilding his country, especially after the destruction that the civil war caused is seen everywhere in Lebanon. He was a normal guy but his determination to be build himself, achieve success was greater than the barriers and obstacles that he faced.

Isn’t wonderful to learn from others achievement and success stories! Ya definitely it is!!

They Don't Believe In US

In the news last morning, I have heard that the female ex-minister who is ruing for office in Liberia is witnessing continues success in the elections. I saw lots of people around her supporting, cheering, greeting her. I really wonder when we will have similar things in the Arab world. I mean women running for office! Until now the culture of accepting a woman to be a leader is not established nor welcomed at all in the Arab World! They still doubt our abilities and skills. They still believe that women are created to raise kids and clean the floor, cook, and look for her husband. Even those who believe in the women’s rights in getting education and working do believe that a limit must be set to their ambition. They justify that by claiming that women would forget the main duties that they are born for or that they might lose their femininity!

I believe that we should get rid of these contaminated and sick ideas. The main problem is that the woman here can’t practice what she believes in due to the culture of the society and the tradition that hinders her from changing her lifestyle.

Well I hope that our daughters in the future will enjoy things that we were prohibited from not in the family arena only but within the society as a whole.


10 November, 2005


Today I watched the speech of the president of Syria. His speech was wonderful, the kind that I was waiting for from an Arab leader. He was firm, straightforward, clear, and aggressive as well. Actually, I have never heard such a speech from any leader. I am really proud of him and his wisdom. I like the way he deals with the barbaric and aggressive threats that comes from outside Syria. Although his speech won’t be like by many Lebanese if not all of them, it’s enough to see the Syrians and the Arab citizens satisfied with whatever he said. What I like most that he said that those who brought the enemy to the region will be the first ppl that will pay the cost. Ya well I do agree with him. He also differentiated between the Arab media and the Media that speak Arabic. That was a very strong msg that hits the biased media that market idea brought from aboard.
In a nutshell, I liked his speech and it was very effective in addressing the msg to several parties.

I was really shocked when I heard about wut happened in Jordan last night. I want to how what are the motives that push these killers to do what they are doing. They definitely have been brainwashed. But how? How can a human being harm and kill hundreds of innocent civilians in public places! I even feel guilty if I step on an insect. Its really unbelievable what its happening in the Middle East. By such terrorist attacks they are harming the economy, tourism, and create a sense of insecurity and instability in the society. Who is the loser after all? The average citizen who is looking for feeding his kids. I believe that our problem are quit enough that we are not in need of more miserable political situation. May God save all the countries?

I came across a document saved on my brothers’ computer. It was an article written by a famous Egyptian writer whose name is Amira Al Shanwani in a well-known daily newspaper called Al Ahram. The writer tells about a story that happened with her while she was in America visiting an exhibit sponsored by some Russian doctors showing some advanced and sophisticated equipments. While chitchatting with a Russian doctor, she asked him about why they don’t believe in the existence of God although they highly knowledgeable in the field of science meaning that they should be the first who should believe in the existence of great power that is behind the creation of the human being and nature. The Russian doctor smiled and said that he is waiting for a miracle to happen to believe in the existence of God!!! When they were about ending their chat, the Russian doctor gave her his business card saying that they might meet one day finding that whether he have believed in God or she left that belief!

Years after that incident, that woman heard in the news a strange story about picz for the Earth taken by NASA. You know what was in the picz. You won’t believe! NASA says that when they took picz from the earth, they usually see black darkness but this time they saw something shining! They two things that were so clear in the pics taken from the space were the Holy Mosque in Mecca and another old mosque that goes back to the era of Prophet Mohammad, peace be upon him. These picz amazed the whole word and NASA in particular.

The writer wished if she still has the business card of the Russian doctor to call him!
Actually I tried to report what was motioned in the article precisely. Have a look at the picz and the original article written but unfortunately its in Arabic. If I got any article in English written about this incident I will post it.

09 November, 2005

Yesterday I got a msg from a friend who is living in Lebanon. Well, the least thing I would expect was to receive a msg from her. My problem is that I am so sincere when it comes to friendship. Well in life this concept has no value at all. Actually, I tried to keep in touch with her as much as I can, expecting similar attitude. But life makes us busy in a way that doesn’t enable us to be in touch with our old friends (they used to say that). Actually true, honest, and sincere friendship these days is a rare currency. The one who said that wasn’t mistaken at all. Wondering what is the meaning of life without sincerity. Money comes and goes but the human relationship stays and can never be substituted.

I have been eating too much today. I really do have a very bad habit, which is expressing my emotional, or physiological status through eating. I couldn’t stop this habit. Actually I feel bad, unsecured, and anxious. I think a lot about my future and wut is awaiting me after graduating. Am I going to find a job? How much I am going to make? Am I going to find and fulfill what I am missing? Is my life going to change? Many questions are on mind but the worst thing is that I can’t find answers!
Sometimes I feel guilty that I am not using my time in something useful. I don’t read. I don’t participate in activities or competitions at school and the worst thing that I don’t study! I used to be on the dean’s list in the fisrt year… I was an A student imagine! Lol but know I barely spend three hours studying per week!
Well I don’t know what the reasons behind such a change..
I used to be so optimistic, ambitious, competitive, and caring about my future…
I feel that I am missing something important in my life…. sometimes u feel that even when things are going well with u, u still unsatisfied. Wherever u go u feel unhappy. Whatever u buy for urself, u r still depressed. Isn’t strange?I know if I want to count the number of blessing given my God, I must be happy and satisfied.

Today I skipped the marketing class. I didn’t feel like going to school today. I don’t know what is happening to me. Quite depressed because I got no response from the woman who is working in the placement office at my university. Although I told her that I am in need of urgent internship opportunity and I have her the names of two companies to contact, she didn’t reply yet. I sent her an e-mail and she didn’t reply either. Today morning I tried to call some companies by phone but the line is either busy or the needed person is not available. Life is really difficult! Have no idea what to do. I need to do the internship in December meaning next month and till now I didn’t find a company! L

Tomorrow I have an exam but don’t feel like studying… actually I ‘m so scared to screw up..

The American Barbaric Attacks on Innocent Iraqi Civilians!

01 November, 2005

Yesterday the American military attacked a village in west Baghdad killing forty innocent citizens and injuring at least twenty people! Most of the causalities were women and children who were refugees came from a nearby village running from the American attacks that hit their original village few days ago.

Is this the prosperity and freedom that America wants to bring to Iraq? Where is the UN from the crimes that the American troops commit against the innocent Iraq people? Who is the terrorist now? Who is the barbaric now? The American military banned the news correspondents from covering what is happening but they will never kill the voice of truth.

May God rest the souls of the innocent Iraqies who were killed by the occupiers in peace

Unfair Sanctions

I couldn’t wait to know what the UN decision will be regarding the sanctions that the three superpower countries want to impose on Syria. God knows what will happen. I hope Russia will use the VITO to hinder the plans of US-UK-France. Oh my God what if it didn’t! What is going to happen? I don’t want to see a Syrian version of Iraq. But others want so. I am not against making those who killed the Former Prime Minister pay the cost of their nasty crime. However, I am against those who want all the Syrians and the government pay the cost of things done by individuals. America tries as much as possible to create any excuses to go ahead for its plans in the Middle East!

I wonder why Americans keep wondering about why many people around the world hate them! Well ask your president, and you would know.

A frightening night in my neighborhood!

30 October, 2005

Yesterday I watched an action movie. Not on a TV channel but in my neighborhood and in front of my house. I was in my room when I heard some people fighting. Somebody was being hit definitely and a woman was screaming and yelling. For a moment, my imagination took me to assume that somebody is trying to commit a suicide and his mom or his family is trying to stop him! The screams got louder and louder and I lost my temper. I was afraid that any body got harmed although I had no clue about what was going on or who was being hit aggressively! What I heard was screams, screams, and screams along with heavy things being broken.

I decided to go out and have a look at what was happening as I got worried and scarred. I saw a bunch of guys around a woman in a car who did not stop shouting and cursing these guys threatening them that they will pay the cost of what they did! I couldn’t wait any more; I just asked one of the guys about that woman. He said that these guys hit her. I ran to the car to see what happened to her. She was nervous and in a miserable situation. I asked her about what happened and she claimed that the guys hit her son who was sent to the hospital immediately and then they beat her with metal stick. I had nothing to do more that trying to calm her down and make her drink some water. She called the police and I gave them the number of the car that was for the guy who hit her son. Then, the cabs came and handled the problem. Some of the guys who saw what happened said that the woman was a liar and she was the one who hit herself!!

Anyways, God knows what happened. It was an exciting night where I was scared to death. I used to believe that our neighborhood is quit and away from problems but it sounds that no place is so! Sooner or later we will know what really happened.


The Fever of Reality TV shows

I wonder why most of the Arab TV channels suffer from the reality show fever such as the Arabic versions of the western programs like Survivor, Starting Over, American Idol, Superstar, to name a few. Well, it seems that we reached a stage where our creativity or innovation has died. Yes, I consider the phenomenon of imitating the same ideas worldwide as running out of ideas. Why don’t the Arab TV like the LBC, Future, MBC, to name a few, invest the millions of dollars in more useful programs that benefit the average citizen instead of wasting the citizen’s money on voting for this or that candidate. The wasted billions of dollars could be used in programs that embrace the new talents other that singing. Here, it sounds that most of the Arab youths want to be singers! Then who will be engineers, lawyers, scientists, scholars, politicians….etc.

As an Arab citizen I feel so sorry for the miserable situation that we live on all stages. The politicians are away from the concerns of their people, fresh graduates spend years looking for a job, women are marginalized, and media are far away from voicing these concerns. They are busy with broadcasting sexy, immoral, and corrupt video clips and silly stuff as if we have no major concerns and as if we are enjoying prosperity and development!!!! Oh my God why all things go in the wrong direction!

What the United Arab Emirates does for the Palestinian case is really unforgettable and will be remembered by the Palestinians and in history. Of course it’s not unexpected to see the generosity of the UAE government that supports its brothers in Palestine both financially and psychologically.

How could the Palestinians forget the number of settlement units and projects Financed by the UAE? How could they forget that Emeriti people are always the first who give a hand? How could the Palestinians forget what Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, May God rest his soul in peace, did for them? How could forget the millions of dollars spent on projects in Gaza, Rafah, Jeneen, Ram Allah and other Palestinian cities to fix what the Israeli occupation have ruined, to build what the Israeli occupation has destroyed.

How could the Palestinians forget the unlimited media support to cover what is happening on their land shedding the light on how the Palestinian citizens suffer? How they could forget the role of the Red crescent of the UAE especially during the Intifada?

No, we will never forget what the UAE did and still doing to support the Palestinians. Words will never express how grateful we are to the UAE and how proud we are of having such an Arab Muslim country that always stands beside its brothers in Palestine.

What we only can do is to ask god to bless this country, its wonderful government, and its generous people.

Occupation But With a New Face

America, Britain, and France don’t want to re-occupy the Arab world economically, culturally, and politically only but also militarily.

I am really so sorry for the current French foreign policy toward the issue between Lebanon and Syria. I always respected France for its balanced and moderate policy when it comes to the issues of the Middle East. However, it sounds that the incentives and the hidden gains are more attractive that being neutral! May be France recognized that being neutral won’t hinder both Britain and the united states from going for their plans.

So far no tangible, solid, or accurate proofs have been illustrated to prove that Syria is involved with or has any thing to do with the assassination of Al Harriri. Like what happened with Iraq, claiming that Sadam was behind the attackes of the sep 11, Bush and Blair have fun playing the same dirty game over and over. Ya sure. I forgot that they are the superpower countries that are controlling the whole world. As a result, they need no excuses or justifications for what they are doing!

May God bless Syria, Lebanon, and all the countries in this world.

Iraq was yesterday, Syria and Iran are tomorrow,,,and God knows who is next !!!





The American government intentions are so clear regarding Syria which are to replace the Syrian president and gets rid of him altogether! Just wanna know if America doesn’t have interior issues or problems to get busy with. It seems that America doesn’t have any thing to do but to poke its nose in every thing related to the Arab World. America wants to enforce DEMOCRACY, FREEDOM, and LIBERTY IN OUR COUNTRIES blab blah (all r big lies)…well I doubt if the Americans themselves enjoy these things…..then how they justify what happened in Abu Ghraib in Iraq,,,, what is happening in Gwantanamo,,,what is happening in the American prisions in US itself….the discrimination against Blacks, Arabs, and Muslims,,,,the Fake propaganda against Sadam and the fake information regarding the “MASS DESTRUCTION WEAPONS”…and much more….why America insists on interfering in every thing? WHY!

In its war on Iraq, the US wanted to make sure to stop those independent cameras and respondents from covering the true image of the war on Iraq, the deed bodies on the streets, the massive destruction that it caused! That’s why it keeps fighting AL Jazeera TV whose credibility and objectivity in reporting news bother the American authorities…
(Colin Powel himself asked Amir Qatar to put an end to AL Jazeera TV’s news reporting)
….they feel afraid from the honest and trustworthy Arab respondents and TVs that don’t follow the American hidden agenda,,,that’s why many correspondents of Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera TV have been arrested and killed in Iraq because that believe the media the transport the true image is more powerful that their “ Mass destruction weapons”….!

Don’t think that I hate Americans or have anything personal against them..not at all.. but I hate their biased foreign policy regarding how they deal with us and with the whole world….so plllllllzzzzzz leave us in peace …We r capable enough to manage our “internal” issues….

To teach others what democracy is entails knowing what it is all about first!!!

Who is responsible for the bird flu?

I have read two days ago in the newspaper about a Finnish official who claims that the disaster of the bird flu could have been avoided, abolished, or controlled if the rich or the developed countries gave an ear to the warnings of the countries that got affected.

Why do the developed countries keep neglecting such issues if we can avoid such serious natural or health catastrophes?? Why they ignore the symptoms of any problem waiting the disasters to happen then they react! The answer in my opinion that they are busy with poking their nose in other counties’ internal affairs forgetting that this world suffers from major problems such as pollution, poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, to name a few.

I believe that more non-profit organizations must be established to create an active worldwide move regarding the policies of some countries that definitely will lead the whole world to the hell. The upcoming periods will witness more destructive wars, deadly illnesses, and conflicts between neighbor countries. Thus, people especially those who are highly educated and enlightened must be aware of these serious threats and do something about what is going on otherwise the world won’t be bearable for living for the future generations.

momz

When I read wut 1 of the bloggers, Sunshine, wrote about how wonderful, caring, loving her mom is I asked myself is it really difficult for all momz to be good mothers?…sometimes mothers believe that they are doing well but that in their point of view …for me if a woman can’t be not only a good mother but a PERFECT one she should get married or at least she must not give birth to a baby….
U know what is the problem is the Arab societies??? Here the women (not all of them of course, otherwise I would be generalizing) get pregnant from the first night! Then, after a month or two, conflicts start arising between the newly married couples.. of course u can imagine how damaging the consequences will be on the coming baby especially if the couple get divorced. What makes the issue worse that here in the Arab societies the concept of being in touch with ur ex-husband doesn’t exist at allllllll! So the poor kid will be suffering moving from here to there between his mom and dad. Sometimes the families of the divorced couples play a negative role and don’t serve an effort to make the kid hates the other side!

Well I feel sorry for those babies who came to this world to see that they can’t grow up in a loving family with a healthy atmosphere…..why they should pay the cost??? Who will answer them when they ask their parents why they get divorced!!!!

HOPE a bright future for all the kids all over the world regardless of where they have been grown up whether at the orphans’ homes, their grandmas’ homes, or on the streets! God bless them all.

Missing this blog

20 October, 2005

I miss this blog a lot….a long period passed without posting any thing although I am new and should be more enthusiastic about the idea….actually life makes us busy all the time…but I hope to be more active coz writing is one of the things that makes me feel better when sad, lonely, or depressed….

Regards
Arab lady

My bad experience with team work projects

25 August, 2005

Whenever I remember that this semester I’ll be having at least 4 team projects I get crazy! I hate team projects. I have conducting interviews or even distributing questionnaires in public places.

One of my many very bad experiences with team work is the difficulty I face when interviewing managers and finding a free hour in their busy schedules.
Actually, I have never been humiliated in my life by a stranger. But one incident happened with me when I went to interview the marketing manager of an air line company in Sharjah. Our human resource project was on that company that I will not mention its name. My colleagues were “BUSY” so I decided to skip the marketing class and interview the lady with whom I took a previous appointment.

You can’t imagine how miserable the interview went! Do you know why? It’s because I was 10 or 15 minutes late although I woke up at 6 AM to practice! Ok I can’t deny that it was my own fault that I didn’t know the exact location of the company. I have been told that the comp. offices are behind Sharjah Airport. I kept driving around the airport trying to find the com. But I couldn’t. On that day I drove crazily that I took a speed ticket. After being stressed out for long minutes because I didn’t reach on time, I found the right location.

After all that, I have not welcomed by the head of marketing department as I expected. She was so mean. I will never how she was looking to me. She kept giving me short and useless answers. At first, she told me that I have 10 min only although we have agreed to 30 the day before! Oh my God! Her body language was enough to understand that she wished if she can throw me out of her office!


I asked my questions very quickly coz I figured out that she was neither cooperative nor polite. While leaving her office she said “better to reach on time next time or call at least”. She adds “better be more prepared as well”. Her shocking words were falling like stones on my head. I will never ever forget that day. On that day I realized that the real world is different and harsh. It’s not the pinky world that I wish to live in. I told my self WELCOME TO THE BUSINESS WORLD.

My bad experience with team work projects

Whenever I remember that this semester I’ll be having at least 4 team projects I get crazy! I hate team projects. I have conducting interviews or even distributing questionnaires in public places.

One of my many very bad experiences with team work is the difficulty I face when interviewing managers and finding a free hour in their busy schedules.
Actually, I have never been humiliated in my life by a stranger. But one incident happened with me when I went to interview the marketing manager of an air line company in Sharjah. Our human resource project was on that company that I will not mention its name. My colleagues were “BUSY” so I decided to skip the marketing class and interview the lady with whom I took a previous appointment.

You can’t imagine how miserable the interview went! Do you know why? It’s because I was 10 or 15 minutes late although I woke up at 6 AM to practice! Ok I can’t deny that it was my own fault that I didn’t know the exact location of the company. I have been told that the comp. offices are behind Sharjah Airport. I kept driving around the airport trying to find the com. But I couldn’t. On that day I drove crazily that I took a speed ticket. After being stressed out for long minutes because I didn’t reach on time, I found the right location.

After all that, I have not welcomed by the head of marketing department as I expected. She was so mean. I will never how she was looking to me. She kept giving me short and useless answers. At first, she told me that I have 10 min only although we have agreed to 30 the day before! Oh my God! Her body language was enough to understand that she wished if she can throw me out of her office!


I asked my questions very quickly coz I figured out that she was neither cooperative nor polite. While leaving her office she said “better to reach on time next time or call at least”. She adds “better be more prepared as well”. Her shocking words were falling like stones on my head. I will never ever forget that day. On that day I realized that the real world is different and harsh. It’s not the pinky world that I wish to live in. I told my self WELCOME TO THE BUSINESS WORLD.

Some Thoughts


After tomorrow will be the first day of the new academic year. I don’t feel like missing the university or the books. Again I will have to get up early. Stare at the closet for about two hours to find something to wear. The worst part of the tragedy is the traffic jam. And of course you don’t know how the traffic looks like in this country. Thank God that I am not living in Dubai, the most crowded city in this country. If you live in Sharjah but work in Dubai, you will need about 2 hours to reach your work place on time. That means approximately 4 hours or more are wasted from your day. That’s why Dubai government is about to build an infrastructure for rail roads. This project will be done by 2009 I guess. They expect that the number of benefited residents from this service will reach 1,300,000 riders daily.

I don’t know how secure this service will be. London’s bomb that targeted the rail roads scared me a lot. In my point of view, having rail roads in Dubai would be a target for terrorists! I know that UAE is the most stable and secure country in the Middle East but I am still afraid that one day UAE would be attacked by terrorists. I hope that this day never comes. This world sounds unsecured at all. No place is safe. Terrorist attacks targeted almost all the countries in the globe starting with US, Britain, and other some western countries ending with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Morocco, and Egypt. The nightmare of being one of the victims of such attacks controls my mind.

Dose the life mean anything to a human being if he/she doesn’t feel secure? Of course not. I feel sorry for those who lost beloved ones in terrorist attacks. Sometimes I feel sorry for those who themselves called terrorists. They were born like any other human beings with feelings, ambition, dreams, and emotions. They have family as well. They love and hate. They cry and laugh. Why would one kill hundreds of people unless he “thinks” that what he is doing is right or he “was told” that what he is going is justified and right! The problem is that some people implanted in their minds poisonous ideas and beliefs that justify what they are doing. It’s not their fault. All of us are responsible for producing such personalities and characters in our societies. Every body holds a responsibly towards those who bomb their bodies to kill others. It might be the fault of their families that have not given an ear to their problems or have never known how they were living or with whom they mix. Moreover, if the governments don’t take care of their youths by solving their problems don’t ever wonder about how easy hunts these youths are.

It might be the fault of the super power countries that never put an end or at least find solutions to the poverty, illiteracy and other economical and social problems that some countries suffer from.

Please don’t think that I am defending terrorists but there must be tens of reasons that made them embrace their wrong beliefs. Unless the root of the problem is solved, terror will be the nightmare that threatens every one, every where, anytime.

The Palestinian Refugees: A Story That Never Ends




Letter on the position of the
Palestinian refugees

November 17, 1949


This letter from the chairman of the United Nations ns commission for Palestine to the secretary-general describes the stark conditions of the refugees in the wake of the 1984-49war. It inspired the formation of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for the Palestinian refugees in the Near East.


The problem

The Arab refugees-nearly three-quarters of a million men, women and children-are the symbol of the paramount political issue in the Near East.
Their plight is the aftermath of an armed struggle between Arabs and Israelis, a struggle marked by a truce that was broken and armistice from which a peace settlement has not emerged.
Before the hostilities in Palestine these families lived in that section of Palestine on the Israeli side of the present armistice lines. Abandoning their homes and villages, their fields and orange groves, their shops and benches, they fled to nearby Arab lands. Tens of thousands are in temporary camps; some are in caves; the majority have found shelter in Arab towns and villages, in mosques, churches, monasteries, schools, and abandoned buildings. Some seventeen Jewish refugees, too, fled from their homes in and around Jerusalem and territories on the Arab side of the armistice lines. They entered into Israel where most of them have now been absorbed. . . .

On 11 December 1948 the General Assembly adopted a resolution stating: “. . . that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest possible date, and that compensation must be paid for the property of those choosing not to return. . . .”

The same resolution established a consolation commission for Palestine to negotiate a settlement of outstanding differences between Israel and Arab States of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi-Arabia, Syria and Yemen.
No settlement has been reached.

The Arab refugees have not been able to return to their homes because Israel will not admit them. Israel has to date offered to repatriate only 100,000 and only as a part of a general peace settlement of all other issues.
The Arabs refugees have not been able to gain a livelihood in the Arab lands where they are because there is insufficient opportunity for them to do so.

The Arab refugees have not yet received compensation for the property they abandoned, nor have the Jewish refugees in their turn.
The refugees are still on relief.
United Nations funds so far subscribed for the feeding of refugees will not last through the winter.


Recommendations

In the light of these findings, the Economic Survey Mission* makes the following recommendations, which are explained later in the report. . . .

3. An agency should be established to organize and, on or after 1 April 1950, direct, the programmes of relief and public works herein recommended.**



* The UN Economic Survey Mission was deputed by the Conciliation for the Palestine to examine economic conditions in the Middle East.
**this became the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for the Palestinian refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).


Source: CHARLES D. SMITH, PALESTINE AND THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT, pg256-257, Fourth Edition, 2001.




This document has been taken from an interesting book that sheds the light on the following perspectives:

Ø The Middle East and Palestine to 1914
Ø Ottoman society, Palestine, and the origins of Zionism, 1800-1914
Ø World war I, Great Britain, and the peace settlements, 1914-1921
Ø Palestine between the wars: Zionism, the Palestinian Arabs, and the British Mandate, 1920-1939

Ø War world II and the creation of the state of Israel, 1939-1948
Ø The beginning of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: the search for security, 1949-1957
Ø From Suez to the six-day war, 1957-1967
Ø War and the search for peace in the Middle East, 1967-1976
Ø Lebanon, the west bank, and the Camp David accords: the Palestinian Equation in the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1977-1984
Ø From pariah to partner: the PLO and the Quest for peace in the global and regional contexts, 1984-1993

Ø Israeli-Palestinian/Arab negotiations and agreements, August 1993-March 2000


The letter illustrates the situation of the Palestinian refugees who suffer from 1948 till this moment. No one is willing to put an end to their suffering. Regardless of what they lost starting from security, lands, homes, and a good future for their kids, they have been humiliated and insulted by every body. Although the United Nations resolution allows the Palestinian refugees to return back to the land that they have been thrown from by force, Palestinian refugees can’t return back. The international community is silent, the United Nation can’t enforce its resolutions, the PLO is paralyzed, and the Arab countries can’t do anything if the people who are themselves must do something are paralyzed as well. So what is the solution? Why do we have to pay the price twice!! I want an answer.

I feel that we as refugees are dumped both by the PLO and the Arab countries. We can’t get nor Palestinian passports neither the citizenship of the Arab countries in which we live! I feel that we have no identity. No future. You can’t imagine how Palestinian refuges suffer when it comes to visas and traveling. They are not allowed even to visit some other countries. For example, my mom hasn’t seen her sister since the first gulf war, that’s mean about 14 years although she lives in Kuwait near UAE! My poor aunt is dying to come to UAE at least for 2 weeks to see us and her sister. Is there any rule in humanity bans two sisters from seeing each?

I have seen long time ago a program about the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Oh my god. What I saw was unbelievable. Animals can’t live in such situations then how about human beings! No Clean water. No electricity! No Education! Unemployment! What a life! They live in verrry small rooms built of broken wood and asbestos which is not healthy at all. Imagine their situation in the winter then. I keep telling my self that I would have been one of them. Their homeless kids have one dream. It’s only one dream. Although it’s pinky and optimistic, it sounds to be impossible which is returning back to their homes in Palestine. These kids might be asking themselves the reasons behind living in camps and nasty districts separating them from the rest of the society as if they are viruses that spread diseases. No one will answer their question. They will wait till they grow up and figure out that they were born Palestinians that’s why they must suffer the loss of identity and land.

Finally as it was said, every one is born in his/her country except the refugee whose homeland is born in his/her heart.

Questioning the unquestioned

24 August, 2005

Well in my point of view, the Palestinian authority is trying to get advantage of the disengagement process as if the peace talks led to Israeli withdrawal from Gaza Strip. Every one must realize that it’s the military resistance that led to making the Israeli government understands that its presence is Gaza is costly. By withdrawing from Gaza, Israel aims at establishing normal relationships with the Arab countries.

Hamas is not a terrorist organization. It represents a slice of the Palestinian society who believes that the peace talks did nothing for them. The Palestinian authority had nothing to do during the previous years but putting the money of donations in its pocket. It did nothing for the millions of refugees scattered in Lebanon’s, Syria’s, Jordan’s tents, and other Arab and foreign countries all over the world. It also did nothing for the thousands of the Palestinian prisoners in the Israel. I want to know one thing which is what the Palestinian authority did for the Palestinians’ interest! Why can’t the Palestinian refugees vote in the coming elections if it is claimed that the elections will be run in a democratic atmosphere? Where is the democracy in time I see the representatives of different political parties keep attacking each other in the media and on the TV channels accusing each other of having hidden agendas? Well I guess that the coming elections will have the final word. Abbas must not ignore that some political parties that believe in the military resistance have popularity in the Palestinian society and must not forget that the majority of the Palestinians believe in the armed resistance as the only way to gain freedom, return back the stolen land, free the Palestinian prisoners, and establish an independent state.

In my personal opinion, Abbas is playing on both lines. On one hands, he tries to polish his image in front of his people by giving promises that he can’t do in order to gain their Palestinian’s acceptance and trust. For example, he claims that Jerusalem will be the capital of the future Palestinian state. Well its sounds that he is so optimistic about this wish. On the other hand, he plays the role of the peace man who believes that negotiations will work with Israel. In short, his strategy or tactics sounds ambiguous to me since what he says to both sides contrasts what he is doing on land. For instance, one day you find him with the political resistance. The other day you hear him refusing “Terrorism”! It seems that nowadays each one has his/her own definition for terms such as “Freedom”, “occupation”, and “terrorism”.


After all, the next period will be so sensitive and important for both the Palestinians and Israelis.

Sooner or Later men will realize that admitting equality is the definite fate that they can’t escape from

23 August, 2005

As a part of my thoughts about the Arab women’s rights, I believe that every woman anywhere in this part of the world must be so educated about her rights in the society she lives in. knowing your duties and rights is the first step in defending our selves. Here comes the role of the education and the schools in enlightening females and teaching males the principle of equality between man and woman.

During one of my summer classes, our Mass Communication professor invited us to divide the class into two groups where the males sat on one side and the females sat on the other. It was an open discussion in which each group asked whatever questions the group members wanted to the opposite sex. As females, the first question to the guys was why would guys do things that their sisters (or females in general) are not allowed to do?

One of the shocking comments that I have heard from one of the guys that MAN and WOMAN are never equal.”They can’t be equal!” he said! L
I said to my self Oh My God if an educated guy who is studying at one of the important universities in the country says that, then what about the rest of the males who might be less educated, less affluent, have never traveled to Western countries, or have never mixed with the opposite sex? I told my self what a bright future is waiting our countries?! Well his claim was that the Men are more physically capable than women! I told him so what?? Some animals are more physically capable than human beings, but that doesn’t make them smarter or more valuable than us. Part of my response was that Arab women nowadays invaded every field and you can see them working as a judges-in some Arab countries the woman is still not allowed to be a judge-, lawyers, drivers, businesswomen, artists..etc.

No matter what that idiot guy said or no matter how our cultural beliefs constrain us from being ourselves; I still believe that women are equal to men. In my life I saw women work more hours that their husbands. They also come back home to find other responsibilities waiting for them. After that they tell us that we are not equal! LLet them try to hold for a short period of time half the responsibilities that a mother holds, then I am quite sure that they well thank God day and night for not being a woman.

The Faked Truth

22 August, 2005



Today I would like to talk about women’s rights in this part of the region, the Middle East. Unfortunately, many of the society sectors are deceived by the slight and margin achievements done by some of Arab women as if by these accomplishments the Arab women have been librated, which is not true. You know why, because the societies themselves are refusing any changes or advancement with regard to the women’s right. If a woman became a member of the parliament, that doesn’t mean that the rest gained their rights.
In some Arab families, the girl is not only under the microscope of the family and the relatives but also under the eye of the neighbors and the whole society. In the majority of Arab society, men can do whatever they want to do but women can’t even think about doing things against the families’ out-dated tradition. What you wear, what you say, what you do, where you go, with whom are you hanging out all are under the rules of our families. I can’t figure out when are going to get our rights? When are we going to be independent? When we are going to be WHAT WE WANT TO BE NOT WHAT OUR TRADITION AND SOCIETY WANT US TO BE? Some Arab girls, my self included, feel that they are living in a prison or a cage where they are obligated to do things they don’t believe in. What a hell. We are paying the cost of living in male-oriented society! What I really what to concentrate on during the next period of my life is to publish papers and conduct studies about the Arab women’ right because as a victim of such stupid handcuffs I want to voice the Arab women’s problems, internets, and ambitions.

Human beings are born to be what they want regardless of gender, religion, and culture.

A Difficult night

Today was really difficult and full of sadness and problems with my mom who whatever I do to get along with her I fail. It’s really disappointing to fail in communicating with the people who you share every single moment with them.

I had nothing to do but to break every single item in my room. I started with the mugs, glasses, dolls, all the vases, the lamp “I’ll spent the night in the darkness”, then I moved to the things that were on the wall even the wall watch didn’t escape from the madness that I had in that hour. I smashed every thing that my sight fell on. The artificial flowers that I had in my room turned into tiny pieces even the vase that my mom kept it for around a decade or more was from the pastJ. I do also feel sorry for the mirror of the closet that was broken! Some pieces of the floor were broken as well because of the heavy stuff that I threw on the floor.

I really felt fine after what I did. I felt that all was kept for a long time was released. Although it’s not a healthy habit, its one of the ways that makes me feel ok. Other things that I usually do when I get angry or mad are dancing or listening to the radio or writing what bothers me on a sheet of paper since the option of talking to some one close is quite impossible.

Finally I realized that I can’t spend the light in such a messy room where broken glass fell all the room. So I tried to clean what I did and my sister’s housemaid gave a hand and continued the work.

Well the room is clean now! So I had nothing to do except turning the radio on and listen to a special program broadcast at 10:00 pm. In the program they usually discuss one of the audience’s problems. This night’s problem was about a man whose wife refuses having his mom live with them at the same house. So he doesn’t know how to deal with his wife that he loves a lot.

That story moved some feelings in me. So I ran to my mom who was in her room. I kissed her hands asking her to forgive me and the night ended peacefully.

Victory of Failure

19 August, 2005

I have seen the coverage of the Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian lands in Gaza. What drives me crazy is the exaggeration of such a step as it will solve the Israeli- Palestinian crisis and bring peace to the region.

As many know it, the reality behind the withdrawal from Gaza is that Israel sees the occupation very costly in the light of the brave Palestinian resistance. So it’s not like what it’s imagined by the media as a positive step to show the good attitude towards Palestinians.

While I have been watching reports broadcast on different TV channels about how sad the Israeli settlers, I was really surprised. They have been pictured as victims leaving lands that they assume they own while historically and lawfully speaking they own nothing. Even the UN laws state that the Israeli settlements established on the Palestinian territory in Gaza Strip and West Bank are illegal. It sounds that the Israeli settlers who were enjoying their life in their illegal settlements forgot that those settlements were built on lands whose ownership goes to Palestinian farmers who are living on each other in small refugee camps. It’s really weird to cry for losing something you stole from somebody else!

Their barbaric spirit does not stop at this stage only but it continues to attacking innocent Palestinian citizens as what happened when one Israeli settlers killed three innocent Palestinians in the west bank. The story doesn’t end at this point; I have seen some concerns by the Palestinian authority about the pollution done by the Israeli settlers before leaving their settlements. There is certainty that the underground water and land have been polluted intentionally! This of course needs long long years till this underground water goes back to its nature. Moreover, it was reported the incidents of steeling stones from these lands. This is regardless of the amount of water that was wasted by the Israeli settlers while the Palestinian citizens were in need of each tiny drop!

So to those who have been fooled by that the Israeli withdrawal as if it’s an optimistic step towards peace and prosperity I would like to say that Gaza is still occupied when its sea, air, ports, Gaza airport, and its routes that connect Gaza to the West Bank are still occupied and are still in the Israeli iron hand. No peace without the whole Palestinian lands back. So don’t fool yourself. Wake up and see the truth and reality.


The Black eyeglasses

03 August, 2005

Recently I have read an article about the number of those who commit suicides in China, about 250 hundred yearly. This number does not include the number of people who fail in committing a suicide which is between 2.5 to 3.5 million! What startle those who study the phenomena is that the majority of victims are youth.

What does make a young person put an end to his/her life? What depression is this that makes a person wants to get rid of his/her suffer?

Regardless of the economical, financial, social, or psychological difficulties, lack of faith in God plays a role. In Islam committing a suicide is of the greatest sins that a person can do. Muslims believe that God is who gave life to human beings and he is the only one who decides when to take his/her soul. In Muslims’ beliefs the committers of suicides are never forgiven by God, instead they are punished in the hell the same way they ended their lives in the life over and over.

I wonder what the point of view of other religions is with regard to committing a suicide. After all, life nowadays has no value especially when living is such a mess when wars, killing, economical degradation in some parts of this world, political crises, and environmental disasters are the reality that an ordinary citizen has to cope with. So no wonder why some people decide to end their suffering but in the wrong way, at least that what I believe in.

The most funniest incident that I have ever heard of was about an American student who was brilliant and smart at school that commit a suicide because he thought that his girlfriend would dump or leave him because he start losing his hair!

Let’s overcome depression and be stronger. Let’s not give up when failing once or twice. Let’s promise ourselves not to fall in the trap of hopelessness. Let’s take off the black eyeglasses and wear more colorful one.

Sometimes saying is much easier that doing. But let’s try at least.

An Old Friend

Last week, on Wednesday morning, my cell phone rang. I jumped to the phone and looked at the number. It was a strange number that I have never seen. Although I usually don’t answer calls from strange numbers, I answered as if I am expecting someone. A soft voice was on the other line. The lady asked for my name and then told me if I recognized her from her voice. After awhile I said to myself yes I know this voice. I didn’t believe my ears. Yes, she was a friend that I have not seen for four years. She immigrated with her family to Canada so she can study there and get the citizenship at the same time. I knew that she is on short visit. We had a long chat talking about major things that happened with each one of us in the past few years. I was happy to know that she will be coming back to UAE after finishing her study.

We decided to see each other soon before she goes back to Canada. I felt very good after that call. I felt that life is really small and I had some hope to meet my best friends who are living in other countries. One of them will get married very soon!

Oh thanks for technology that we can use to keep touch with beloved ones either through phone or the Internet.

Many Questions

I keep asking myself why we don’t choose our names, who our parents are, how our financial situation is, where we are living in and what our nationality is.

I know that asking such questions are useless and they won’t change our reality. But I can’t prevent myself from thinking in that way. Questioning who we are, what we are living for, and why we are living the way set by other is a right for every human being.

Just accepting what already have been set by others and following orders and instruction imposed by others mean that we are not living at all. It’s not the life that we chose. It’s what others chose. What I mean by others is the family codes, tradition, religious beliefs, and the society in general. Here in the Arab country, tradition, society, and the family play a vital role is determining how the individual’s life will look like. If you are from the type that cares a lot about what others say and think, you life will be a hell especially in this part of the world.

In my university there are a huge number of Saudi females who came to UAE to study. Since they are living in the country alone without restriction or control, you can imagine the space of freedom the have to do whatever they want to do, to go wherever they want to go, and wear whatever they want to wear. I even know that most of them got driving licenses and drive in Dubai and Sharjah, an accomplishment that they can never achieve in Saudi Arabia since women are not allowed to drive. Wondering why?
What astonishes me a lot is that when the semester ends and its time to go back to Saudi Arabia, you see all the Saudi girls in the airport covering themselves from head to toe preparing themselves for their reality saying goodbye to the tight jeans and make up!

Well what a miserable life is this? If anybody from their families has seen them in here they would not differentiate them from westerns. I hope that would not happen otherwise the university will become a battle or a pool of blood.

My point is that tradition and family restrictions in the Arab world on the woman are destroying her psychologically and driving her crazy. We ended up living a life that we don’t want but our tradition and family want!

I have no clue how far this situation is going to last?! But I am sure that things will never stay as are. I hope that this day is not really far.

Where is justice?

Few days back I am have seen a report on TV about three hundred Jewish immigrants who arrived to the occupied Palestinian lands which IS KNOWN AS “Israel”. The immigrants were coming from France while the Israeli government is expecting other 3000 thousands to arrive later this year.

My question is simple? Who does have the absolute right to go back to Palestine? Are they who have been expelled since 1948 from their lands and houses throwing them in camps near the borders? Or are they who have no historical roots in Palestine scattered all over the world but claim that Palestine is the Promised Land by God?

Millions of Palestinian refugees who have been derived from their farms and houses are suffering in camps in Lebanon, Syria, and other Arab and foreign countries. They have the all the right to go back to their lands. Some Palestinian elders living in refugees’ camps who are in their late sixties and seventies are still having the keys of their homes from which they have been thrown out in 1948. Who will answer their questions? Who will tell them that their homes have been replaced by Israeli Settlements? Who will tell them that their fate is to suffer and to pay the cost of being Palestinians? Who will tell them that the power balance is not equal in the world and who has the right doesn’t mean that he can enjoy that right?

Where is the role of the Palestinian authorities in struggling for the refugee’s rights? Few weeks back President Abbas didn’t mind that countries give citizenship to the Palestinian refugees living in these countries?! That means that the Palestinian authority is giving up the file of the refugees?!

That’s a part of American and Israeli propaganda to make the new generation of Palestinians forget their roots, forget the stolen rights, the stolen lands, but they must remember that whatever passports and citizenships will be given to the Palestinians, they will never forget that there is something in our blood called Palestine. By the way, the Palestine that I am talking about is not what the whole world confesses it is. It is not Gaza Strip and West Bank only. It’s not only 22 % that is left from the original land. It’s from the north to the south, from the east to the west; it includes Haifa, Yafa, Jerusalem, and every single acre of the occupied lands in the 1948. If they have the political power, we have the historical rights. If they have biological bombs, mass destruction weapons, and F 16, we have the faith in God, faith in our rights, and more than that the faith in the stone!!!

I would like to say thanks for those who sold the Palestinian refugee’s rights. So, Thank you… your names will be written with pride in the history book!

Dreams Start Small



In one of my advertising classes during the summer, our professor asked us to use a plain paper and create something innovative. The majority of the students created things that we used to make when we were children such as plans and boats. When my turn came, I showed the class what I have made. It was a box. I don’t know what made me say that this box represents my life. Unexpectedly, the professor asked me to explain what I meant. Promptly I replied that it shows how close my life is in time I do my best to get out of the box!

Well I guess my response was exactly reflecting my state of mind and the issue of being myself. The walls of the box life symbolize the restrictions and constrains in my real imposed by others and society.

If every one of us was given a plain paper to use it in drawing or creating something out of it, the final product would reflect the psychology of that person.

One of the students made the trade center in Dubai with a slogan written on it “Dreams Start Small”. The slogan is still ringing in my ears wondering why. I even wrote that statement on a sheet of paper and stacked it on a wall in my room. Who doesn’t have dreams? Who doesn’t dream of making the dreams true? But how many work hard to make their dreams true?

Sometimes one’s situations play a role in determining at least the direction to which the person moves toward the future. But after all, to what extent the person’s willingness to be something important determines how far the person can succeed in making the impossible attainable. Who wants to make the sand gold can do this simply because the individual wants to do so. Whenever we decide to do something that we believe in nothing can stands as an obstacle because all obstacles would be overcome.

Towards a definite HELL

24 July, 2005

What happened in Egypt is really disgusting. What kind of future is waiting for the region? Most of the victims were Egyptians. To what hell are the terrorist driving the world? Who benefits from killing innocent people, from creating instable countries, from destroying the Economy, and ruining the reputation of Muslims?

If the most secure systems in the world have been penetrated, what do terrorism and violence hide for the whole world?

It’s not the issue of Muslims and terror any more. What’s happening in the world nowadays concerns all nations, all religions, and the humanity in general. Something must be done to stop such a trend of attacks; otherwise a global disaster would happen.
The feeling of insecurity is threatening every one on this planet. All of us are vulnerable to such barbaric attacks without knowing when and where they might happen.

Whatever the reason behind bombing cars and committing suicide is, such aggression and violence are unjustified at all. Although I am not either Egyptian, British, Iraqi, Lebanese, or Turkish I am still a human being who suffers from seeing others going through pain and paying the cost.

Although I am living in the most secure Arab country, UAE, I feel unsecured and I can see destruction and blood clearly as the fate waiting this world. I might be pessimistic but this is the case.

I can’t figure out why human being can’t live in peace and harmony with each other melting all the cultural, racial, and religious barriers. Where is the wrong in that? Is it really an impossible thing to do?

The only thing we can do is to pray and ask God to bless and save all countries.

The incident of London

23 July, 2005

What happened in London was not only due fanaticism by some groups. It is actually an expected result especially when Britain aliened with the United States putting Britain as a result on the list of fanatics’ potential targets along with the United States and other countries.

As I see it, it’s the gap that exists between the developed countries and the third world countries that enhances violence and hatred. It’s definitely the feeling of injustice, poverty, unemployment, very low standard of living that the third world countries suffer from that contribute to the hatred toward the superpower countries. On the top of all that, the foreign policy of the superpower country toward many counties and the constant interfering with their political issues make the situation worse. Add to that the pointless and useless role that the UN plays.

I guess every party must review his agenda to avoid coming disasters that the whole world is not in need of.

The broken CD of democracy and freedom will not work on the third world countries any more. What I recommend is to stop setting fire on by funding financially and politically the opponent parties in each country especially in the Arab World. Millions of dollars are poured directly to the opponents’ pockets yearly just to inflame the matter with their governments so that the arena is empty for the superpower country to plan in quite how it is going to invest these counties’ natural resources to the full!

Well I guess as human beings we must work hard to enforce equality and fight corruption if not on the ground, at least by voicing out opinions. I guess it’s the least thing we can go currently!!

Baghdad, the City of Sadness..Who is the responsible?!

18 July, 2005



Who sees what happens in Iraq wonders where the international community‘s role has gone. Who sees what happens in Iraq feels that we are not living on Earth but on another planet where the language of silence is dominating.

The whole world watches with cold blood the barbaric killing of hundreds of innocent people daily. No one bothers doing something, anything. Don’t these people deserve to live in peace and security? Or these Arabs or Muslims are second class human beings? Where is the UN from what is happening in Iraq? Where is the US soldiers who came from overseas claiming that their goal is to enforce democracy and peace? What kind of security and peace are these people talking about? Or may be the definition of democracy and freedom was replaced by a new version of definitions? Yes, why not. Actually every thing is possible nowadays.

My point is that the whole world must cooperate to stop this tragedy. If the superpower countries who initiated this war based on faked information and unjustified proofs can’t do anything to stop the sequences that resulted, they have better care about their own business and stop poking their nose in other countries’ interior issues.

What makes me crazy that no one bothered questioning the faked information that these superpower countries used! Where is the UN? The credibility of the UN diminished greatly after its inability to function in the best interest of the world countries. It is basically a tool in the superpower’ hands in which the things that go with their interest are approved and passed. It is really shameful to live in a world where immorality has the final word and where the strongest eats the weakest. Most of the world counties are controlled by these superpower countries if not politically, culturally, financially, or economically.

Well I wish if I had the choice to live in a different era. At least it would not be worst than our time where the dream of peace was vanished.

I got disappointed

Yesterday I was really disappointed by what has been written about Sharjah by a lady on this website. Actually i want to tell her (BhagdadRose i guess)that If you still do not know the city very well I hope not to draw conclusions so fast. I do agree with you that Dubai is totally different because the way Dubai is approaching is different. The government of Dubai focuses its efforts on making the city the capital of financial investments and tourism. That’s why you see the incredible numbers of amazing shopping malls, parks, Hotels, Bars, Night Clubs, International and Multinational Corporation, and the sophisticated services and infrastructure.

On the other hand, Sharjah is the house of Education and culture. Its government strives to build the image of the Islamic, conservative but cultured. In Sharjah, there are more than eleven museums and there are many educational institutions, Libraries, and numerous Child Centers scattered around the city that play a vital role in encouraging the kinds’ talents. You also have the Sharjah Women’s Club which is located near Sharjah Sea where you can enjoy different activities, lectures, sports, and you name it.

On the top of all that, Sharjah is the third largest city in UAE. Its authority goes beyond where you live. Under its authority lie several places on the western or the Northern coast where you can enjoy water-sports like scuba-diving.

What I mentioned above is really a fraction of what Sharjah is. Its governor is a wonderful, decent, cultivated, and educated man who admires education and culture a lot. So please try to be objective, and accurate regarding what you say about the country that opens its arms and heart for you. There are hundred of thousands who might read what you wrote, thus giving those people who have never been to UAE, or to Sharjah in particular, a very bad and negative idea.

This is a very very brief glance about Sharjah, the place in which I was born and raised. Finally, I hope that you enjoy your residence in the Love country, UAE. Hope to keep in touch
:)

I Got what i was looking for :)

I am really so glade that I finally found a spot where I can say freely what goes in my mind. Actually, I have no body to open up with or to share my thought with. Sometimes I find writing the only way that I can remove what is on my chest.

Well, I should first apologize for any grammatical or structural errors that I might have in any of my writings since I am not fluent in English :), but of course I‘d love to strengthen my English Communication skills at least to get a good job.

Any way I came across this site by chance and I hope to develop some friendships with people from different cultures, different nationalities so that we can exchange knowledge, ideas, and thoughts. with each other. On the top of all that, I would like to exchange information about cultural habits and customs that every one has.

About me, I am Arab who was born in UAE. Although, I came from a conservative background, I consider myself liberal and moderate at the same time. I don’t know but I try to balance between my cultural values and my own values that I have learnt from life so far. By the way, I am Muslim. But of course I do respect all religions and all religious values. I am against fanaticism and terror and value the human being rights in living the way he/she wants to live, the religion he/she wants to believe in…..etc. I am really sorry and upset for the image the Muslims have in the west, the way they are perceived, and how they are treated in that countries. All what most westerns know about Islam is that a religion that encourages killing, terror, and hatred, which is not true at all. I hope ,as an Muslim and Arab on this site, that I would give you a positive idea about who real Arabs are.

Not only Westerns suffer from terror and violence (September 11, the events of London), but also many Arab countries do. Look at what is happening in Iraq and the daily car bombs. Look at Lebanon (assassinations of politicians and journalist, and innocent citizens).

I guess the whole global suffers from people who believe in the language of violence.!!