Blackmailing, pure and simple

Thank you Mr. Trump for your very special Christmas gift to the People of Palestine during this blessed season.  As much as you wished to deliver to your constituency your promise about Jerusalem, you have no right to do that in the first place.  There is something called international law Mr. Trump, and UN resolutions.  You cannot flout them and continue to  shield Israel for violating them as well.

Your country stood alone at the UN Security Vote refusing your announcement that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.   And today we heard you loud and clear and we heard the US  representative at the UN, Nikki Haley threatening the countries who will vote against the USA in today’s General Assembly.  This is blackmail Mr. Trump, pure and simple.  You are not giving us charity, neither is it your personal money.    The money you are giving to the Palestinian Authority as well as to Jordan  is money that you owe them for hindering the end of the occupation, and the implementation of UN resolutions regarding the Palestinian rights, mainly resolution 194 that gives them the right to return to Palestine.  Palestine should never have been partitioned, and once again it was this blackmail policy that the American administration used at the UN session on November 29, 1947 to force countries to vote for the partition of Palestine.  Let me remind you Mr. Trump that the American aid that goes to Israel is far more than any other country, and is unconditional without a word about Human rights, or International law.

Wake up Mr. Trump, and study the history properly and the history of oppressed people.  They will never give up, until justice prevails.  I seize the opportunity to remind you of the famous quotation by Martin Luther King Jr. “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”   It is only justice that will bring about peace Mr. Trump. The Palestinians  have already made a number of concessions, and accepted a relative justice.  But  by now it is a well known fact that the peace process was simply a process to help Israel implement new realities on the ground.  And to add insult to injury the Palestinians are  now being blamed for refusing to resume peace talks.  The US administration  Mr. Trump has never been  an honest peace broker, and your recent statement on Jerusalem simply confirmed this fact and put a lid on the so called peace process.    

As you celebrate Christmas, I hope you will be thinking of all those young people who have been killed,  injured or imprisoned as a result of your rash statement which you claim to benefit the peace process.  If this is the overture of your peace plan, may God have mercy on the whole region. 

Human vs. Natural Disaster

I am sure those of you who have been following my blog have been

wondering whether I was going to post something during this week .  I

actually hesitated for a long while about reacting  to the

irresponsible statement by the president of the USA regarding

Jerusalem.  Not only  was it irresponsible, the logic behind it that

it was going to promote peace seems a very lopsided logic.  Can  the

whole world be so stupid to buy such a statement?  Well the meeting

of the Security Council, the day after his statement, proved that they

are not.    Any way I could not help but make an analogy between the

natural disaster of fires along Southern California and the human

disaster that Mr. Trump has caused.  He put the  region on fire, just

as the flames did to that beautiful region of the USA.  The only

difference is that he deliberately chose the time and method to

inflict the disaster which was cruel and without any thought of the

repercussions,  whereas the people of Southern Californian  had no

choice.

On Jim Wall’s column Laurie Salameh writes that Mr. Trump has stolen

our  Christmas. For the Palestinians and for the people of Southern

California Christmas has certainly been stolen.  I can just see the

many families who have been displaced and who lost their homes during

the fires, which is a very familiar scene to us as Palestinians.

Every day the occupation forces leave some families out on the streets

after blowing up their homes.  Another daily human disaster.

No Mr. Trump you are not going to deprive us of our Christmas.  After

all Christ himself was born in Palestine and the Christmas tree which

was lit in Bethlehem, the city of his birth,  will be lit again.  But

we are concerned for  our young people who will be the victims of the

brutality of the Israeli army.  It is their  presence that provokes

those young men and women, who have every right to protest such a

grave injustice which you Mr. Trump have inflicted on a whole nation.

Shooting in Texas

The moment I heard about the shooting in the Baptist church in Sutherland, Texas, I recalled the first incident of sporadic shooting that I had ever heard of,  which was in Texas on August 1, 1966.   Charles Whitman, a young architectural engineering student, at the University of Texas in Austin,   started shooting at students from the Clock Tower  of the university and killing 13 people at the time.

  

There was no Al Qaeda at the time, nor were any Daesh or ISIL to blame for all the violence that prevails in the US.  It was a young American who simply went bezerk.  And it seems to be the case in this latest shooting.  My heart goes out to the families of the victims, and I am sure people all over will condemn such an act.

However,  unless there are laws that control the use of arms that are so easily available in the US,  or even ban them completely, we will continue to hear of such tragic stories.  Unfortunately, the arms industry is a very profitable industry and those involved in it will continue to block any legislation against banning it.   One should not belittle the role of the movie industry as well.  All those violent films certainly play a crucial role in inspiring young men to be creative in violent acts.  In fact, it is not surprising that they inspire foreign governments and liberation movements as well, to use some of the tactics that they learn from the films that show how the US disposes of regimes or people that are not in their good books or challenge their policies. 

I should think that our only hope are the women; the mothers and wives of all those victims.  Maybe they would be the ones to lead a campaign for a legislation that would control or completely ban the use of arms. 

More Absurdities

Colonizers are supposed to be experts on  the  “Divide and Rule”

policy.  We have not only  read about it in history books, we have

watched it, and lived through it.    So it is not surprising at all

that Israel is now putting conditions for resuming negotiations with

the Palestinians after the agreement of reconciliation between Fateh

and Hamas has taken place.  What is surprising is  that Israel

continues to claim that it has no peace partner, and it cannot resume

negotiations with the PA when there is a split between Fateh and

Hamas.  And now that the Palestinians are in the process of

reconciliation, Israel is putting its conditions.  It is very clear

that Israel is not interested in peace.  It is simply interested in

being left in peace on all the piece of Palestinian land.

From day one of the peace process Israel  has not stopped building

settlements and has been continuously creating a new reality on the

ground. The most recent plans  for new settlements in the Ramallah

area just proves its arrogance, and its ability to get away with

anything.  And now we hear talk about the solution of the century

involving all the region.  Just like the peace process was a stepping

stone for Israel to be accepted by the Arab world, these new

initiatives will guarantee the peace of mind that Israel is seeking.

When will the international community live up to its responsibility

and hold the state that it has created accountable for all its

violations of human rights and international law?  The latest

absurdities are the various state legislation in the USA,  against the

BDS.  One of the victims of the Hurricane in Texas could not believe

that for  contractors  to be able to get Hurricane rebuilding money

in Dickenson, Texas, they must promise they won’t boycott Israel.  He

said: “What does Israel or boycotting it have to do with our

disaster?  Indeed a sensible question, but little did he realize that

there is no limit to how far  the tentacles of Israel can reach.

However,  amidst all those absurdities, we were able to enjoy a lovely

and peaceful evening on Friday night at the Dominican Church in

Jerusalem listening to Mozart’s Requiem played by the Palestine Youth

Orchestra of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, with the

Harmonia Vocis Choir from the Lausanne area in Switzerland under the

baton of Julien Laloux.  A few Local members of the Magnificat

Franciscan Music school joined the choir as well.  And some of the

students of the Arabic Music program at Birzeit University played some

improvisations in between the different sections of the Requiem which

blended beautifully with the atmosphere.  The heavenly voices of the

soloists,  Zoe Vauconsant Massicotte from Canada, Dima Bawab, a

Palestinian-Jordanian, Marin Yonchev from Plovdiv and Hardmeyer

Raphael from Lausanne added special aura to the concert.  We even

forgot that life was not normal outside the gates of the church, and

that the occupation forces were around the corner.  The event was the

last of a whole week of cultural activities by the network of the

cultural and art organizations in Jerusalem.

Hurrah!

On the news this morning we heard that the USA welcomed the Saudi

Arabia resolution to allow women to drive as of the beginning of next

year. And mind you all this welcome is for women over 30 and until sun

set only and not out of town unless accompanied by a husband or a

brother.    How ironic I thought when man has already reached the

moon, the Saudi women are still living within a system that not only

deprives them of driving  a car, but of many other rights as well.

Yet the USA does not seem to see any of the Saudi  violations of human

rights, because it is its ally, and they have common vested interests

in the region, just like it has common values with Israel.

I was hoping the USA would welcome initiatives by Saudi Arabia  that

would end the war on Yemen and the Gulf boycott of Qatar.   But then

nothing is surprising about the priorities of  the president of the

USA when he seems to be threatening one country after another asides

from waging internal wars against  the media and the sports teams.

May the Lord have mercy on all nations  lest we be faced with a Third

World War.  However, I wish for the  day when the USA would welcome

the end of Israel’s countless violations  of Palestinian  human rights

in the West Bank as well as in Israel.

A message of Concern

To the friends in the USA

September 1, 2017

The devastating news that we have been watching regarding hurricane

Harvey has left us dumbfounded.  I have been glued to the TV set for

the last few days.  And  yesterday news of another disaster in South

East Asia filled the screens. I am not sure how much of it is due to

our failure to do something about climate change, but it should

certainly make the world leaders consider that possibility very

seriously.    However I am sure that the devastation caused by wars

that are being waged in different regions can definitely be avoided.

My thoughts and prayers are with you, and specially those of you who

have been affected or lost dear ones.

The PYO Tour

 The annual  tour of the Palestine Youth Orchestra,  a flagship

project of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music  started in

Amman, Jordan last week under the baton of the renowned Dutch

conductor Vincent De Kort.  Despite the difficulties  and obstacles of

bringing young Palestinian musicians from all over the world as well

as some international musicians,  the concerts at Birzeit University

and Al-Najah University went very smoothly.  Of course my sister Rima

and I were very proud to see our grandchildren part of this orchestra

playing with passion and enthusiasm.

The program included  The Star Wars  Suite by John Williams, and

Maurice Ravel Bolero, Romeo and Juliet Suite by Sergei Prokofiev, and

Danzon NO2 by Arturo Marquez.  and three Arabic songs by Rahbani

brothers peformed by Nay Barghouti.  With her beautiful presence and

lovely voice she was almost  as good as Fairouz , the original singer

for the Rahbani music.  There was also a piece by my son Suhail  "To

Ahmad"  which he had written a few years ago when his musician friend

Ahmad was denied entry to the country.  The piece was specially

orchestrated for the PYO by Norwegian musician Oystein Frantzen.  The

performance at the Nasib Shaheen Hall at Birzeit University was

dedicated to Vladimir Tamari, a renowned Palestinian  artist, who had

passed away recently in Japan where he has been living in exile.  His

sisters Tania and Vera were among the audience and were very moved by

this gesture.  His daughter Mariam Tamari , a professional soprano,

had performed with the Palestine National Orchestra on its debut in

Jerusalem  in 2011, as well as  on other occasions.

When everything around us seems so stressful and hopeless, we are

indeed thankful for such performances, and we hope that music will

continue to uplift our spirits and give us hope for a better future,

especially for the younger generation