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Saturday, February 11, 2012

Taking Care of His Adopted Country, One Emergency at a Time

"The beginnings were humble, but the result was not.

The Mobile Emergency Service for Resuscitation and Extrication now has 170 first-responder teams, 12 training centers and 4 helicopters, with a fifth on the way this spring. It is widely viewed here as one of the only parts of a broken health system functioning at a top-notch level.

“At its best, the system is better than what we have, and at its worst it’s certainly still better than what exists in lots of the United States,” said Peter Gordon, an emergency physician at Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown, N.Y., who worked over the course of nearly a decade with Dr. Arafat to help build the system.

“His attitude is, ‘We can do it better than anywhere in the world,’ ” Dr. Gordon said. “It’s, ‘Let’s not be as good as the Germans, as good as the French, let’s be even better.’ ”

THOUGH he became a Romanian citizen in 1998, the fact that he was an immigrant, working for an adopted country rather than his native land, added to the sense of selfless sacrifice. “Nobody is a prophet in their own house, in their own homeland,” Dr. Arafat said.

Bald, with his remaining hair clipped extremely short on the sides, Dr. Arafat is intense and assertive without being aggressive or overbearing. He gives the impression of someone you would want in the back of an ambulance if you had a heart attack. More often, his volunteer shifts are on one of his agency’s helicopters, where, he said, patients sometimes recognize him if they are conscious. “ ‘It’s Dr. Arafat,’ they say.”

As a boy growing up in the West Bank, Dr. Arafat had memorized the book “First Aid Without Panic” cover to cover, learning “every page, every picture by heart,” he said. Born in Damascus, Syria, and raised in Nablus, West Bank, he described his attitude as “medicine by any means.” At the age of 14 he not only rode with the fire department on emergency calls, but also began teaching the firefighters techniques he had learned from his well-thumbed first aid manual.

By 15 he had begun volunteering at the hospital in Nablus..." READ MORE

Taking Care of His Adopted Country, One Emergency at a Time

The New York Times: Saturday Profile February 10, 2012
By
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/11/world/europe/palestinian-helps-romania-remake-its-emergency-care-system.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&smid=fb-share
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Where Mary's Face Matters... a poem by Anne Selden Annab

Samuel Aranda has won the 2012 World Press Photo of the Year for this image, shot in October while on assignment for The New York Times in Yemen. World Press winners here: http://bit.ly/w6YFHH

Closeup of The Pieta (Italian for “pity”) by Michelangelo 1499 St. Peter's Basilica Italy
& NYC USA St Patrick's Cathedral by American sculptor William O. Partridge 1906

Where Mary's Face Matters

What is it you see
in the shadows and light
the symbols caught
in shapes
and suggestions
nudged up out of what
you know already
believe already
blocking out
how others might perceive
the exact same shadows and light

How others might know
different stories
and contexts

How others might judge
remembering Partridge's Pietà
Michelangelo's Pietà...
and centuries of art
chiseled carefully
polished smoothed
perfected
admired
and preserved

where Mary's face
matters most
conveying the human face
of sorrow
& beauty
... dignity
decency
love

A mother's love
for her child
helps express
the congregations very real love
of Christ as the Rose
of Resurrection
about to bloom...

We wore white gloves
on Easter day
with pretty pastel dresses.



poem copyright ©2012 Anne Selden Annab

Springs - Arab and otherwise

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Springs - Arab and otherwise

Feb. 10, 2012

"An old man sat on the sidewalk, placed a hat in front of his crossed legs, and a sign next to them that read: 'I am blind. Please help me,' " my student began.

An Egyptian psychologist, Professor Saleh, along with two other visiting professors, was taking English lessons funded by a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development. The professors were to publish in an American journal during a nine-month stay in the United States, and I was to help them make sure their writing was appropriately polished.

This day's content focused on behavioral conditioning. Professor Saleh, eager to contribute his expertise to the lesson, leaned forward in his chair, easing into the more familiar role of professor.

"The old man continued like this for days," he went on. "He sat there collecting only pennies until one day, he noticed his hat was filled to the brim. He wondered what was different about today - not a national holiday, nor a religious celebration - and asked a person near him to read his sign out loud.

"This is what was read back to him: 'We are in spring. Enjoy its beauty.' "

According to the professor, a behavioral expert had changed the old man's sign that day, drawing on his knowledge that people respond better to optimism than they do to appeals for pity.... READ MORE

Friday, February 10, 2012

My letter to CSMonitor RE "Talk to Hamas? Talk to Taliban? Thank the Arab Spring for those possibilities."


RE: Talk to Hamas? Talk to Taliban? Thank the Arab Spring for those possibilities.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2012/0208/Talk-to-Hamas-Talk-to-Taliban-Thank-the-Arab-Spring-for-those-possibilities

Dear Editor,

I very much appreciated your editorial today "Talk to Hamas? Talk to Taliban? Thank the Arab Spring for those possibilities." Kudos to the Arab Spring and to all the many heroic and forward thinking Arabs who seek self-governance and dignity through peaceful means. I totally agree that empowering non-violence is crucial , as is valuing moderate, reasonable, intelligent, and compassionate people.

Hussein Ibish, Senior Research Fellow at The American Task Force on Palestine , a firm advocate of a fair and just negotiated settlement to once and for all end the Israel/Palestine conflict understands Islamists better than most, and he wisely points out the importance of "introducing inviolable constitutional principles protecting the rights of individuals, women and minorities."

However, even with that sage advice I am a quite wary about pushing the all-inclusive message too hard as I have noticed that extremists and hate mongers (in addition to radical Islamists) all like to piggy back on real struggles for real freedom, happily usurping momentum for a just cause in order to gain positive publicity, popularity and funds for their own self absorbed projects and careers. Even moderate Islamists might be a very risky investment because the potential for religious tyranny is always a very real danger, no matter which religion: Both Israel and Palestine's best chance is to let religion be a private matter, not a state funded project.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
"Religious conservatism invariably focuses on social and sexual control. Women are the most immediate targets and primary focus of the authoritarianism of the religious right, wherever they may be. As Islamists seem to be finally getting their chance at gaining a share of power in the Arab world, the greatest and most immediate danger they pose is to women’s rights. That is why it is up to everyone else, including both secularists and religious moderates, to insist on the introduction of inviolable constitutional principles protecting the rights of individuals, women and minorities...Socially conservative Arab parties have a right to participate in government, but not to reduce women to second-class citizenship." Hussein Ibish

Reconciliation Between Fatah and Hamas

A U.S. author's book, an Iranian translator's peril

NBC NEWS: Gazans break(dance)ing boundaries

[Palestinian] Neighborhood pays price of being on wrong side of Israel's wall

MOST RECENT POLL: A majority of Palestinian youth express their support for a two-state solution (Israel and Palestine within the 1967 boarders).

The Middle East's "invisible refugees"

Time Magazine: “The People Are Suffocating”: West Bank Economy Struggles Under Pressure From U.S. Congress

This Week in Palestine: Palestinian Women in Resistance

UNWRA NEWS: Refusal to grant travel documents traps family in Gaza for 10 years

"There's nothing transhistorical or metaphysical about Palestinian nationalism, any more than there is about Zionism, or any other nationalism. This is so blindingly obvious even small children should have no difficulty grasping that whatever aspects of history, traditions, myths or legends a contemporary political movement wishes to privilege, foreground, highlight or deploy in order to legitimate it's agenda, what it is responding to is not anything ancient, transhistorical, metaphysical or inevitable, but rather the contemporary, immediate needs of constituencies that are themselves modern, and indeed "imagined," and the products of recent developments, not ancient history." IBISHBLOG 2011


Thank the Arab Spring for those possibilities...

"President Obama was smart not to follow the example of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who warned against the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation deal. If the United States is willing to talk to the Taliban – even to the point of dropping its preconditions – then Israel should leave a door open to the possibility that Hamas is slowly accepting Israel’s right to exist under a two-state solution. Hamas has already worked to curb attacks on Israel from Gaza..." CSMONITOR EDITORIAL BOARD

Talk to Hamas? Talk to Taliban? Thank the Arab Spring for those possibilities.

The Arab Spring's message of freedom through nonviolence has isolated Iran and Syria, helped elevate moderate Islamists, and pushed radical groups to weigh alternatives.

The Arab Spring’s main message – that young people seek self-governance and dignity through peaceful means – continues to bestow surprising gifts in the region. One is that radical Islamists are being forced to radically rethink their approach....READ MORE

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"Our government should conduct its Middle East policy based on what's right, not what's in the best interest of Israel." ...LATimes letter writer

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Letters to the editor

Re "Walled off and without recourse," Column One, Feb. 7

Two sides of Israel's fence

And this is the "only democracy in the Middle East"? Israel has many ways to rid itself of Palestinians; the separation barrier is only one of them.

I'm appalled. To think we've sent billions of dollars to Israel over the years, given it hoards of military armament and supported it unconditionally at the United Nations — not to mention the clear possibility of having to fight a war with Iran.

Our government should conduct its Middle East policy based on what's right, not what's in the best interest of Israel.

Lou Del Pozzo

Pacific Palisades

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

"Surely the right to a fair trial and not to be mistreated in jail should not depend on what it is that someone is accused of..."

Letters

Rights and protest in the Middle East

The press attache for the embassy of Israel claims Israel does not mistreat Palestinian child prisoners (Comment, 2 February). But he cannot refute reports of the mistreatment of teenage Palestinian prisoners (Special report, 23 January) or evidence presented by the international child rights organisation, Defence for Children International. Israeli and international human rights organisations, not only Palestinian ones, confirm that most child prisoners are detained for throwing stones. Others are accused of much more serious crimes, as the press attache says. But surely the right to a fair trial and not to be mistreated in jail should not depend on what it is that someone is accused of.

As for his reference to a "special juvenile court ... established to guarantee professional care for minors in detention", I have seen the reality first hand. An army court with children handcuffed together and kept in leg irons. I have raised what I have seen with the Israeli embassy. It says the shackling of Palestinian minors is in line with procedure. This mistreatment must stop.
Richard Burden MP
Lab, Birmingham Northfield

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/07/rights-protest-middle-east
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What could reconciliation mean for Hamas?

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What could reconciliation mean for Hamas?

One of the primary motives for Fatah and Hamas's reconciliation is to strengthen the Palestinians' bid for statehood. As the Monitor reported in November, the UN Security Council committee that reviewed the Palestinian application for statehood specifically mentioned the Gaza-West Bank split as a problem.

But the Israeli-Palestinian peace process could be further hobbled if Hamas and Fatah succeed in their current efforts to reconcile and form a unity government. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argues that until Hamas foreswears violence and recognizes Israel, there can be no talks with a government of which they are part. The US, which lists Hamas as a terrorist organization, is similarly opposed to negotiations with the group.

Hamas also sees reconciliation as an opportunity to take advantage of change being promulgated in the Arab Spring. Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesperson in the Gaza Strip, told the Monitor that "We believe that this result of the democratic process might mean full support for Palestinian rights and interest, now that [Arab governments’] hearts are with the people."

But some warn that Hamas is misreading the direction the change is going. "It is an Islamic Spring, but it's not an Islamic Spring Hamas thinks about," says Mohammed Dejani, a political science professor at Al Quds University. "There has been a religious revival, but in a sense of moderation and not in a sense of religious fundamentalism."

Who is Hamas? 5 questions about the Palestinian militant group.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas has agreed to form a unity government led by Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority and head of rival Palestinian faction Fatah. But who is Hamas? What is their relationship with Fatah, and what might Hamas gain from reconciling with them?

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/0207/Who-is-Hamas-5-questions-about-the-Palestinian-militant-group/What-could-reconciliation-mean-for-Hamas

[Palestinian] Neighborhood pays price of being on wrong side of Israel's wall

"No hospital in the developed world would be expected to operate without telephone service," [Al-Quds Maternity Hospital hospital administrator Helmi Barak] Barak said. "Is this Africa? We pay taxes and are regulated by Israel's Ministry of Health. Shouldn't we get the same basic services? I don't understand how they can provide electricity to army outposts all over the West Bank but not telephone service to Jerusalem."

"This isn't about security," said Ziad Hammouri, director of the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights. "It's about demographics and the Judaization of East Jerusalem."
Israel’s separation barrier has left residents of neighborhoods such as Kafr Aqab cut off from most public services, even though they live within Jerusalem’s city limits, hold residency cards and pay city taxes. (Kevin Frayer / Associated Press / February 8, 2004)

Kafr Aqab, in the northern corner of East Jerusalem, is one of the largest, most isolated neighborhoods, with an estimated 20,000 residents. Once seen as an upscale Palestinian area, Kafr Aqab today is one of the worst slums in Jerusalem.

There are no police officers, nor is there mail service. The only hospital is a maternity clinic. Trash is piled up along narrow roads with deep potholes. There's only one traffic light at the busy main intersection, but it broke years ago, residents say, and was never repaired.

Unauthorized midrise construction is exploding because city inspectors almost never visit. Falling bricks from one building project recently forced a neighboring elementary school to seal off part of its playground so students wouldn't be hit by debris.

Many families with enough money to move have relocated to other parts of East Jerusalem not cut off by the wall. They've left behind a neighborhood increasingly beset by poverty and crime.

In the security vacuum, residents try to maintain order themselves, relying on local elders and powerful families to resolve disputes.... READ MORE

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Tuesday, February 7, 2012

A U.S. author's book, an Iranian translator's peril


Four weeks ago, Mohammad was taken from his parents' house by the Iranian government. No one has heard from him since. He has not been accused of any crime. He is undoubtedly being held in Evin Prison, alongside too many journalists, bloggers and users of social media. Their only crime is living in a country where freedom of speech does not exist."


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NBC NEWS: Gazans break(dance)ing boundaries: Camps Breakerz Crew Trailer 2012


Camps Breakerz crew made a video in January 2012 called "Breakdance Revolution In Gaza" that shows them making moves across the Gaza Strip.
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http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/30/10272998-gazans-breakdanceing-boundaries

GAZA STRIP – In Hamas-ruled Gaza, where Islamic fundamentalism controls every aspect of daily life in the city that has been under an Israeli-imposed siege since June 2007, a group of eight young men from the Nuseirat refugee camp are breaking boundaries by break dancing.

The Camps Breakerz took their moves out onto the rundown streets of Gaza for the first time this month, even though members have been practicing together since 2005.

The dancers released a video on YouTube that shows them doing elaborate dance moves – from spinning head stands to arms stands and flips in “I heart Gaza” t-shirts all over Gaza.

"When I danced in the street I felt free for the first time in my life. I challenged the conservative society and mainly I challenged the Israeli siege," said Mohammed al-Ghrize, otherwise known as “Funk,” who brought together the Camps Breakerz crew.

Challenging strict code

Ghrize, a 25-year-old who works as a nurse, was introduced to the world of break dancing at the age of 16 when he lived with his family in Saudi Arabia. Since returning to his homeland in Gaza, he searched for others who shared his passion for dancing. "It took me two years to persuade seven people to establish a break dancing crew, two of which are my own brothers," he said.

Over the past five years Hamas has imposed a strict code of conduct in Gaza, forcing residents to follow strict Islamic law. The laws have restricted women from social activities like riding on the backs of motorbikes and smoking traditional shisha pipes in public spaces. They have even restricted men from working in women’s hair salons – believing that men cutting women’s hair is immodest.

In a new attempt by the fundamentalist militant Muslim group to crack down on behavior it sees as contrary to its conservative interpretation of Islam, Hamas banned Gaza youth from participating in the Palestinian version of "American Idol." Their reasoning was because Muslims can only sing and dance to the sound of drums – not any modern instruments....READ MORE

Israeli court grants reprieve to abandoned Palestinian village

View [Washington Post] Photo Gallery — Court ruling caps legal fight seen as test case for preservation of Palestinian heritage in Israel.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israeli-court-grants-reprieve-to-abandoned-palestinian-village/2012/02/07/gIQArC0awQ_story.html

JERUSALEM — A Jerusalem court has ruled against plans to build a luxury housing development on the remains of a Palestinian village abandoned in the 1948 war that followed the establishment of Israel.

The court battle was seen as a test case for preservation of Palestinian heritage in Israel, where remains of Arab villages whose residents either fled or were expelled in the fighting have largely vanished under modern buildings, parks and planted forests.

A court petition filed by former residents of Lifta and their descendants, joined by Israeli activists, argued that the ruins of the village on the outskirts of Jerusalem, the most extensive remains of such a site from the pre-state era, should be preserved.

The petition cited opinions by preservation experts and architects who said the development plans did not meet local and international preservation standards....READ MORE

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Rolling Stone The Funny Side: Maysoon Zayid is a Palestinian Muslim with cerebral palsy from New Jersey. So, naturally, she became a stand-up comedian

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http://www.rollingstoneme.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1146Photo Credit: Maysoon Zayid

The Funny Side

Maysoon Zayid is a Palestinian Muslim with cerebral palsy from New Jersey. So, naturally, she became a stand-up comedian

By

She never gets nervous. yet she shakes all the time. “A bit like Shakira, a bit like Arafat,” as she puts it. To those not familiar with her, watching the comedian Maysoon Zayid on stage or on Keith Olbermann’s Countdown show on Current TV, the shaking and the twitching could appear to be serious stage fright – either that or she’s drunk.

Either would be unlikely, since Zayid is a Muslim, as well as an experienced stand-up comedian. Listening to the 33 year-old Palestinian-American combating stereotypes of Islam and Arabs with humor, touching on American political affairs, verbally frying male-dominated Hollywood, or addressing the question of Palestine and Israel, it’s hard to get a handle on her, and some come away asking, “What’s the deal with this Maysoon Zayid?”

The deal is this...READ MORE