آراء القراء
الأميركيّون والإسلام - سميح المعايطة
لاحياة لمن تنادي
- hatem abunimeh
الولايات المتحدة الأميركية - habunimeh@yahoo.com
مع انني اشاطرك براءيك من حيث المبدا باءننا لا نكرس جهدا كافيا يعكس صورة واضحة المعالم عن سمعة العرب والمسلمين في الغرب الا ان هنالك عوامل اخرى يجب التنويه اليها واهمها استمراريت دعم الحكومة السعودية في الغرب وخصوصا الولايات المتحدة على تدريس مناهج مدرسيه مناؤه للأديان السماوية الأخرى وتعيين اءمه متشددين في اراءهم وحثهم المستمر للمصلين على ضرورة عدم انتماءهم وعدم الاءنخراط فى حياة الغرب الاءجتماعيه ضف الى ذلك كله الاءسواط القويه والجمعيات المنظمه والمناوءه للعرب والمسلميين عندها تجد ان الجواب اصبح واضح المعالم حاتم ابونعمه
http://www.alghad.jo/?article=3911
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Friday, May 26, 2006
To whom the bells toll
http://www.elaph.com/ElaphWeb/ElaphWriter/2006/5/151095.htm
To Whom The Bells Toll
Dr. Nabulsi forecasts a very conscionable initiative proposing the promulgation of a synchronized union to look after the educated & persecuted ones in the Arab communities; but to whom the bell toll !
The educated are the least paid in the Arab world, they lack the financial means to form a lobby or pressure group to stand up to the strong arm of their authorities skewed laws.
The fear of reprisal by the authority personnel , or pay back by the interior ministries watch dogs-- casts a shadow over over the heads of every citizen be that the learnt one or the illiterate.
Iraq during Saddam Hussein reign of terror is a prime example of the lack of freedom for anyone to express even a hint of dissension, or opposition to anything and everything the government enacts on a daily basis.
The media apparatus is fully controlled by the government agencies, heck, even the human rights agencies are controlled by the governments in the Arab world. People do care and want to do something on behalf of the oppressed but the fear of persecution, the fear of starvation, and the fear of corporal punishments discourages even the most courageous one amongst us to even think, let alone act against a decree or an edict promulgated by one of the Arab regimes.
So refraining from lodging protests doesn't stem from the absence of plethora of material to talk about, it doesn't stem from lack of skills or resources amongst the educated group, it simply stems from the fear of punishments, the grave consequences toward the protesting individual and his entire family.
Western regimes aren't anything like Arab regimes, Our regimes are still behaving like fascist regimes of the past, some even still living in the era of feudalism. We can't compare our selves to those organizations in the western societies, Why? because we have no freedom to freely speak out, our laws are very unfriendly, and our regimes are very tyrants.
Absence of Freedom of speech, Absence of freedom of expression, low wages, fear of punishment, as well as the dire poverty, are all motivating factors standing as a wedge between the educated group and the formation of an organization similar to the one proposed in your article.
So how are we supposed to act when we don't have the basic tools or instruments that will propel us to where we want to be, until such time comes, we will be in for the long haul, and continue our preachments about the should've, would've, and could've, but didn't.
To Whom The Bells Toll
Dr. Nabulsi forecasts a very conscionable initiative proposing the promulgation of a synchronized union to look after the educated & persecuted ones in the Arab communities; but to whom the bell toll !
The educated are the least paid in the Arab world, they lack the financial means to form a lobby or pressure group to stand up to the strong arm of their authorities skewed laws.
The fear of reprisal by the authority personnel , or pay back by the interior ministries watch dogs-- casts a shadow over over the heads of every citizen be that the learnt one or the illiterate.
Iraq during Saddam Hussein reign of terror is a prime example of the lack of freedom for anyone to express even a hint of dissension, or opposition to anything and everything the government enacts on a daily basis.
The media apparatus is fully controlled by the government agencies, heck, even the human rights agencies are controlled by the governments in the Arab world. People do care and want to do something on behalf of the oppressed but the fear of persecution, the fear of starvation, and the fear of corporal punishments discourages even the most courageous one amongst us to even think, let alone act against a decree or an edict promulgated by one of the Arab regimes.
So refraining from lodging protests doesn't stem from the absence of plethora of material to talk about, it doesn't stem from lack of skills or resources amongst the educated group, it simply stems from the fear of punishments, the grave consequences toward the protesting individual and his entire family.
Western regimes aren't anything like Arab regimes, Our regimes are still behaving like fascist regimes of the past, some even still living in the era of feudalism. We can't compare our selves to those organizations in the western societies, Why? because we have no freedom to freely speak out, our laws are very unfriendly, and our regimes are very tyrants.
Absence of Freedom of speech, Absence of freedom of expression, low wages, fear of punishment, as well as the dire poverty, are all motivating factors standing as a wedge between the educated group and the formation of an organization similar to the one proposed in your article.
So how are we supposed to act when we don't have the basic tools or instruments that will propel us to where we want to be, until such time comes, we will be in for the long haul, and continue our preachments about the should've, would've, and could've, but didn't.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Memo To Nas
Sorry Nas but you didn't provide us with any statistics or references or quotes or sources or polls of any kind to demonstrate how the people feel or don't feel, believe or don't believe, or anything of that sort.
Your entire essay is based on pure speculation on your part and little bit of figment of your imagination. It would have been a lot more digestible had you stated that what you are presenting is merely an opinion or a dramatization of a fictional situation rather than presenting your text as if it was a proven fact beyond any reasonable doubt.
Please don't go too far and misconstrue my intent, I know that you always mean well and I do like many of the things that you write about, but for some odd reason and once in a blue moon you just can't resist the urge to take a jab at the Palestinians, especially those Jordanians of Palestinian origins such as myself.
I'm not really sure what is required of us to prove our patriotism to our birth place ( Jordan). We have been pledging our allegiance to the Hashemite throne ever since we have come into existence, we pay our taxes, we invest our money, we serve in the armed forces, we contribute to the countries economic growth, we participate in charitable contributions, we vote, we full fill our civic duties, and we seek matrimonies from the native Jordanians and the native Jordanians seek matrimonies from us.
If this isn't sufficient to demonstrate our love, allegiance, and devotion to the nation of Jordan and its armed forces and security apparatus, I don't know what is. Your selective comment about the Palestinians not believing their government is uncalled for, I think that the time has come for us to bury the hatchets and move beyond this tribalism mentality, especially for someone like you who was raised in liberal democratic western society.
I bet you there are a lot of Jordanian of native origins that don't believe or aren't going to believe what the government explanation about the weapon cache is going to be, how come there was no mention of this group and was either unwittingly omitted from your essay or was deliberately remained in clandestine status!
I'm fed up with having to time and again prove my loyalty and dedication to Jordan, and I do take issue when someone that tries to question my loyalty to Jordan. More than half of the population in Jordan born after the 1967 Arab Israeli war, they have no link with anything west of the river Jordan, and this statement wasn't made by me, it was made by the king of Jordan, Abdullah II
I resent the notion about your assumption that the Jordanians be that natives or of Palestinian origins not learning from 11/9 experience, I think that it touched and continues to touch all of us until our present day.
I think that simplest solution to resolve an intricate problem such as the one referenced in your text is for the government to be more transparent, more open to the media correspondent, issue more frequent news releases, allow more officials to be interviewed immediately while the story is still brewing, but to shift the blame on hapless and helpless population who are toiling to secure daily bread and butter for their families is a pure cop out or pseudo catharsis.
Your entire essay is based on pure speculation on your part and little bit of figment of your imagination. It would have been a lot more digestible had you stated that what you are presenting is merely an opinion or a dramatization of a fictional situation rather than presenting your text as if it was a proven fact beyond any reasonable doubt.
Please don't go too far and misconstrue my intent, I know that you always mean well and I do like many of the things that you write about, but for some odd reason and once in a blue moon you just can't resist the urge to take a jab at the Palestinians, especially those Jordanians of Palestinian origins such as myself.
I'm not really sure what is required of us to prove our patriotism to our birth place ( Jordan). We have been pledging our allegiance to the Hashemite throne ever since we have come into existence, we pay our taxes, we invest our money, we serve in the armed forces, we contribute to the countries economic growth, we participate in charitable contributions, we vote, we full fill our civic duties, and we seek matrimonies from the native Jordanians and the native Jordanians seek matrimonies from us.
If this isn't sufficient to demonstrate our love, allegiance, and devotion to the nation of Jordan and its armed forces and security apparatus, I don't know what is. Your selective comment about the Palestinians not believing their government is uncalled for, I think that the time has come for us to bury the hatchets and move beyond this tribalism mentality, especially for someone like you who was raised in liberal democratic western society.
I bet you there are a lot of Jordanian of native origins that don't believe or aren't going to believe what the government explanation about the weapon cache is going to be, how come there was no mention of this group and was either unwittingly omitted from your essay or was deliberately remained in clandestine status!
I'm fed up with having to time and again prove my loyalty and dedication to Jordan, and I do take issue when someone that tries to question my loyalty to Jordan. More than half of the population in Jordan born after the 1967 Arab Israeli war, they have no link with anything west of the river Jordan, and this statement wasn't made by me, it was made by the king of Jordan, Abdullah II
I resent the notion about your assumption that the Jordanians be that natives or of Palestinian origins not learning from 11/9 experience, I think that it touched and continues to touch all of us until our present day.
I think that simplest solution to resolve an intricate problem such as the one referenced in your text is for the government to be more transparent, more open to the media correspondent, issue more frequent news releases, allow more officials to be interviewed immediately while the story is still brewing, but to shift the blame on hapless and helpless population who are toiling to secure daily bread and butter for their families is a pure cop out or pseudo catharsis.
Friday, May 05, 2006
Whimpers
Word of the day [ whimper ]
It is another word for [ whine ] and [complain] it has been on the march lately. People in Jordan complain about the rising fuel cost, people in the United states complain about the immigration laws, people in Iran complain about the united states prohibiting them for acquiring nuclear technology, people in Palestine complain about the world not recognizing their government & about funds from donations not being reaching them. People in Lebanon complain about the President of their country and about why he shouldn't be a president, people in Egypt complain about the the reinstitution of the emergency law and about the slow pace of governmental reforms, people in Tunisia complain about the jailing of the Tunisian journalists, people in Morocco complain about why the western Sahara residents shouldn't have their own self determination. People in Saudi Arabia complain about the monarchy in their country. People in Turkey complain about the Kurdish separatists in the border areas between them and Iraq, people in Iraq complain about the occupation, the lack of security and over all miserable lack of basic services.And so on and so forth, you do get the picture; don't you!
Are all of these complaints legitimate and worthy complaints or are the people inherently born complainers ? At what point in time the person is allowed to complain without being labeled a whiner or a whimper ? Does complaining help solve any issue or is it just another form of catharsis ?
I'm not much of a complainers at all, I consider myself super tolerant individual, I can take a lot of heat before I utter one word that would give the appearance of a complaint. Why not try to deal with the issues in whatever manner deemed appropriate to you without complaining to your parents, to your spouse, to your boss, or to your friend, or to your government.
We aren't living in the state of nature any more, most of the problems that people face on day to day basis have simple solution, some intermediate and advanced problems may require some standards of procedures that need to be followed, such as forms that need to completed or fees that need to be paid, but still even those should never turn into a complaint provided that the individual had exhausted all means available at his disposal prior to lodging a complaint.
Most complaints are like the juice that gets spilled on the carpet, if you get it up in time and wipe it with a dry clean cloth and then follow it up with a damp cloth and wipe it one more time, it will vanish without any trace. By contrast, if you ignore the juice and hope that your maid will at some point in time notice it and gets it wiped off, it may turn into a permanent stain before it gets removed and then you will need to replace the entire carpeted area with new carpet.
I guess what I'm saying here is that people should take heed of whatever it is that they are complaining about. For instance, my secretary has been complaining about her wages for the past two years, I have been able to get her three raises so far but she is still complain about how low her wage is and how expensive life requirements are, what am I supposed to do? Pay her part of my own salary!
My wife always complains about me not giving her enough love, not giving her enough gifts, not getting her what the other husbands get for their wives, and so on. What am I supposed to do for her! I go to work every single day, I rarely spend any money on any of my personal items, I don't have anything personal that I consider to be luxury, I spend all of my salary on the house without saving anything, yet, it is never enough.
My son complain about me putting him in in public university instead of putting him in private university that has a better curriculum and better faculty and has prestigious name.
My ten year old daughter complain about not finding any topic to talk about on Monday morning for her speech class because she hasn't done anything on the preceding week end that is worth talking about. She means going to picnics, to museum, zoo, botanic gardens and so forth.
My neighbor complain about the grass area that separate his house from my house and how the weed is flying from my side of the grass and ruining his beautiful lawn, my family in Jordan complain that I don't call them very frequently and that I'm a negligent person and should call more often to see how things are going.
My partner in an apartment building complain about the tenants not paying their rent on time and about the ever rising real estate taxes, the pharmacist where I get my medicine from complain about the health maintenance organizations and how difficult it is to get them to approve the list of medicine that they have and sell to their clients.
What is going on with all of these whimpers? When will they realize that they have to take matters in their own hands and stop complaining, or better yet do something about whatever it is that you are complain about.
I can't take it anymore, sometimes I feel like I want to go somewhere where I don't have any contact with any other human being on this earth. Is there an end in sight for all of these complainers around me? Why do they enjoy complaining to me? I don't have any sign on my door stating that I Have a complaint shop! I have had it with these people.
Whatever it is that is bothering you do something about it. Stop complaining for God sake as complaining will never lead you to no where except more and more misery on top of the misery that you already have.
It is another word for [ whine ] and [complain] it has been on the march lately. People in Jordan complain about the rising fuel cost, people in the United states complain about the immigration laws, people in Iran complain about the united states prohibiting them for acquiring nuclear technology, people in Palestine complain about the world not recognizing their government & about funds from donations not being reaching them. People in Lebanon complain about the President of their country and about why he shouldn't be a president, people in Egypt complain about the the reinstitution of the emergency law and about the slow pace of governmental reforms, people in Tunisia complain about the jailing of the Tunisian journalists, people in Morocco complain about why the western Sahara residents shouldn't have their own self determination. People in Saudi Arabia complain about the monarchy in their country. People in Turkey complain about the Kurdish separatists in the border areas between them and Iraq, people in Iraq complain about the occupation, the lack of security and over all miserable lack of basic services.And so on and so forth, you do get the picture; don't you!
Are all of these complaints legitimate and worthy complaints or are the people inherently born complainers ? At what point in time the person is allowed to complain without being labeled a whiner or a whimper ? Does complaining help solve any issue or is it just another form of catharsis ?
I'm not much of a complainers at all, I consider myself super tolerant individual, I can take a lot of heat before I utter one word that would give the appearance of a complaint. Why not try to deal with the issues in whatever manner deemed appropriate to you without complaining to your parents, to your spouse, to your boss, or to your friend, or to your government.
We aren't living in the state of nature any more, most of the problems that people face on day to day basis have simple solution, some intermediate and advanced problems may require some standards of procedures that need to be followed, such as forms that need to completed or fees that need to be paid, but still even those should never turn into a complaint provided that the individual had exhausted all means available at his disposal prior to lodging a complaint.
Most complaints are like the juice that gets spilled on the carpet, if you get it up in time and wipe it with a dry clean cloth and then follow it up with a damp cloth and wipe it one more time, it will vanish without any trace. By contrast, if you ignore the juice and hope that your maid will at some point in time notice it and gets it wiped off, it may turn into a permanent stain before it gets removed and then you will need to replace the entire carpeted area with new carpet.
I guess what I'm saying here is that people should take heed of whatever it is that they are complaining about. For instance, my secretary has been complaining about her wages for the past two years, I have been able to get her three raises so far but she is still complain about how low her wage is and how expensive life requirements are, what am I supposed to do? Pay her part of my own salary!
My wife always complains about me not giving her enough love, not giving her enough gifts, not getting her what the other husbands get for their wives, and so on. What am I supposed to do for her! I go to work every single day, I rarely spend any money on any of my personal items, I don't have anything personal that I consider to be luxury, I spend all of my salary on the house without saving anything, yet, it is never enough.
My son complain about me putting him in in public university instead of putting him in private university that has a better curriculum and better faculty and has prestigious name.
My ten year old daughter complain about not finding any topic to talk about on Monday morning for her speech class because she hasn't done anything on the preceding week end that is worth talking about. She means going to picnics, to museum, zoo, botanic gardens and so forth.
My neighbor complain about the grass area that separate his house from my house and how the weed is flying from my side of the grass and ruining his beautiful lawn, my family in Jordan complain that I don't call them very frequently and that I'm a negligent person and should call more often to see how things are going.
My partner in an apartment building complain about the tenants not paying their rent on time and about the ever rising real estate taxes, the pharmacist where I get my medicine from complain about the health maintenance organizations and how difficult it is to get them to approve the list of medicine that they have and sell to their clients.
What is going on with all of these whimpers? When will they realize that they have to take matters in their own hands and stop complaining, or better yet do something about whatever it is that you are complain about.
I can't take it anymore, sometimes I feel like I want to go somewhere where I don't have any contact with any other human being on this earth. Is there an end in sight for all of these complainers around me? Why do they enjoy complaining to me? I don't have any sign on my door stating that I Have a complaint shop! I have had it with these people.
Whatever it is that is bothering you do something about it. Stop complaining for God sake as complaining will never lead you to no where except more and more misery on top of the misery that you already have.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Eerie Silence
وأخيراً نَفَثَ الطوطم الأعظم سُمَّه! GMT 18:06:48 2006 الثلائاء 2 مايو
Eerie Silence
By Hatem Abunimeh
In this day and age, the entire problem with the Muslim and Arab world be that the Liberals or the conservatives amongst them is their continued silence in the face of all sorts of hypocrisies that are taking place before their very own eyes on a day by day basis.. Most ordinary Arab citizens do not speak out against their own governments, or against terrorists like Ben Laden Zawahiri, and Zarqawi. Modern history taught them that they have neither the right nor the ability to to change the status quo. The Arab citizenry has been collectively numbed into a sad state of affairs. They have inherently turned into helpless, powerless spectators. The liberals are trying to introduce new improved formula to offset the ingrained radicalism but it isn''t working, Ben Laden and company are still finding many sympathizers and many others willing to lend a docile ear for their poppycock. In sum, the Arab and Muslim world is still about a hundred years behind modernity.
http://www.elaph.com/ElaphWeb/ElaphWriter/2006/5/145292.htm
Eerie Silence
By Hatem Abunimeh
In this day and age, the entire problem with the Muslim and Arab world be that the Liberals or the conservatives amongst them is their continued silence in the face of all sorts of hypocrisies that are taking place before their very own eyes on a day by day basis.. Most ordinary Arab citizens do not speak out against their own governments, or against terrorists like Ben Laden Zawahiri, and Zarqawi. Modern history taught them that they have neither the right nor the ability to to change the status quo. The Arab citizenry has been collectively numbed into a sad state of affairs. They have inherently turned into helpless, powerless spectators. The liberals are trying to introduce new improved formula to offset the ingrained radicalism but it isn''t working, Ben Laden and company are still finding many sympathizers and many others willing to lend a docile ear for their poppycock. In sum, the Arab and Muslim world is still about a hundred years behind modernity.
http://www.elaph.com/ElaphWeb/ElaphWriter/2006/5/145292.htm
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
