A Voice Amidst Silence: January 2009

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Beauty Unseen

"Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears." ~ Edgar Allen Poe~

The beauty that is seldom seen often makes one oblivious to its existence. To ensure reality does not morph into disbelief we should keep reminding ourselves of all unseen beauty. I would like to focus on one such beauty that is currently being plundered and confiscated. It is sad indeed that we can only appreciate such beauty in lifeless pictures, for many of the scenes that you will see herein are only a memory of what once was. Nevertheless, I thought it valuable to share this beauty with you. What beauty am I speaking of? It is the sacred beauty of Palestine...

"Keep your faith in all beautiful things; in the sun when it is hidden, in the Spring when it is gone." ~Roy R. Gilson ~

~*~Beauty Unseen~*~

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"Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart." ~ Kahlil Gibran~

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart." ~Hellen Keller ~

"Let the beauty we love be what we do." ~Rumi ~

Blogging with purpose,
Mariamlelue

Shadia Mansour - Tribute to Mahmoud Darwish

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Freedom From these Prison Walls...

A poet's bequest,
Read and comment; my humble request,
Gratitude is what I offer to thee,
Penned by yours truly.

Freedom From these Prison Walls

The mute witness all the events that take place,
The anger soars colouring the face,
Words are made into the most fatal weapons,
Where are the angels to fight these Demons?
The heart can no longer bear the weight,
With overflowing tears it seals its fate,
Crumbling as the memories replay in the mind,
The soul searches but still no peace to find,
Ringing in the ears it constantly replays,
Desperately seeking freedom from it always,
A pattern of habitual actions being displayed,
Continuously repeated upon its victim it is laid,
Until there reaches a point where ….
The soul starts to doubt if it ever was self-righteous,
Was it closer to evil and further from being pious?
Are all these actions of upliftment in vain?
On whom should the blame fall for all this pain?
Then going into a dark and lonely place,
Longing for a supporting embrace,
When the thought of all is lost just appears,
Little things occur that attempts to discard all fears,
As new tears fall, an unseen force mends the broken,
Only the heart can understand and once again it is awakened,
What was about to be lost is now found,
Renewed in faith and once again whole and sound,
The worth of everything is made clear,
Much of it, now seems worthless and bare,
Only God is of importance in this cruel kingdom,
A believers’ prison longing for freedom,
Make our faces full of light,
In your presence give us sight,
Do not ever forsake us,
Forever bless and keep us.

(2007)

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Blogging with purpose,

Mariamlelue

Monday, January 5, 2009

Kulna Ghazza

Kulna Ghazza

My first blog post for the year 2009 is dedicated to Falesteen…

La Hawla wa La Quwatta Illah Billah ~ There is no power or might except from God

These past days have left me feeling desolate and helpless. Today is the 10th day of the recent upsurge of aggression on the Palestinians. As I turn on the news channel or read an article my emotions run high and I cannot understand why a ceasefire hasn’t been put into effect till date. It’s almost two (2) weeks, since it started and yet the aggression is increasing in intensity and frequency. I cannot turn off my feelings with the touch of a remote control and I feel obliged to help in whatever way I can. Of what help can I be? Though it seems useless as all I can do is watch, my conscience does not permit me to lay back and leave slander to prevail or actions of the innocent undefended. It is the least that I can do from where I am but my heart is with Gaza…I take my heart and throw with you.

This recent siege reminds me of the US led war in Iraq to which Iraqis still remain crippled, with more than a million dead. It seems this sort of bullying at the cost of lives is common in history. I can think of many other instances, just recently the Russians were forcing an entry into Georgia and what of the Native Americans of North America; they still remain in “reserves” to this date.
However there was one particular siege that remains to this day an admirable achievement. The conquest of Makkah, where 10,000 muslims strong marched unto the streets of Makkah after being persecuted for years in unimaginable ways. The Makkans cowered in their houses expecting the inevitable as people tend to judge and expect others to act by their own standards. It would be known as the single ever siege that had not even one drop of blood. The Makkans were all pardoned and allowed to stay in Makkah with all of their belongings.

As for the siege that we are witnessing now, the same can definitely not be said. Within minutes into the ground offensive in Gaza, the death rate escalated. What I cannot stomach is how many people remain ignorant to the reality of the crisis. Some are justifying the Israeli’s actions as one “target specific” in retaliation to acts of terrorism from the Hamas on their own population. They say its defence. Which brings me to another point, I don’t think much people know what defence means anymore. I will take this opportunity to re-educate some…
defence
(US defense)
• noun 1- the action of defending from or resisting attack.
Then may I now ask, how can you call this defence? The Israeli’s say they are defending their population against years of random terrorist acts by the Palestinians and what of the attacks on the Palestinian population. A terror act is definitely an atrocious act and I do not condone such no matter who is carrying it out. However in isolation, it cannot be viewed as an eminent attack (i.e. in succession) that requires such defensive action and therefore cannot justify the present Israeli actions. How are the actions of the Israel going to bring back peace and stability? The greater question should be what are their intentions because certainly it is not to the benefit of the palestinian people. It is now 60 years and counting and Israel is still defending? This is open aggression in the offensive, in a bid as they say to eradicate the “threat”. The “threat” seems to include children under the age of 15 which is by the way 45 % of the total population of Palestinians. There are 1.5 million Palestinians concentrated in Gaza which was the last place of refuge for them in what was once their home. Now tell me how accurate and precise can the Israeli intelligence and their rockets be? Yet there are many who can’t seem to understand what is going on and swallow everything they are told, like a food manic after being unable to eat for some hours. Here is an analogy that I hope will make things a bit clearer…
“Don’t judge a person until you can walk in their shoes”

Put yourself in their shoes for a moment…
You are an average Palestinian with a family of 5, three children and a spouse who mean the world to you. You were evicted from your home where generations of your family have lived for and now forced to live in a refugee camp. You’ve lost a lot of loved ones during the years. There has been years upon years of fighting and terror groups attacking both Palestinians and Israelis. One such group, has allegedly fired a rocket into Israel wounding civilians. You sympathise their loss and you fear the worse in retaliation. Your expectations are proved right and now you are being fired upon by the Israeli army in its full force.
Now you are viewed as responsible for terror attacks by some ignorant people around the world, since people of your nationality have carried them out.
Is this truly a war against terror? To me it seems like genocide.

If this still fails to bring it home to you then at least I tried in my humble attempt.

Overcrowded hospitals, insufficient staff, medical supplies and accommodations with a continuous pouring-in of new casualties, is any doctors worst nightmare. Even in this desperate need for help, some countries are refusing to allow the wounded treatment and the Israelis have enforced a blockade. I have just read a comment from a certain individual that seems to think there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza and their hospitals are well stocked with medical supplies and the people have way more than enough to eat… :) Please educate yourself I beg of you!
People are dying as we speak at least we can all unite in a common prayer for peace and stop the epidemic of ignorance.
Join the cause for Peace and Ceasefire and let the violence end. I do believe people still have the right to Life, don’t you?

Blogging with Purpose,
Mariamlelue

Youtubers Against the Gaza massacre

External Links:
Updates from Hatem, a palestinian -
Read his diary from Gaza posted on BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7802295.stm
Watch Hatem's Video live from Gaza:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7810290.stm