http://anas_again.tigblog.org/ What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/378275
يعجز القلم ان يعبر عن مشاعر الفخر والإعتزاز عندما يود الكتابه في عيد الإستقلال، فهو العيد الأعز والأغلى. لقد أمضيت الساعات أفكر عن ماذا سأكتب؟ هل أكتب عن الثورة العمرانية التي غطت وشملت مدن الأردن كافة؟ حتى بات الأردن وخصوصاً عمان مدرسة في الفن العمراني، فالحجر الأردني ألبس عمان ثوبها الأبيض ليجعلها مميزة عن كافة عواصم الأرض.
أم أكتب عن التطور التكنولوجي؟ وقد بات الأردن يواكب أحدث التقنيات سواء بإستخدامه للتكنولوجيا أو لتصنيعه لها وتطويرها. ام أكتب عن التطور العلمي والأكاديمي؟ وقد اصبحت لا تخلو مدينة من مدن الأردن إلا وبها جامعة أو إثنتين على الأقل، يأمها طلبة العلم من كافة بقاع الأرض، من أقصى الشرق الى أقصى الغرب ينهلون علماً ومعرفة من علمائنا وكوادرنا المدربه والمؤهلة لتخريج قيادات في كافة المجالات. أم اتحدث عن الصروح الطبية والتي تم تزويدها بأحدث التقنيات الطبية وأكثر الكفاءات خبره، فكثيرا ما نسمع عن إجراء عملية ناجحة هي الأولى في الشرق الوسط أو تزويد مستشفى بجهاز هو الوحيد بالمنطقة والكثير الكثير من النجاحات المماثلة، أم أتحدث عن مؤسسات الدولة؟ عن الربط الإلكتروني والحكومة الإلكترونية، وجوائز التميز والمبادرات التي تيسر حياة المواطن؟ أم أتحدث عن المرآة الأردنية ووجودها في كافة المواقع من منصب وزير مرورا بالبرلمان والقطاع العام والخاص وحتى أنها باتت جندياً يذود عن حمى الوطن وشرطي سير ينظم حركة المرور في ظهيرة صيف في شوارع الأردن المكتظة بمواطينيه وضيوفه الأمنين لا يخشون على امنهم وسلامتهم من غدر غادر، كيف لا وهم في حمى الأردن وحمى الهاشميين.

أم اكتب عن شباب الأردن والذين أرادهم سيد البلاد فرساناً للتغيير فكانوا فرساناً، في كافة القطاعات سواءً بالإنجازات الرياضية أو الفكرية، أو بمناصب تولوها أو إنتخبوا لإدارتها، فذلك رئيس لبلديه وأخرون أعضاء في مجلس النواب، شباب لا يعطلهم شىء عن تقديم كل ما يملكون لهذا البلد الطيب واهله الطياب.

في النهاية وددت ان أكتب عن ملك البلاد وسيدها، جلالة الملك عبدالله الثاني المعظم، ولكن عندما أردت أن أحصي إنجازات وعطاء هذا الملك الشاب منذ العام الماضي الى الأن وجدت ان المهمة أصعب من الخوض في كل ما ذكرت، فلو وددت أن أكتب فقط عن مبادرة "سكن كريم... لعيش كريم" للزمني مئة ألف صفحة لأكتب صفحة واحدة فقط عن كل عائلة ستستفيد من هذه المكرمة الملكية. لو وددت أن أكتب عن زيارات جلالته لمدن وقرى الأردن ومكارمه على سكانها فلن أنتهي حتى موعد عيد الإستقلال القادم. لو وددت أن أكتب عن مكارمه على شباب الأردن من خلال دعمه الفعلي والوقت الذي يعطيه لهم لما أوفيته حقه.
ولذلك قررت أن أقف عند هذا الحد إحتراماً وإجلالا للأردن ومليكه، ولإنجازاته في عام واحد، فلن أستطيع ولو ساعدني مئات الألاف على الكتابه أن اوفي الأردن ومليكه حقهما، ولذلك سأكتفي بشكر الله وحمده على نعمته علينا بأننا أردنيين، وأشكر الله على أمن وإستقرار الأردن، والشكر لله وحده الذي أكرمنا بعائلة من سلالة أشرف الخلق، همها رفعة وبناء الأردن وكرامة مواطنيه. والشكر لله ان جعلنا أمة فتية، الشباب قوتها وثروتها.


أنس العبادي
25 05 2008]]> Sun, 25 May 2008 02:35:00 EDT http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/378275 38.8950000 -77.036666738.8950000-77.0366667 http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/250645
نحن نرفض بكل السبل أن يعارضنا أو يختلف معنا أحد، وقد تصل بنا الى التحريم والتحليل والفقه والسنة في سبيل قمع من يعارضنا ولا يتفق مع أرآنا، فنحن على حق وسنبقى دائماً على حق، ونحن صح وهذا الأمر لا يختلف عليه إثنان، ربما أن تختلف عليه آُمة ولكن لا يختلف عليه إثنان، وكونوا على ثقة أنه إذا أختلف عليه إثنان، فإن واحد منهم على الأقل هو مندس أو ربما كافر في بعض الأحيان.

ولا تستغربوا إن قلت لكم مع كل ما تقدم، نحن أكثر من يعارض، نحن نعارض من أجل أن نعارض، وأعجبني من عرّف المعارضة في الأردن بقوله "المعارضة الأردنية، هو أن تعارض بدون إعطاء حلول" ، وكل من نعارضه تنطبق عليه الصفات والإحتمالات التي ذكرناها ووصفنا بها من يعارضنا أو يختلف معنا بالرآى!!

لماذا لا نقبل الرآى الأخر؟ لماذا لا نحتمل أن يعارضنا أحد؟ لماذا لا نحتمل الخسارة ونأخذها كدافع للعمل وللمحاولة مرة آخرى؟ لماذا لا نقبل الحوار؟ لماذا ونحن أمة الحوار!!، نحن من إخترع الجاها والصلحة والعطوة وكل هذه المؤتمرات الشعبية التي تهدف الى الحوار والنقاش من أجل الوصول الى حل أو نتيجة. وليس النقاش من أجل النقاش، وليس الجدال من أجل الجدال، وليس المعارضة من أجل المعارضة.

لدينا مثل "مجنون برمي حجر في بير، وألف عاقل ما بطلعو" يقوم شخص لا يملك من الإنتماء والعطاء لهذه البلد قدر شعرة، بإطلاق إتهامات وتصريحات لتبرير فشله في مناورة أو إنتخابات أو منافسة، ولا يأبه بنتائج هذه الإتهامات وأثرها على المصلحة الوطنية ومسيرة البناء طالما قد تخدم تبريراته، كلنا يعرف قصة المرآتين اللتان إختلفتا على طفل، كل منهما تددعي أنها أمه، وعندما آخرج الحاكم سيفه وقال "نقسم الطفل الى قسمين" قالت الأم الحقيقية "لا، دعها تأخذه" قالت لتحميه من الضرر. كم منا يفكر بهذه الطريقة؟ عندما يصل الأمر الى إنتخابات ومسيرة؟ هذا من يصرح ويدّعي، هل فكر في مصلحة الوطن قبل أن يصّرح؟ هل فكر في مصلحة المسيرة؟ أم كانت المصلحة الشخصية في قمة الأولويات؟. أنا ومن بعدي الطوفان، يا خريب يا لعيب.

لا، لن نسمح بالتخريب، لن نسمح بالطوفان، ولن نسمح بالإصطياد في ماء عكر، فشبابنا أوعى. البعض يحاول أن يزعزع ثقتنا في الإنتخابات القادمة، البعض لايريدنا أن نشارك، هولاء هم أعداء الديموقراطية، أعداء التقدم والبناء، ولكن لا، سنذهب الى صناديق الإقتراع، وسننتخب الأمثل، سننتخب من تاتي مخافة الله ومصلحة الوطن نصب عينيه أو عينيها، من يبّدي مصلحة الوطن على كل إعتبار، من لديه برنامج واضح ومحدد، وليس شعارات سواء كانت دينية أو وطنية أو قبلية هدفها فقط أن تلعب بمشاعرنا، كلا.

سننتخب على أساس علمي، سننتخب ضمن معادلة حسابية وزمنية، نحن جيل الكمبيوتر وسننتخب من يفهم جيل الكمبيوتر وليس من مازال يعيش في القرن الماضي أو الذي قبله في بعض الأحيان. لم يعد التذمر يكفي، فالتذمر لا يغيير، ولكن المشاركة ستغير، المشاركة ستبني وتطوّر.

هنالك مثل "انا واخوي على إبن عمي، وأنا وإبن عمي على الغريب" ونحن نقول "أنا وأخوي وإبن عمي وإبن الجيران للوطن" فهذه المرة يجب أن نخرج من المنظور الضيق للعائلة ولنتوسع لنشمل العائلة الكبيرة، وهي الأردن، عندما صوتنا للبتراء، لقد صوتنا للوطن، وللبرلمان القادم سنصوت للوطن.

أنس العبادي
رئيس المنتدى الوطني للشباب والثقافة "شباب الأردن"
a.alabbadi@jordanyouth.org
]]> Tue, 18 Sep 2007 02:55:00 EDT http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/250645 38.8950000 -77.036666738.8950000-77.0366667 http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/209801
كبير أنت يا أردن، وعظيم أنت يا أردن، عظيم بأهلك، عظيم بإرادتك، عظيم بشبابك، واحد وستون عاماً مرت على الإستقلال، لو لم أكن قد قرآت تاريخ الأردن وأحفظ تاريخ إستقلاله، لقلت أن ألأردن إستقل منذ عدة قرون.
كل من ينظر الى النهضة العمرانية والتطور التكنولوجي والمعرفي الذي وصل اليه الأردن اليوم، لما أعتقد أن يكون الأردن والأردنيين قد بنوا كل ذلك في واحد وستون عاماً!

ولكن نحن كأردنيين لا نستغرب، من حجم الإنجاز، على العكس، نحن واثقين بأن المستقبل أمامنا، بل المزيد والمزيد قادم، كيف لا، وقد أنعم الله علينا بقيادة هاشمية همها وشاغلها عمران ونهضة وتطور هذا البلد.
ما يحسدنا عليه كل العالم، هو التعاون والتوافق في ما بيننا، لقد وحدّنا الهاشميين، وبتنا جميعا أردنيين، تشاركنا في البناء، تشاركنا في النماء
وقفنا معا أمام التحديات، وتجاوزناها بحمد الله.

لا ننكر أنه مازالت أمامنا الكثير من التحديات، ولكنها لن تؤثر في عزيمتنا بل على العكس، ستزيدنا إصراراً وعزماً على البناء والتطوير.

واحد وستون عاماً، ومازال الأردن قوياً ومعطاءً، وسيبقى كذلك، كيف لا وهو بلد النماء والتطوير، مملكة الشباب، ملكها شاب، وثروتها الوطنية هي الشباب. ليس سراً أن أحد أسباب الخطى الثابتة نحو الإزدهار التي يخطوها الأردن بإنجازاته كل يوم، هو إستثمار جلالة الملك بعنصر الشباب، الثروة الطبيعية للأردن، أرادهم قادة تغيير، فكانوا قادة للتغيير.

نحن في المنتدى الوطني للشباب والثقافة "شباب الأردن" كنا قد أسسنا مجموعة إلكترونية سميت "شباب الأردن" في عيد الإستقلال عام 2001 ومازالت هذه المجموعة فاعلة ونشيطة، تضم ما يزيد عن سبعماية من شباب الأردن المعطاء، لن تخبو هذا المجموعة ولن ينفذ عطاء أعضائها، فزادهم وقوتهم تأتي من عيد الإستقلال، بعضهم يعيش خارج الوطن بسبب العمل والدراسة، والكثير منهم يقول، إن هذه المجموعة تبقيهم على تواصل مع الوطن، على تواصل مع الأردن.

لن نحاول أن نحصي الإنجازات، فالإنجازات قد تجاوزت المعقول، والأردن بات ينبوع عطاء وتطور، بات واحة أمان، مدينة للعلم. بكل الفخر نعلن أننا أردنيين أينما حللنا، بكل الفخر، يأتي طلبة العلم الى أردننا الغالي، كل من له حاجة يلقى في الأردن الإجابه، صروحنا الطبية باتت أمل المرضى في كل الدول المجاورة، واحة الأمان باتت الملجىء لكل لاجىء، من فقد الأمان في بلده، وجد الامان والحمد لله في الأردن.

الشكر لله على نعمته علينا بهذا الأمن والإستقرار، الشكر لله وحده الذي أكرمنا بعائلة من سلالة أشرف الخلق، همها رفعة وبناء الأردن. الشكر لله الذي جعلنا أمة فتية، قوتها وعزمها روح الشباب.

الحمدلله اننا أردنيين، ونحن في المنتدى الوطني للشباب والثقافة "شباب الأردن" إذ نغتنم هذه الفرصة لرفع أسمى أيات الولاء والإنتماء، والتهاني والتبريك الى مقام صاحب الجلالة الملك عبدالله الثاني المعظم، بمناسبة عيد إستقلال المملكة الأردنية الهاشمية، مملكة الممالك، وزهرة الدول، منارة لطلاب المعرفة والعلم، واحة أمن وإستقرار في منطقة لم تعرف إلا الحروب.

أنس العبادي
رئيس المنتدى الوطني للشباب والثقافة "شباب الأردن"
(نشر في جريدة الدستور في 24 آيار 2007)]]> Fri, 25 May 2007 10:53:00 EDT http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/209801 38.8950000 -77.036666738.8950000-77.0366667 http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/207861
ثم يدور في خاطري كم من الشباب لا يوجد لهم وطن؟ كما من الشباب يعيش أو ينتمي إلى دولة ولكن لا ينتمي إلى وطن، قد تسأل، ما هو الوطن؟.
الوطن هو المكان والفكرة والمؤسسة والمدرسة والعشيرة والأسرة التي تشتاق لرؤيته عندما تغيب عنه، هو الشعب والأرض التي يهتز كيانك وخلجاتك إذا مسه أحد بسوء أو حتى بكلمة.
كلمة مواطن تأتي من وطن، والوفاء هو الانتماء، والوفاء هو الواجبات المناطة بنا كمواطنين نحو وطننا وبلدنا الحبيب الأردن.

والوفاء للوطن ليس يوم واحد، بل هو طوال السنة، والشعور بالانتماء والوفاء للوطن هو شعور يبعث بالفخر والاعتزاز ويمنح القوة.

كيف يكون الوفاء للوطن؟
الوفاء، هو أن نقوم بواجباتنا نحو الوطن، تخيلوا لو أننا جميعا التزمنا بقواعد المرور! على سبيل المثال، هذا وفاء للوطن، تخيلوا لو أننا حافظنا على نظافة بلدنا ومتنزهاتها! هذا من أوجه الوفاء للوطن، لو أننا لم نخالف الأنظمة والقوانين!

المشاركة في العملية الانتخابية هي من أبهى صور الوفاء للوطن، فأنا أساعد الوطن بان أفرز له نواب ورؤساء بلديات أكفاء همهم مصلحة الأردن أولاً، همهم مصلحة الوطن والمواطن. ويكون الوفاء للوطن بأن أنتخب على أساس الكفاءة، على أساس الانتماء، على أساس حب الوطن.

نقولها ونرددها دائماً، "الوطن والمواطن" لقد سبقت كلمة الوطن كلمة المواطن، لأن وطن قوي، وطن عزيز يستطيع أن يعطي المواطنة، ولكن لا توجد مواطنه بدون وطن.

لنتعاهد أن نكون أوفياء للأردن ولنتعاهد أن نكون أوفياء لملك الأردن ولشعب الأردن.

أنس العبادي
رئيس المنتدى الوطني للشباب والثقافة: شباب الأردن
(نشر في جريدة الدستور بتاريخ 5 آيار 2007)]]> Mon, 21 May 2007 06:11:00 EDT http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/207861 38.8950000 -77.036666738.8950000-77.0366667 http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/207859
كما لا بد من تكثيف الجهود في زيادة الوعي العام بين أقراننا من الشباب حول كيفية الممارسة الديموقراطية والمشاركة الفاعلة والتي لا تتحقق في بلدنا الحبيب إلا بمشاركة المرآة والشباب. ووجود الكوتات هو حل مؤقت وليس دائم، فيجب أن يتعود مجتمعنا على رؤية المرآة والشباب في مكان صنع القرار، والشباب وحدهم هم القادرين على تغيير هذه النظرة المجتمعية الخاطئة.

يجب أن نعلم نحن كشباب أن تظافر الجهود والتعاون بيننا في هذه المرحلة أمر هام، بل هام جداً وخصوصاً في ظل وجود أحزاب سياسية ضعيفة وأهدافها شخصية في معظمها، أستغرب كيف تدّعي بعض هذه الأحزاب أنها السبيل الى الإصلاح والديموقراطية وهي تفتقر في تنظيمها الى الديموقراطية والعمل الديموقراطي؟!

ما نحتاجه الأن هو فكر جديد وعصري، نحن الأن في عصر المعلوماتيه وتكنولوجيا الإتصالات، لم يعد المواطن وخصوصا الشباب يصدق أية وعود أو خطبة عصماء قد يلقيها مرشح لربما كان أستاذ في اللغة العربية ولكن امي في العمل السياسي والتنموي والإجتماعي، وهذا أمر هام، فقد إقترح الشباب المشاركين في ملتقى الشمال الرابع من ضمن صفات المرشح المثالي أن يكون له خبرة في العمل الإجتماعي والتواصل مع المجتمع المدني مدة لا تقل عن خمس سنوات، هذه النقطة تستوقفني لأهمية أن نسئل أنفسنا قبل أن ندلي بصوتنا لشخص ما: ماذا قدم هذا الشخص لمجتمعه أو وطنه؟.
دعوة الى كل المرشحين أن تسألوا أنفسكم قبل أن تترشحوا ماذا قدمتم لهذا الوطن وللمواطن؟ ماذا ستضيفون؟ وإذا كنتم ترغبون بالتطوير فهل هذا لا يكون إلا من خلال أن تكونوا داخل البرلمان؟، هل حاولت التطوير والتغيير من خارج القبة؟ كيف؟ أين؟ متى؟ لماذا؟؟. كل من يرغب بالترشيح ليعلم باننا سنسئل كل هذه الأسئلة؟ وكل من سيرشح نفسه للمرة الثانية أو الخامسة سنئله: ماذا فعلت؟ ومالجديد هذه المرة؟.

لن يكون سهلا صوت الشباب هذه المرة، فقد حملوا شعار "في الأردن صوتك بيفرق" فهم يعلمون الأن قيمة صوتهم، نحن نعلم تماما أن من ينجح، ينجح بأصوات الشباب، ومن لم ينجح، لم يكن الشباب في صفه بالتأكيد.
أنس العبادي
رئيس المنتدى الوطني للشباب والثقافة: شباب الأردن
(نشر في جريدة الدستور الأردنية)]]> Mon, 21 May 2007 05:55:00 EDT http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/207859 38.8950000 -77.036666738.8950000-77.0366667 http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/182463
كما لا بد من تكثيف الجهود في زيادة الوعي العام بين أقراننا من الشباب حول كيفية الممارسة الديموقراطية والمشاركة الفاعلة والتي لا تتحقق في بلدنا الحبيب إلا بمشاركة المرآة والشباب. ووجود الكوتات هو حل مؤقت وليس دائم، فيجب أن يتعود مجتمعنا على رؤية المرآة والشباب في مكان صنع القرار، والشباب وحدهم هم القادرين على تغيير هذه النظرة المجتمعية الخاطئة.

يجب أن نعلم نحن كشباب أن تظافر الجهود والتعاون بيننا في هذه المرحلة أمر هام، بل هام جداً وخصوصاً في ظل وجود أحزاب سياسية ضعيفة وأهدافها شخصية في معظمها، أستغرب كيف تدّعي بعض هذه الأحزاب أنها السبيل الى الإصلاح والديموقراطية وهي تفتقر في تنظيمها الى الديموقراطية والعمل الديموقراطي؟!

ما نحتاجه الأن هو فكر جديد وعصري، نحن الأن في عصر المعلوماتيه وتكنولوجيا الإتصالات، لم يعد المواطن وخصوصا الشباب يصدق أية وعود أو خطبة عصماء قد يلقيها مرشح لربما كان أستاذ في اللغة العربية ولكن امي في العمل السياسي والتنموي والإجتماعي، وهذا أمر هام، فقد إقترح الشباب المشاركين في ملتقى الشمال الرابع من ضمن صفات المرشح المثالي أن يكون له خبرة في العمل الإجتماعي والتواصل مع المجتمع المدني مدة لا تقل عن خمس سنوات، هذه النقطة تستوقفني لأهمية أن نسئل أنفسنا قبل أن ندلي بصوتنا لشخص ما: ماذا قدم هذا الشخص لمجتمعه أو وطنه؟.
دعوة الى كل المرشحين أن تسألوا أنفسكم قبل أن تترشحوا ماذا قدمتم لهذا الوطن وللمواطن؟ ماذا ستضيفون؟ وإذا كنتم ترغبون بالتطوير فهل هذا لا يكون إلا من خلال أن تكونوا داخل البرلمان؟، هل حاولت التطوير والتغيير من خارج القبة؟ كيف؟ أين؟ متى؟ لماذا؟؟. كل من يرغب بالترشيح ليعلم باننا سنسئل كل هذه الأسئلة؟ وكل من سيرشح نفسه للمرة الثانية أو الخامسة سنئله: ماذا فعلت؟ ومالجديد هذه المرة؟.

لن يكون سهلا صوت الشباب هذه المرة، فقد حملوا شعار "في الأردن صوتك بيفرق" فهم يعلمون الأن قيمة صوتهم، نحن نعلم تماما أن من ينجح، ينجح بأصوات الشباب، ومن لم ينجح، لم يكن الشباب في صفه بالتأكيد.
أنس العبادي
رئيس المنتدى الوطني للشباب والثقافة: شباب الأردن
"نشر في جريدة الدستور الأردنية" 17 آذار2007 ]]> Sat, 17 Mar 2007 04:39:00 EDT http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/182463 38.8950000 -77.036666738.8950000-77.0366667 http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/43947 Greetings of peace, in the day of peace, May all our days will be days of peace.
Prophet Mohamed (peace upon him) before he die, he delivered his last speech to Moslems, and the last thing he said "People, I commend you, to pass my peace greetings, for all those who will follow me until the Judgment day".

Prophet Mohamed sends you greetings of peace, and we send you greetings of peace, today a group from the Jordan Interfaith Action, will visit the Roman Theater in Amman's down town, to light candles for peace, to state that we refuse violence and we love peace, the Roman Theater two weeks ago, received a terror attack by a crazy person, who opened fire on a group of tourists.

Over two thirds of Jordanian population are under 30 years old, youth are the main target group for the terror organizations to transform them to terrorists, are the same youth who can be messengers of peace.

I will not talk about the terror in the Middle East, not because I believe you all know what is the middle east, But because I believe even those who lives in the middle east they don't know it very well. What I want to tell you that there is always hope, and Middle East is not as bad as it looks like, every day there are hundreds of people who are building and moving forward for peace, last Thursday I had to cut my participation in a conference for women in Jordan, to drive 30 km to the Airport, to meet with a guy who I never met or saw before, flying from India to Israel via Amman, an Israeli guy who is a youth worker, very enthusiastic and believe that he with other youth can make a change, he is my age, and we discussed a possible cooperation in building a youth alliance which will lobby and advocate for peace, even we talked about how the participants should be, we will interview them, they have to convince us that they believe in peace and that they have a dream like the dream we have, we even discussed how the posters which we will invite them through looks like, we said we will start with 80 participants and the next year the number will be 800 and who knows the year after it might be 8000, we said fund is not a problem, we are young we can find our way and the idea is great, so for sure they will support us, and we discussed even more detailed issues about the project, all of that was in one hour at the Q.A. International Airport, with one cup of coffee and some cigarettes.

Now some will say, so what? it was all talk by talk. And I say no, what was discussed at that table was something big, something was achieved at that table, we were two young men, we both celebrating our 30th birthday this year, we don't know each other before that meeting, he got my number from a friend, he called me when he was in India, telling me that he will have a transit in Amman for some hours, he have an idea, that’s it, I didn't know before that meeting if he is young or old, nothing. Now what was achieved there, that two young people from two different countries, from two different sides of such a conflict, came together to find out that they share the same dream, two young people one from Israel and the other from Jordan, for one hour they forgot the war, the boarders, bombers, the check points, the buses, Gaza, Tel Aviv, Lebanon they over passed all of that, and they shared a dream, a dream made them happy and optimistic for at least one hour. We greeted each other, we hugged each other like if we know each other since years, and I left happy and he left happy, and we both believes that we made a new friendship, which is true.

This is the other side of the middle east which you can't see, you can't see because CNN, FOX and Al-Jazeera they don't cover this part, you can’t see because we have one day for peace, and the rest of the year?! For what? For War?!.
Peace is here, it's exist, I can see it and touch it, I saw it last Thursday for a full hour. and if you want to see it, just set with yourself for sometime and think about it, it will come to you, and faster than you guess, because it's in side you.

Best wishes of Peace in the Day of Peace,

Anas Al-Abbadi
Jordan Interfaith Action
21.September.2006]]> Thu, 21 Sep 2006 05:05:00 EDT http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/43947 38.8950000 -77.036666738.8950000-77.0366667 http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/43236
Now the interesting part for me, when I noticed the difference between this European version of the story, and our Arab story, our story says, and this is how I got it from my grandfather; A king who was a tough king, he didn’t like old people, because they can’t serve the country anymore, so he decided to kill all the old people, one of the king’s ministers, he hided his father in the store. Once they were setting with the king when the king asked him to solve a puzzle, and if he will not answer it by tomorrow, he will kill him, the puzzle was; He have to come tomorrow to the palace, wearing and wearing, riding and not riding, wearing a shoes and not wearing, and he have to bring his friend and his enemy. In the evening the man was crying at home, because he have no answer, his daughter asked him why he is upset, the father told her the puzzle and that he will be killed tomorrow if he don’t solve it by tomorrow, the girl she gave the answer to the father, who went to the second day to the palace with the solution, wearing a fishing net, wearing a shoes without heals, riding on a stick, and he brought his wife. The king told him smart about the fishing net, but you are wearing a shoes, when he raised his foot, there was nothing bellow, so his feet was touching the ground, and the stick was clear, then he asked him about the wife, he said she is my wife, she is my friend, so the kind said and how she is your enemy, he said you will see, then he spoke laud “Your majesty, my wife is my enemy, I want you to put her in jail” then the wife went crazy and shouted “your majesty, my husband is your enemy, he cheats you, he even hiding his father in our store” so the man said; “you see my king, she is my enemy”. And the king liked the answers and he asked him how he did find the solutions, the man explained that his daughter gave the answers, and the king asked the father to marry his daughter, and they got married, and she asked him to cancel his order by killing old people, and every body was happy as usual.

Now if you can see there are slightly some differences, and as you can see, it’s cultural differences, first the father was included in the story, because what will make the girl meets with the king “the prince” in a community where men and women do not mix!, how a girl in an Arab community will wear a fishing net and walk to see men, who will be able to see her body?! ..etc and many other questions and differences, this is why the idea of “Once Upon a Time” started, we already organized a Seminar early 2005, and the idea is to gather these stories and translate them into different languages, and discuss why we have such a differences, the stories can be used by different members for storytelling nights, we can gather them on an interact website, where each person can upload the story and volunteers can translate them, it’s just an idea, and am happy to hear your comments.
Anas Al-Abbadi
]]> Wed, 13 Sep 2006 08:30:00 EDT http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/43236 38.8950000 -77.036666738.8950000-77.0366667 http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/22939 Sat, 19 Mar 2005 07:55:00 EST http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/22939 38.8950000 -77.036666738.8950000-77.0366667 http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/19270
Art Religion
29.April – 04.May 2004
Amman – Jordan

Using Art as a tool for dialogue between religions was the theme of the contact making seminar which was held in Jordan last spring, 29 participants representing 21 organization coming from 14 deferent countries which is (Palestine, Egypt, Israel, Tunisia, Turkey, Portugal, Spain, France, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Jordan) gathered in Amman to come out with projects addressing young people on the above theme.




The five days event, went through several stages, were participants was introduced to each other, it was very interesting when it was the first time in his life for an Egyptian young man to meet with a Jew or even Israeli, participants were representing the three Abrahamic traditions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, also the harmony and the relation which was built between the Palestinian participants and the Israeli participants was a good proof that peace is possible on our region, our organization was calling and still do, that Religion is not the Problem in the Middle East but for sure it can be the solution.


It was also a great chance for European participants to learn more about the situation in the Middle East, and specially in Jordan, one of the interesting things which was said by one of the participants from Europe “I really want to apologize for all the Arabs and Specially Jordanians; I was planning to not attend, because I was worry and afraid because of what I see every day in the news, but now since am here, I can see in my eyes the reality and the great hospitality that we lived here”


Some exercises on Intercultural learning and communication skills was delivered also a short training on creative thinking was delivered by a professional trainer, the main idea of this Seminar is to come out with future projects and ways of cooperation between the participant’s organizations.



Between the 21 organization 6 Cooperation Circles from the URI-Middle East and North Africa participated, three from Jordan, one from Israel, Egypt, and Tunisia, each organization delivered a presentation on its activities; the URI Cooperation Circles presented one big presentation about the URI activities and about the CC’s activities in the MENA Region.

The outcome of this Seminar is to organize three youth exchanges in Jordan, Germany, and Greece; those exchanges will take part next year.




The Jordan Interfaith Action CC. is the first Cooperation Circle and Jordan, which aims to build bridges of understanding between Jordanian youth and youth from all around the world especially in the Middle East region.

Anas Alabbadi
Jordan Interfaith Action CC.
]]> Tue, 04 May 2004 00:00:00 EDT http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/19270 38.8950000 -77.036666738.8950000-77.0366667 http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/19271
Art Religion
29.April – 04.May 2004
Amman – Jordan

Using Art as a tool for dialogue between religions was the theme of the contact making seminar which was held in Jordan last spring, 29 participants representing 21 organization coming from 14 deferent countries which is (Palestine, Egypt, Israel, Tunisia, Turkey, Portugal, Spain, France, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Jordan) gathered in Amman to come out with projects addressing young people on the above theme.




The five days event, went through several stages, were participants was introduced to each other, it was very interesting when it was the first time in his life for an Egyptian young man to meet with a Jew or even Israeli, participants were representing the three Abrahamic traditions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, also the harmony and the relation which was built between the Palestinian participants and the Israeli participants was a good proof that peace is possible on our region, our organization was calling and still do, that Religion is not the Problem in the Middle East but for sure it can be the solution.


It was also a great chance for European participants to learn more about the situation in the Middle East, and specially in Jordan, one of the interesting things which was said by one of the participants from Europe “I really want to apologize for all the Arabs and Specially Jordanians; I was planning to not attend, because I was worry and afraid because of what I see every day in the news, but now since am here, I can see in my eyes the reality and the great hospitality that we lived here”


Some exercises on Intercultural learning and communication skills was delivered also a short training on creative thinking was delivered by a professional trainer, the main idea of this Seminar is to come out with future projects and ways of cooperation between the participant’s organizations.



Between the 21 organization 6 Cooperation Circles from the URI-Middle East and North Africa participated, three from Jordan, one from Israel, Egypt, and Tunisia, each organization delivered a presentation on its activities; the URI Cooperation Circles presented one big presentation about the URI activities and about the CC’s activities in the MENA Region.

The outcome of this Seminar is to organize three youth exchanges in Jordan, Germany, and Greece; those exchanges will take part next year.




The Jordan Interfaith Action CC. is the first Cooperation Circle and Jordan, which aims to build bridges of understanding between Jordanian youth and youth from all around the world especially in the Middle East region.

Anas Alabbadi
Jordan Interfaith Action CC.
]]> Tue, 04 May 2004 00:00:00 EDT http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/19271 38.8950000 -77.036666738.8950000-77.0366667 http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/19272
Art Religion
29.April – 04.May 2004
Amman – Jordan

Using Art as a tool for dialogue between religions was the theme of the contact making seminar which was held in Jordan last spring, 29 participants representing 21 organization coming from 14 deferent countries which is (Palestine, Egypt, Israel, Tunisia, Turkey, Portugal, Spain, France, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Jordan) gathered in Amman to come out with projects addressing young people on the above theme.




The five days event, went through several stages, were participants was introduced to each other, it was very interesting when it was the first time in his life for an Egyptian young man to meet with a Jew or even Israeli, participants were representing the three Abrahamic traditions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, also the harmony and the relation which was built between the Palestinian participants and the Israeli participants was a good proof that peace is possible on our region, our organization was calling and still do, that Religion is not the Problem in the Middle East but for sure it can be the solution.


It was also a great chance for European participants to learn more about the situation in the Middle East, and specially in Jordan, one of the interesting things which was said by one of the participants from Europe “I really want to apologize for all the Arabs and Specially Jordanians; I was planning to not attend, because I was worry and afraid because of what I see every day in the news, but now since am here, I can see in my eyes the reality and the great hospitality that we lived here”


Some exercises on Intercultural learning and communication skills was delivered also a short training on creative thinking was delivered by a professional trainer, the main idea of this Seminar is to come out with future projects and ways of cooperation between the participant’s organizations.



Between the 21 organization 6 Cooperation Circles from the URI-Middle East and North Africa participated, three from Jordan, one from Israel, Egypt, and Tunisia, each organization delivered a presentation on its activities; the URI Cooperation Circles presented one big presentation about the URI activities and about the CC’s activities in the MENA Region.

The outcome of this Seminar is to organize three youth exchanges in Jordan, Germany, and Greece; those exchanges will take part next year.




The Jordan Interfaith Action CC. is the first Cooperation Circle and Jordan, which aims to build bridges of understanding between Jordanian youth and youth from all around the world especially in the Middle East region.

Anas Alabbadi
Jordan Interfaith Action CC.
]]> Tue, 04 May 2004 00:00:00 EDT http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/19272 38.8950000 -77.036666738.8950000-77.0366667 http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/8294 THE HELL WE ARE RIGHT NOW



Do you know enough to justify going to war with Iraq?

1. Q: What percentage of the world's population
does the U.S. have?

A: 6%

2. Q: What percentage of the world's wealth does
the U.S. have?

A: 50%

3. Q: Which country has the largest oil reserves?


A: Saudi Arabia

4. Q: Which country has the second largest oil
reserves?

A: Iraq

5. Q: How much is spent on military budgets a
year worldwide?

A: $900+ billion

6. Q: How much of this is spent by the U.S.?

A: 50%

7. Q: What percent of US military spending would
ensure the essentials

of life to everyone in the world, according
the UN?

A: 10% (that's about$40 billion, the amount of
funding initially

requested to fund our retaliatory attack on
Afghanistan).

8. Q: How many people have died in wars since
World War II?

A: 86 million

9. Q: How long has Iraq had chemical and
biological weapons?

A: Since the early 1980's.

10. Q: Did Iraq develop these chemical biological
weapons on their

own?

A: No, the materials and technology were supplied
by the US

government, along with Britain and private
corporations.

11. Q: Did the US government condemn the Iraqi use
of gas warfare

against Iran?

A: No

12. Q: How many people did Saddam Hussein kill
using gas in the

Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988?

A: 5,000

13. Q: How many western countries condemned this
action at the time?

A: 0

14. Q: How many gallons of agent Orange did America
use in Vietnam?

A: 17million.

15. Q: Are there any proven links between Iraq and
September 11th

terrorist attack?

A: No

16. Q: What is the estimated number of civilian
casualties in the Gulf

War?

A: 35,000

17. Q: How many casualties did the Iraqi military
inflict on the

western forces during the Gulf War ?

A: 0

18. Q: How many retreating Iraqi soldiers were
buried alive by U.S.

tanks with ploughs mounted on the front?

A: 6,000

19. Q: How many tons of depleted uranium were left
in Iraq and Kuwait

after the Gulf War?

A: 40 tons

20. Q: What according to the UN was the increase in
cancer rates in

Iraq between 1991 and 1994?

A: 700%

21. Q: How much of Iraq's military capacity did
America claim it had

destroyed in 1991?

A: 80%

22. Q: Is there any proof that Iraq plans to use
its weapons for

anything other than deterrence and self
defense?

A: No

23. Q: Does Iraq present more of a threat to world
peace now than 10

years ago?

A: No

24. Q: How many civilian deaths has the Pentagon
predicted in the

event of an attack on Iraq in 2003?

A: 10,000

25. Q: What percentage of these will be children?

A: Over 50%

26. Q: How many years has the U.S. engaged in air
strikes on Iraq?

A: 11 years

27. Q: Were the U.S and the UK at war with Iraq
between December 1998

and September 1999?

A: No

28. Q: How many pounds of explosives were dropped
on Iraq between

December 1998 and September 1999?

A: 20 million

29. Q: How many years ago was UN Resolution 661
introduced, imposing

strict sanctions on Iraq's imports and
exports?

A: 12 years

30. Q: What was the child death rate in Iraq in
1989 (per 1,000 births)?

A: 38

31. Q: What was the estimated child death rate in
Iraq in 1999 (per 1,000

births)?

A: 131 (that's an increase of 345%)

32. Q: How many Iraqis are estimated to have died
by October 1999 as a

result of UN sanctions?

A: 1.5 million

33. Q: How many Iraqi children are estimated to
have died due to

sanctions since 1997?

A: 750,000

34. Q: Did Saddam order the inspectors out of Iraq?


A: No

35. Q: How many inspections were there in November
and December 1998?

A: 300

36. Q: How many of these inspections had problems?

A: 5

37. Q: Were the weapons inspectors allowed entry to
the Ba'ath Party HQ?

A: Yes

38. Q: Who said that by December 1998, "Iraq had in
fact, been

disarmed to a level unprecedented in modern
history."

A: Scott Ritter, UNSCOM chief.

39. Q: In 1998 how much of Iraq's post 1991
capacity to develop weapons of

mass destruction did the UN weapons
inspectors claim to have

discovered and dismantled?

A: 90%

40. Q: Is Iraq willing to allow the weapons
inspectors back in?

A: Yes

41. Q: How many UN resolutions did Israel violate
by 1992?

A: Over 65

42. Q: How many UN resolutions on Israel did
America veto between 1972

and 1990?

A: 30+

44. Q: How many countries are known to have nuclear
weapons?

A: 8

45. Q: How many nuclear warheads has Iraq got?

A: 0

46. Q: How many nuclear warheads has US got?

A: Over 10,000

47. Q: Which is the only country to use nuclear
weapons?

A: The US

48. Q: How many nuclear warheads does Israel have?

A: Over 400

50. Q: Who said, "Our lives begin to end the day we
become silent

about things that matter"?

A: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr



Charles Sheketoff,

Executive Director Oregon Center for Public Policy PO
Box 7, Silverton, OR 97381

Donald Grayston, PhD

Director, Institute for the Humanities

Simon Fraser University

Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6

Canada

tel: 604/291-5516 / fax: 604/291-4504

website: www.sfu.ca (Academic Programs - Humanities)]]> Wed, 26 Mar 2003 08:58:00 EST http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/8294 38.8950000 -77.036666738.8950000-77.0366667 http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/8293 her friends and her mom you will see that she was
there
and she knew she will die, but our mession to make
sure that her blood was not wasted.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent
about things that matter"
Martin Luther King

Rachel's war

This weekend 23-year-old American peace activist
Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by a bulldozer as
she tried to prevent the Israeli army destroying homes
in the Gaza Strip. In a remarkable series of emails to
her family, she explained why she was risking her life

Tuesday March 18, 2003
The Guardian

February 7 2003

Hi friends and family, and others,

I have been in Palestine for two weeks and one hour
now, and I still have very few words to describe what
I see. It is most difficult for me to think about
what's going on here when I sit down to write back to
the United States. Something about the virtual portal
into luxury. I don't know if many of the children here
have ever existed without tank-shell holes in their
walls and the towers of an occupying army surveying
them constantly from the near horizons. I think,
although I'm not entirely sure, that even the smallest
of these children understand that life is not like
this everywhere. An eight-year-old was shot and killed
by an Israeli tank two days before I got here, and
many of the children murmur his name to me - Ali - or
point at the posters of him on the walls. The children
also love to get me to practice my limited Arabic by
asking me, "Kaif Sharon?" "Kaif Bush?" and they laugh
when I say, "Bush Majnoon", "Sharon Majnoon" back in
my limited arabic. (How is Sharon? How is Bush? Bush
is crazy. Sharon is crazy.) Of course this isn't quite
what I believe, and some of the adults who have the
English correct me: "Bush mish Majnoon" ... Bush is a
businessman. Today I tried to learn to say, "Bush is a
tool", but I don't think it translated quite right.
But anyway, there are eight-year-olds here much more
aware of the workings of the global power structure
than I was just a few years ago.

Nevertheless, no amount of reading, attendance at
conferences, documentary viewing and word of mouth
could have prepared me for the reality of the
situation here. You just can't imagine it unless you
see it - and even then you are always well aware that
your experience of it is not at all the reality: what
with the difficulties the Israeli army would face if
they shot an unarmed US citizen, and with the fact
that I have money to buy water when the army destroys
wells, and the fact, of course, that I have the option
of leaving. Nobody in my family has been shot, driving
in their car, by a rocket launcher from a tower at the
end of a major street in my hometown. I have a home. I
am allowed to go see the ocean. When I leave for
school or work I can be relatively certain that there
will not be a heavily armed soldier waiting halfway
between Mud Bay and downtown Olympia at a checkpoint
with the power to decide whether I can go about my
business, and whether I can get home again when I'm
done. As an afterthought to all this rambling, I am in
Rafah: a city of about 140,000 people, approximately
60% of whom are refugees - many of whom are twice or
three times refugees. Today, as I walked on top of the
rubble where homes once stood, Egyptian soldiers
called to me from the other side of the border, "Go!
Go!" because a tank was coming. And then waving and
"What's your name?". Something disturbing about this
friendly curiosity. It reminded me of how much, to
some degree, we are all kids curious about other kids.
Egyptian kids shouting at strange women wandering into
the path of tanks. Palestinian kids shot from the
tanks when they peak out from behind walls to see
what's going on. International kids standing in front
of tanks with banners. Israeli kids in the tanks
anonymously - occasionally shouting and also
occasionally waving - many forced to be here, many
just agressive - shooting into the houses as we wander
away.


I've been having trouble accessing news about the
outside world here, but I hear an escalation of war on
Iraq is inevitable. There is a great deal of concern
here about the "reoccupation of Gaza". Gaza is
reoccupied every day to various extents but I think
the fear is that the tanks will enter all the streets
and remain here instead of entering some of the
streets and then withdrawing after some hours or days
to observe and shoot from the edges of the
communities. If people aren't already thinking about
the consequences of this war for the people of the
entire region then I hope you will start.

My love to everyone. My love to my mom. My love to
smooch. My love to fg and barnhair and sesamees and
Lincoln School. My love to Olympia.

Rachel

February 20 2003

Mama,

Now the Israeli army has actually dug up the road to
Gaza, and both of the major checkpoints are closed.
This means that Palestinians who want to go and
register for their next quarter at university can't.
People can't get to their jobs and those who are
trapped on the other side can't get home; and
internationals, who have a meeting tomorrow in the
West Bank, won't make it. We could probably make it
through if we made serious use of our international
white person privilege, but that would also mean some
risk of arrest and deportation, even though none of us
has done anything illegal.

The Gaza Strip is divided in thirds now. There is some
talk about the "reoccupation of Gaza", but I seriously
doubt this will happen, because I think it would be a
geopolitically stupid move for Israel right now. I
think the more likely thing is an increase in smaller
below-the-international-outcry-radar incursions and
possibly the oft-hinted "population transfer".

I am staying put in Rafah for now, no plans to head
north. I still feel like I'm relatively safe and think
that my most likely risk in case of a larger-scale
incursion is arrest. A move to reoccupy Gaza would
generate a much larger outcry than Sharon's
assassination-during-peace-negotiations/land grab
strategy, which is working very well now to create
settlements all over, slowly but surely eliminating
any meaningful possibility for Palestinian
self-determination. Know that I have a lot of very
nice Palestinians looking after me. I have a small flu
bug, and got some very nice lemony drinks to cure me.
Also, the woman who keeps the key for the well where
we still sleep keeps asking me about you. She doesn't
speak a bit of English, but she asks about my mom
pretty frequently - wants to make sure I'm calling
you.

Love to you and Dad and Sarah and Chris and everybody.

Rachel

February 27 2003

(To her mother)

Love you. Really miss you. I have bad nightmares about
tanks and bulldozers outside our house and you and me
inside. Sometimes the adrenaline acts as an anesthetic
for weeks and then in the evening or at night it just
hits me again - a little bit of the reality of the
situation. I am really scared for the people here.
Yesterday, I watched a father lead his two tiny
children, holding his hands, out into the sight of
tanks and a sniper tower and bulldozers and Jeeps
because he thought his house was going to be exploded.
Jenny and I stayed in the house with several women and
two small babies. It was our mistake in translation
that caused him to think it was his house that was
being exploded. In fact, the Israeli army was in the
process of detonating an explosive in the ground
nearby - one that appears to have been planted by
Palestinian resistance.

This is in the area where Sunday about 150 men were
rounded up and contained outside the settlement with
gunfire over their heads and around them, while tanks
and bulldozers destroyed 25 greenhouses - the
livelihoods for 300 people. The explosive was right in
front of the greenhouses - right in the point of entry
for tanks that might come back again. I was terrified
to think that this man felt it was less of a risk to
walk out in view of the tanks with his kids than to
stay in his house. I was really scared that they were
all going to be shot and I tried to stand between them
and the tank. This happens every day, but just this
father walking out with his two little kids just
looking very sad, just happened to get my attention
more at this particular moment, probably because I
felt it was our translation problems that made him
leave.


I thought a lot about what you said on the phone about
Palestinian violence not helping the situation. Sixty
thousand workers from Rafah worked in Israel two years
ago. Now only 600 can go to Israel for jobs. Of these
600, many have moved, because the three checkpoints
between here and Ashkelon (the closest city in Israel)
make what used to be a 40-minute drive, now a 12-hour
or impassible journey. In addition, what Rafah
identified in 1999 as sources of economic growth are
all completely destroyed - the Gaza international
airport (runways demolished, totally closed); the
border for trade with Egypt (now with a giant Israeli
sniper tower in the middle of the crossing); access to
the ocean (completely cut off in the last two years by
a checkpoint and the Gush Katif settlement). The count
of homes destroyed in Rafah since the beginning of
this intifada is up around 600, by and large people
with no connection to the resistance but who happen to
live along the border. I think it is maybe official
now that Rafah is the poorest place in the world.
There used to be a middle class here - recently. We
also get reports that in the past, Gazan flower
shipments to Europe were delayed for two weeks at the
Erez crossing for security inspections. You can
imagine the value of two-week-old cut flowers in the
European market, so that market dried up. And then the
bulldozers come and take out people's vegetable farms
and gardens. What is left for people? Tell me if you
can think of anything. I can't.

If any of us had our lives and welfare completely
strangled, lived with children in a shrinking place
where we knew, because of previous experience, that
soldiers and tanks and bulldozers could come for us at
any moment and destroy all the greenhouses that we had
been cultivating for however long, and did this while
some of us were beaten and held captive with 149 other
people for several hours - do you think we might try
to use somewhat violent means to protect whatever
fragments remained? I think about this especially when
I see orchards and greenhouses and fruit trees
destroyed - just years of care and cultivation. I
think about you and how long it takes to make things
grow and what a labour of love it is. I really think,
in a similar situation, most people would defend
themselves as best they could. I think Uncle Craig
would. I think probably Grandma would. I think I
would.

You asked me about non-violent resistance.

When that explosive detonated yesterday it broke all
the windows in the family's house. I was in the
process of being served tea and playing with the two
small babies. I'm having a hard time right now. Just
feel sick to my stomach a lot from being doted on all
the time, very sweetly, by people who are facing doom.
I know that from the United States, it all sounds like
hyperbole. Honestly, a lot of the time the sheer
kindness of the people here, coupled with the
overwhelming evidence of the wilful destruction of
their lives, makes it seem unreal to me. I really
can't believe that something like this can happen in
the world without a bigger outcry about it. It really
hurts me, again, like it has hurt me in the past, to
witness how awful we can allow the world to be. I felt
after talking to you that maybe you didn't completely
believe me. I think it's actually good if you don't,
because I do believe pretty much above all else in the
importance of independent critical thinking. And I
also realise that with you I'm much less careful than
usual about trying to source every assertion that I
make. A lot of the reason for that is I know that you
actually do go and do your own research. But it makes
me worry about the job I'm doing. All of the situation
that I tried to enumerate above - and a lot of other
things - constitutes a somewhat gradual - often
hidden, but nevertheless massive - removal and
destruction of the ability of a particular group of
people to survive. This is what I am seeing here. The
assassinations, rocket attacks and shooting of
children are atrocities - but in focusing on them I'm
terrified of missing their context. The vast majority
of people here - even if they had the economic means
to escape, even if they actually wanted to give up
resisting on their land and just leave (which appears
to be maybe the less nefarious of Sharon's possible
goals), can't leave. Because they can't even get into
Israel to apply for visas, and because their
destination countries won't let them in (both our
country and Arab countries). So I think when all means
of survival is cut off in a pen (Gaza) which people
can't get out of, I think that qualifies as genocide.
Even if they could get out, I think it would still
qualify as genocide. Maybe you could look up the
definition of genocide according to international law.
I don't remember it right now. I'm going to get better
at illustrating this, hopefully. I don't like to use
those charged words. I think you know this about me. I
really value words. I really try to illustrate and let
people draw their own conclusions.


Anyway, I'm rambling. Just want to write to my Mom and
tell her that I'm witnessing this chronic, insidious
genocide and I'm really scared, and questioning my
fundamental belief in the goodness of human nature.
This has to stop. I think it is a good idea for us all
to drop everything and devote our lives to making this
stop. I don't think it's an extremist thing to do
anymore. I still really want to dance around to Pat
Benatar and have boyfriends and make comics for my
coworkers. But I also want this to stop. Disbelief and
horror is what I feel. Disappointment. I am
disappointed that this is the base reality of our
world and that we, in fact, participate in it. This is
not at all what I asked for when I came into this
world. This is not at all what the people here asked
for when they came into this world. This is not the
world you and Dad wanted me to come into when you
decided to have me. This is not what I meant when I
looked at Capital Lake and said: "This is the wide
world and I'm coming to it." I did not mean that I was
coming into a world where I could live a comfortable
life and possibly, with no effort at all, exist in
complete unawareness of my participation in genocide.
More big explosions somewhere in the distance outside.

When I come back from Palestine, I probably will have
nightmares and constantly feel guilty for not being
here, but I can channel that into more work. Coming
here is one of the better things I've ever done. So
when I sound crazy, or if the Israeli military should
break with their racist tendency not to injure white
people, please pin the reason squarely on the fact
that I am in the midst of a genocide which I am also
indirectly supporting, and for which my government is
largely responsible.

I love you and Dad. Sorry for the diatribe. OK, some
strange men next to me just gave me some peas, so I
need to eat and thank them.

Rachel

February 28 2003

(To her mother)

Thanks, Mom, for your response to my email. It really
helps me to get word from you, and from other people
who care about me.

After I wrote to you I went incommunicado from the
affinity group for about 10 hours which I spent with a
family on the front line in Hi Salam - who fixed me
dinner - and have cable TV. The two front rooms of
their house are unusable because gunshots have been
fired through the walls, so the whole family - three
kids and two parents - sleep in the parent's bedroom.
I sleep on the floor next to the youngest daughter,
Iman, and we all shared blankets. I helped the son
with his English homework a little, and we all watched
Pet Semetery, which is a horrifying movie. I think
they all thought it was pretty funny how much trouble
I had watching it. Friday is the holiday, and when I
woke up they were watching Gummy Bears dubbed into
Arabic. So I ate breakfast with them and sat there for
a while and just enjoyed being in this big puddle of
blankets with this family watching what for me seemed
like Saturday morning cartoons. Then I walked some way
to B'razil, which is where Nidal and Mansur and
Grandmother and Rafat and all the rest of the big
family that has really wholeheartedly adopted me live.
(The other day, by the way, Grandmother gave me a
pantomimed lecture in Arabic that involved a lot of
blowing and pointing to her black shawl. I got Nidal
to tell her that my mother would appreciate knowing
that someone here was giving me a lecture about
smoking turning my lungs black.) I met their
sister-in-law, who is visiting from Nusserat camp, and
played with her small baby.

Nidal's English gets better every day. He's the one
who calls me, "My sister". He started teaching
Grandmother how to say, "Hello. How are you?" In
English. You can always hear the tanks and bulldozers
passing by, but all of these people are genuinely
cheerful with each other, and with me. When I am with
Palestinian friends I tend to be somewhat less
horrified than when I am trying to act in a role of
human rights observer, documenter, or direct-action
resister. They are a good example of how to be in it
for the long haul. I know that the situation gets to
them - and may ultimately get them - on all kinds of
levels, but I am nevertheless amazed at their strength
in being able to defend such a large degree of their
humanity - laughter, generosity, family-time - against
the incredible horror occurring in their lives and
against the constant presence of death. I felt much
better after this morning. I spent a lot of time
writing about the disappointment of discovering,
somewhat first-hand, the degree of evil of which we
are still capable. I should at least mention that I am
also discovering a degree of strength and of basic
ability for humans to remain human in the direst of
circumstances - which I also haven't seen before. I
think the word is dignity. I wish you could meet these
people. Maybe, hopefully, someday you will.


Rachel

------------------------------------------------------------]]> Wed, 26 Mar 2003 08:57:00 EST http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/8293 38.8950000 -77.036666738.8950000-77.0366667 http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/8292 (Olympia, Washington) was killed by being run over
twice by a Caterpillar bulldozer supplied and paid for
by US taxpayers to the Israeli government. The
bulldozer was in the process of demolishing a
Palestinian home (now a daily occurence in a
systematic process of ethnic cleansing in the occupied
areas that left over 15,000 Palestinians homeless in
the past two years).

A recent message/report from Rachel can be found at
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0303/S00019.htm

A short report on the attack on International
solidarity movement is at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,905348,00.html

A report on the killing follows below from the
Associated Press is misleading and false in many ways
(as is usual from the biased AP):
- over 80% of demolished homes have nothing to do with
terror suspects).
- It makes it look like there is a war ("clashes");
the reality is that a heavily armed occupation army
(the third or fourth strongest army in teh world) is
attacking a largely defenseless population with few
armed guerrillas attempting to defend in vein their
refugee camps and villages.
- There is no parity between an occupation army and
occupied and dispossessed people living in refugee
camps.
- There is no mention of what human rights groups say
about these issues
- There is no mention of what International law says
about demoliting homes. Evfen demolitiong a home of a
suicide bomber is illegal and considered a war crime
by international law (imagine demoliting family homes
of crtiminals in the US as a deterrent to future
crime! Let alone people living in refugee camps under
brutal foreign occupation by the power that made them
refugees.).

Please reflect and act now.

And to Rachel: we will redouble our efforts in your
memory as I am sure you would want us to do. Your
death will not be in vein. We will miss you dearly.
May you rest in peace and may your family and all your
friends know that we all pray for them.

The more people speak out the faster the killing will
come to end.

By IBRAHIM BARZAK
The Associated Press
Sunday, March 16, 2003; 12:26 PM

An American woman in Gaza to protest Israeli
operations was killed Sunday when she was
run over by an Israeli bulldozer, witnesses and
hospital officials said.

Rachel Corrie, 23, a college student from Olympia,
Wash., had been trying to stop the bulldozer from
tearing down a building in the Rafah refugee camp,
witnesses said. She was taken to Najar hospital in
Rafah, where she died, said Dr. Ali Moussa, a hospital

administrator.

Greg Schnabel, 28, of Chicago, said the protesters
were in the house of Dr. Samir Masri. Israeli almost
daily has been tearing down houses of Palestinians it
suspects in connection with Islamic militant groups,
saying such operations deter attacks on Israel such as
suicide
bombings.

"Rachel was alone in front of the house as we were
trying to get them to stop," Schnabel said. "She waved
for the bulldozer to stop and waved. She fell down and
the bulldozer kept going. We yelled, 'Stop, stop,' and
the bulldozer didn't stop at all. It had completely
run over her and then it reversed and ran back over
her."

Witnesses said Corrie was wearing a brightly colored
jacket when the bulldozer hit her. She had been a
student at The Evergreen State College in Olympia and
would have graduated this year, Schnabel said.

The Israeli military and the U.S. State Department had
no immediate comment.

Groups of international protesters have gathered in
several locations in the West Bank and Gaza during two
years of Palestinian violence, setting themselves up
as "human shields" to try to stop Israeli operations.

Corrie was the first member of the groups, called
"International Solidarity Movement" and backed by
Palestinian groups, to be killed in the conflict.
Several activists have been arrested in clashes with
Israeli forces, and some have been deported by Israeli
authorities.

Schnabel said there were eight protesters at the site
in Rafah, four from the United States and four from
Great Britain. "We stay with families whose house is
to be demolished," he told the Associated Press by
telephone after the incident.

Mansour Abed Allah, 29, a Palestinian human rights
worker in Rafah, witnessed the incident. He said the
killing should be a message to President Bush, who is
"providing Israel with tanks and bulldozers, and now
they killed one of his own people."

Israel sends tanks and bulldozers into the area almost
every day, destroying buildings near the Gaza-Egypt
border. The Israelis say Palestinian gunmen use the
buildings as cover, and arms-smuggling tunnels dug
under the border terminate in the buildings.

According to interim peace accords, Israel controls
the border area, where there are clashes almost daily
between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli soldiers.

]]> Wed, 26 Mar 2003 08:55:00 EST http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/8292 38.8950000 -77.036666738.8950000-77.0366667 http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/8291 I understand that so many efforts are moving
now to avoid the war solution, BUT we can't
seprate the two cases in the middle east, and
if a country put it internal benefits first even
if it effect other countries then it can't call
it self to be the healer for the globe!!
yesturday i saw a show for an american arab prof.
he said if you stand in Basra "a city in the south
of Iraq" you are in a center of a circle it daiameter
700 miles this circle contain 70% of the world Oil !!
another guy says that the war is USD vs Eruo ?!!
in all ways what is our busnise as a human rights
and peace supporters to support a devil plans like
this?!!!
When we call for human rights in Iraq in this time
we are supporting those devils who are only seeing
Oil and money!! and none of us want to be part
of a black game like this game. and sorry to say
game, but Mr.Bush he said "game is over" he is
talking about the future of a nation!!

Tonight or tomorow the UN will say it word, on the
other hand he is saying the war will be war with
or without the UN approval, he is repeating what
happend after the 2 world war, he is distroying
the UN. And who knows what is the new organization
will look like.

peace
Anas
]]> Wed, 26 Mar 2003 08:53:00 EST http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/8291 38.8950000 -77.036666738.8950000-77.0366667 http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/8290 I was reading what was writen about the Iraqi
issue
in the last few weeks in this mailing list, and i was
not replying because of the reson which i will talk
about now, last week a BBC Journalist made an
interview with me about Iraq and she asked me to jion
a satalit conference between 12 people from jordan and
12 from New York city, my answer was NO for the
following reasons, first of all i don't want to be in
a setuation that i deffince Saddam, because i know how
much this man is a bad man, BUT why i will deffince
him?! because there is the bad and there is the
worriest, Badness is levels but in the end they all
bad "i agree on this" But is Saddam Hussein is the
only Dectator in the region?! or even in the World??
I liked what the Syrian representer when he say: "You
are worry about us from Saddam's danger and you are
not worry about us from Israel who is the only country
in the region who have nuclear, biological, rockets,
and all kind of weapons?!!!
Again i wish that Saddam will be removed, but Saddam
he didn't attacked any country in the last 12 years,
BUT Israel is attacking Palestinians every day last
night 11 palestinians dead and the day before 12 and
the day before 16 with 140 enjiered and before and
before and who knows how many today and tomorow??
Is Saddam the only one who is not giving his people
or other people human rights?!!
I told that Jurnalist if the UN make an army to
remove Saddam and to Stop Israel i will join that
army, but removing Saddam and keeping the power in the
hand of Israel "alone" in the area that is not justice
and there is any international law or human rights in
any way, I will not go for the Oil issue because every
body know that, and if Mr.Bush wants only the Oil i'm
sure someone like Saddam he will give him as mmuch oil
as he want.
There is so many stories behind this war, Oil one of
them, the American vs EU competion is another story,
Israel is also a story, money economic is also
involved, madness and sickness i also involve it in
this,
USA is calling for War from the beggining before any
kind of another solution, and sorry for using USA not
saying Bush because USA "was" for us as the dream and
the example of Democrasy and our dream to have a
democrasy like what the American have, BUT not
anymore,
TheTimes made a vote about who is more dangerus for
the world peace? Iraq, North Korea, or USA? %85.65 Was
the result that USA is more dangerus than those other
countries, WHY?? WHY? WHY Israel can have those
weapons
and other countries don't?? Why Israel can refuse a
UN resolutions and declearations and others don't??

I'm not againest the Israeli people, but i will be
againest them if they have democrasy! because if they
have democrasy then this is their choice, then they
are agree with what is going on!!
What is Democrasy you are calling for??!!
Is Democrasy means that every body should be weak
and following what USA thinks is right and wrong??
And what is the measure for a civilized people or
not civilized?? is't if we dress and talk and walk
like the Americans or the Europians that means we are
civilized or not civilized?!! what is the standered
for
this?!! dos't means that i don't have to kill so i
live or let my family live?!! then why there was a war
in Afganistan, in Sudan, in Vitnam, in Japan, in
Iraq,.....why?? did you watched Ganges of New York??
the movie?!! this is a history! imagen if at that
time and at that time the Otoman Empier the frensh
was strong like USA now, imagen that they came to New
York to save the poor people of New York?!!!
my question is what is the standred way to live in
peace?!! can anyone answer?? what is the standered way
of life, of eat? of dealing? so we can make it and
live in peace??
I never want to participat in a conversation like
this because i really don't want to be in any way or i
even to look like that i'm in Saddam's side, if i can
remove Saddam i will remove him, because he is a
devil, but is he the only devil in this world?!!
lets count it like this, how many person that Saddam
killed and how many nations that USA killed?? or how
many person that Sharon killed??
If you really want us to be save and secure, do
something for Israel first, then to Iraq, and at that
point i will go with the army who will fight Saddam,
Iraq is not an easy country to say that we want to
change or distroy, Iraq is a history,since thousands
or years there was Iraq and Iraqi people, leave them,
leave them live in their way, they have their own
standers and way of life, when they attack others then
we can find a solution, Iraqi people get used with
Dectators since thousands of years, and they says
about them self that the only way to control us is by
a dectator, and the history prove this, so leave them
live their own way, and look who is attacking and
killing women and children.
If i will continue talking i will never stop but one
thing i want you know i have two brothers in low,
one of them is American and another one is Iraqi so
one of my sisters is american and the other one is
Iraqi, and they love each other, and one of the funny
sad things that they both participated in the first
gulf war in 1991, so imagen if one of them at that
time killed each other?!! they didn't new each other
at that time but now they know, so now every one of
them will work hard to keep the other one save and
secure. So this is how every body who go to war should
feel that the one infront of you even if he/she from
the other side of the world, he/she might be one day
your brother or wife or coson or husband because our
world become every day smaller but the sad thing that
we bcome more devil day after day.
May Allah will save all the humans, and the animals
and the trees from stupid action from a devil.

Ameen
Anas Abbadi
Jordan Youth Interfaith Action CC.
]]> Wed, 26 Mar 2003 08:51:00 EST http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/8290 38.8950000 -77.036666738.8950000-77.0366667 http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/8286 Don't think for a moment that we might hate the people of America, most of us craied with you in 11th of Sept. and even during this war we don't hate or blame you, but what we want you to understand, that Mr. Bush have to bring democracy for his country before he bring it to others, and what i want you to know that rebuilding Iraq will not be by anyway from a US money, Iraqi oil will pay for rebuilding Iraq and rebuilding the twin tour also, don't think for a moment that US will pay a dollar to rebuild Iraq, but what we hope that they will give at least 10% of the Iraqi oil to the Iraqi people.
Iraq is full of resources, oil, water, gold, uranium, dates..etc. Iraq don't need any kind of support except leaving him alone.
I'm really sorry i don't mean to be tough with you at all, you and all the Americans are people like any people around this world, they love peace and they want to live in peace, BUT what you have to know that the Democracy that you are talking about is only a dream, or only on papers, for us we know our systems we are much far then you from democracy or even there is no way to compaire, but this will not change the fact that in the end of the day your gov. to what ever she want, and the gov. is working the benefit of every thing except you the Americans. i belive we need another flower revelution or another Martin Luther King
to free us from this new "modern" system and its "Smart" weapons which is i belive it's as smart as Mr.Bush.
I'm sorry again, i don't mean in anyway to say this for you, i mean my words, i love America and the people of America, my sister she is American, but what is going on now is killing me.

love peace
Anas]]> Wed, 26 Mar 2003 07:40:00 EST http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/8286 38.8950000 -77.036666738.8950000-77.0366667 http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/5506 Tue, 13 Aug 2002 07:00:00 EDT http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/5506 38.8950000 -77.036666738.8950000-77.0366667 http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/5415 Jordan Youth Connecting Youth and Organizations.


Under this title, the preparatory committee of the Jordan Youth Forum in cooperation with Konrad Adenauer Foundation are holding the “Youth-in-Action Marketplace” on Saturday, August 10th 2002 at Al-Hussein Cultural Centre that is kindly supporting this event within the frame of Amman Cultural Capital 2002.

The “Youth in Action” Marketplace will bring together 25 local, national, and international NGOs working with and for youth in Jordan to participate in a one-day event to present their programs and ideas, and exchange views on how to join efforts in helping Jordan’s youth participate in the social and political arena in Jordan, especially through voluntary work, developing their skills to carry out self-help projects and to connect active youth with potential support organizations

During the first part, NGOs will give short presentations of their youth programs and projects to a wider public, while in the second bazaar part, NGOs can meet and make new contacts with active and interested youth from different parts of Jordan who are not only willing to get involved in voluntary work, but also to develop new projects and initiatives based on youth’s needs and those of their neighbourhoods.

This event comes in preparation for the Jordan Youth Forum 2002 that will be held on October 3-5 where young Jordanians will develop action plans for projects that are relevant to youth’s needs and help them connect with potential support organizations that could help in finding solutions to their local problems and challenges.

The media are welcome to attend and cover the event.

Youth-in-Action-Marketplace
Al-Hussein Cultural Centre (Ras Al-‘Ain)
Saturday, 10. August þ2002þþ-þ08þþ-þ06þ
17.00-20.00þ h
Contact: Konrad Adenauer Foundation Jordan (Anas Abadi)Tel: 00962-6-5922430 Fax: 00962-6-5922431 kasjor@go.com.jo
]]> Thu, 08 Aug 2002 12:03:00 EDT http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/5415 38.8950000 -77.036666738.8950000-77.0366667 http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/1944 Do you think things will be really all right? watching the news around the world, make me always think, really things oneday will be fine, No Wars!! No Wepons!! No Killing?!! Do you think so??
my friends used to call me optimistic :) Reading the history, when there was only 4 peoples on the earth, Adam,Eve and their two kids!!
Imagen!!! only 4 peoples and the all entire world for them, even so one of the kidds killed his brother??!! So what do we say when we are talking about 4 or 5 Billions?? AHHH, If i will use my optimistic imagination, i will said we are even better than them, owhen that man killed his brother, actually he killed 25% of the humans, imagin someone killing 25% of the mankind ?!!!, so do you think we are better?? because we are not killing 25% or even 1%, Hmmm, i hate to be optimistic if this is what we call to be optimistic, no.God said if you killed one without a legal reson, its like you killed all the people, so this is why we are not better than that man who killed 25% of the world.]]> Sat, 08 Dec 2001 13:07:00 EST http://anas_again.tigblog.org/post/1944 38.8950000 -77.036666738.8950000-77.0366667