Headlines & High-Heels

The race is on

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 10:23:49 -0400

I love the recklessness of faith. First you leap, and then you...

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 01:48:27 -0500

I love the recklessness of faith. First you leap, and then you grow wings ~William Sloane Coffin

May you never steal, lie or cheat. But if you must steal, then...

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500

May you never steal, lie or cheat. But if you must steal, then steal away my sorrows. And if you must lie, lie with me all the nights of my life. And if you must cheat, then please cheat death, because I couldn’t live a day without you.

Are you going to take a leap of faith this Leap Day and pop the question to your better but somewhat slower half??

The right of every women to propose on 29th February each leap year, goes back many hundreds of years to when the leap year day had no recognition in English law (the day was ‘lept over’ and ignored, hence the term ‘leap year’).

It was considered, therefore, that as the day had no legal status, it was reasonable to assume that traditions also had no status.

Consequently, women who were concerned about being ‘left on the shelf’ took advantage of this anomaly and proposed to the man they wished to marry.

It was also thought that since the leap year day corrected the discrepancy between the calendar year of 365 days and the time taken for the Earth to complete one orbit of the sun (365 days and 6 hours), it was an opportunity for women to correct a tradition that was one-sided and unjust.

No Food without Freedom

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500

The story of Khader Adnaan, made me burst with pride at the Plaestinian Gandhi who was prepared to sacrifice his life for his countries freedom not by blowing up buildings, killing people but by peaceful protest.

My husband, Khadar Adnan, has shed a light on Israel’s disregard for human rights

Through his own suffering, Khadar has helped expose the plight of Palestinians held under ‘administrative detention’ by Israel

Maali Adnan holds a picture of her hunger-striking father, Khadar Adnan, a member of Islamic Jihad. Photograph: Mohammed Ballas/AP

The name of my husband, Khadar Adnan, has now become known across the world. Four months ago he was unknown outside our homeland, Palestine. His hunger strike of 66 days has transformed him into a global figure and a shining symbol of my people’s struggle.

Our life was turned upside down on 17 December 2011 when Israeli troops raided our home in Araba village, south of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank. It was about 3am when they broke down the doors and stormed into our house. The havoc they wreaked will always remain etched on the minds of our two daughters, Ma’ali, aged four, and Baysan, one-and-a-half years old. I would not be surprised if even our unborn baby will also be affected. Such was the trauma that accompanied the Israeli raid.

Khadar has been an student activist for many years. He is no shadowy figure but an outspoken local leader against the Israeli occupation. He is well known to both the Israeli occupation authorities and the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. Both have detained him for various periods without charge.

This constant harassment has stood between Khadar and the completion of his master’s degree in economics. Yet, we remain a normal couple, yearning for the much-needed stability and freedom to raise our children; to give them the happiness that is the entitlement of every child. With my own university degree, I have no doubt that as parents, we are well equipped to realise our ambitions. But life under Israel’s military occupation has turned our dream into a nightmare.

Not for the first time, Khadar has used hunger strike, his powerful form of peaceful protest, to great effect. When the Palestinian Authority forces detained him in 2010 he went on a hunger strike for 12 consecutive days, forcing the Ramallah authority to release him.

Likewise, he staged several hunger strikes in the occupation’s detention camps. The last of these was carried out in 2005, which lasted nine days in solitary confinement.

What drives my husband to pursue this dangerous and difficult form of resistance? I have no doubt it is the unjust nature of “administrative detention” and its notorious methods of torture and humiliation. From the moment he was bundled into their military vehicle in December, insults and veiled threats were thrown at him. They even tried to unhinge him psychologically by claiming I was unfaithful, a vicious calumny he dismissed with scorn.

I know my husband well; I love him, and will always remain faithful to him. He knows this and this is why he spurned the cheap talk of his tormentors.

Khadar was never motivated by personal hurt or inconvenience. He, like thousands of other young Palestinians, is determined to see an end to the occupation. He is driven by a higher logic: to expose to the world the plight of imprisoned Palestinians. Since 1967, more than 650,000 Palestinians have passed through Israeli jails – many of them in administrative detention – an average of one in four in the occupied territories.

Administrative detention is a nebulous and vindictive measure used by the occupation against our young men and women. It is one of the cruel legacies of the old British mandate in Palestine. Today, in the absence of any deterrent or condemnation from the international community, Israel uses it with increasing frequency against university students and lecturers, young professionals and even elected parliamentarians. Some 300 are being held. It is part of an immoral policy used to keep Palestinians in a state of perpetual poverty and underdevelopment.

When a military commander issues an order for administrative detention, no evidence is produced. No charges are brought against the victims, and the occupation has no obligation to give reasons for the detention. This is by no means a legal mechanism. It is simply an arbitrary draconian measure used to inflict psychological and physical harm on its victims. When they are fortunate enough to be brought before a judge, he can detain them for periods of six months that can be extended indefinitely. The prisoners problem is so prevalent today that Palestinians have had to create a special ministry for prisoners’ affairs.

I know my husband is not selfish. This is why I supported him every step of the way. As with any devoted wife, I am duty bound to help him bear the burden of our oppressed people. Our relatives and extended family have supported us with equal fortitude. Indeed, I would not be telling a lie if I say that all Palestinians across the whole political spectrum and millions of freedom-loving people in the world have also stood with us.The occupation has decided, under pressure, to free my husband in April, but hundreds more will continue to languish in putrid cells under the same illegal, inhuman scheme. Khadar has, however, delivered his message: that this long night of tyranny and inhumanity will come to an end.

We are well aware that the Israelis may try to renege on this week’s agreement – as they have done with the recent prisoner exchange deal – by re-arresting the freed prisoners. But for every occasion there will be a response, and I have no doubt my husband would not hesitate to resume his stoic struggle with even more strength and determination.

For me, the most difficult part of this ordeal has been the knowledge that at any time I could receive a phone call announcing that my husband is dead. But this is the price for our freedom. It is the indispensable sacrifice needed so that our children might enjoy a life of freedom and dignity.

To the free world, the millions who heard of Khadar and supported him by calling for his release, I extend our heartfelt thanks and appreciation.

Reading through my twitter timeline last night my heart broke...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:57:33 -0500

Reading through my twitter timeline last night my heart broke for all those who lost loved ones at the Egyptian football riot. Each report painted an uglier and more horrific picture than the one before.

My prayers and thoughts with all those who have lost a loved one or been hurt last night.

Stay Strong Ya Misr!

aljazeera:

Many dead in Egyptian football riot | Troops deployed on streets of Port Said after clashes between rival fans leave 74 people dead and hundreds injured.

The month began as Negro History Week by a historian Carte G...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:23:00 -0500

The month began as Negro History Week by a historian Carte G Woodson in the 1920’s. The aim was to educate American people on the African -American history, culture and background.

The month is also known as African American month and is celebrated in America and Canada during Feb and in United Kingdom during October , remembering the African diaspora that occured to Africans living outside of the African continent.

2 February 1990 - the day F W De Klerk ended apartheid. this...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:17:00 -0500

2 February 1990 - the day F W De Klerk ended apartheid.

this video is an extract of former president FW De klerk’s historic parliamentary speech that changed South Africa forever.

full text of the speech can be found here

"A nation’s journalists and writers, like its poets and story-tellers, are the eyes, ears, and mouths..."

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:17:55 -0500

“A nation’s journalists and writers, like its poets and story-tellers, are the eyes, ears, and mouths of the people. When journalists cannot freely speak of what they see and hear of the reality that surrounds them, the people cannot see, hear, or speak it either.”

- Russell Banks, American Author, to colleagues during a PEN International mission to Mexico that is encouraging law enforcement to better protect journalists.

As the Committee to Protect Journalists notes, 43 journalists have been murdered in Mexico since 2006

(via futurejournalismproject)

The Casualties of Valentines Day

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:01:00 -0500

….tears, tissues and tragedy

It is a few days to the beginning of the second month of the year and the once carefree Muslimah that was happy being unattached now sulks around, downturned face as none of her male mxit contacts have claimed undying love for her yet and the clock was ticking faster to the day of celebration. On the other side of the screen, the innocent looking Muslim boy spurts sweet nothing to every other female in hope of having one or maybe a few to call “His One” for that day.

Taking a step outside, one would feel as if they have adorned rose tinted glasses as the world looks as if it has been repainted in a blood red hue. Every tree seems to be blossoming plastic hearts, and tacky gifts seem to be more precious than jewels. One would not be wrong to assume that Cupid has struck the entire world with his arrow, from all the love struck couples that seem to surface at this period.

The commercial world which is always ahead of the mood of the consumer, add to the atmosphere with their romantic gifts, cards with lines that would make Shakespeare look like nursery rhymes and roses the price of an entire garden.

Looking through the chronicles of history one sees pages dedicated to the lovers of bygone days. Flipping open ones sees the legend of Romeo and Juliet’s two day love story, a few pages down and the tale of the unattainable love of Layla and Majnu is remembered. Flipping a few pages, one is reminded of the love story of Tristan and Isoldey and Anthony and Cleopatra and further on the romance of Pyramus and Thisbe is retold. As the book reaches an end, last but far from the least the love of Salim and Anarkali who was entombed alive is repeated. Saint Valentine the Christian priest who died for Love is honoured just as he is on this day. Each tale of love seems to hold a central of tragedy and a loss of love before it is even enjoyed.

We look for the definition of love in stories of couples who died before they could enjoy their love, of couples who went mad in the drug of love, ate of forbidden fruit and fell to their death and in fairytale that do not go beyond a feeble happily ever after.

To steal a line from the Brothers of Native Deen: “ We look for love in places dark and cold, when we have a guiding light for the whole world to be hold”.

We have a fairytale to be in awe off; the most romantic love story to share with all; a celebrity couple to use as role model; a match made not by man but by the Creator and the epitome of love; the love of our Prophet and his wife Khadija (May peace be upon them).

Today’s love is so fleeting that many do not have go deeper than the paper they were printed on and last no further than the next message.

The charm of a Coffee Shop One place you can always feel at...

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:34:35 -0500

The charm of a Coffee Shop

One place you can always feel at home among strangers is a coffee shop. Pondering over a lone cuppa coffee nobody gives you sympathetic glances at your single presence. Recluse is not the first thought that pops into mind, when you spot a soul chaired quite alone at a coffee shop One place where two people can share a table but not thoughts each engrossed in different things sitting across each other.

A place of meeting, a venue for indulging, the setting for pondering, the scene for romancing and the zone for contemplation …this is the true definition of a coffee shop.

For the hang out place for that Friday evening, pre-weekend planning session, to the Saturday secluded venue to serenade that pretty lass, it is the idyllic getaway for a Sunday morning brunch, a Monday business meeting can be held ideally in this environment, weekly mid week chit chat with the gals are held in this location, while this spot meets the standards for that mother- daughter monthly outing,it is the perfect zone for that cramming student to revise in these settings,stopover spot for a recharge between a shopping spree and not forgetting the hide-away for that much needed me-time! Where is this versatile scene ..a coffee shop of course :)

Sout al Horeya (voice of Freedom) “In every street in my...

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:11:11 -0500

Sout al Horeya (voice of Freedom)

“In every street in my country
The voice of freedom is calling”

One year on the people of Egypt stand proud, still resisting and walking on.

This video was made by Moustafa Fahmy, Mohamed Khalifa, and Mohamed Shaker in Tahrir Sqaure before the Egyptian regime fell.

“Journalism can never be silent: that is its greatest virtue and...

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:02:49 -0500

“Journalism can never be silent: that is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air.”

Photo

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:27:39 -0500