More on Palestine

You know, it is funny that the UN referred to their latest meeting as an emergency meeting. More than 300 Palestinians have been massacred, and only now they decide to converge to have this so-called emergency meeting? Imagine a local hospital putting patients in need of immediate medical attention in queue until their number reaches, say 30 before they decide to call up the doctor - ‘Hey doc, we need you, it’s emergency.’ Guess what, we have a contender. The OIC is only having its own emergency meeting this Saturday - ‘Doc, we now have 30 patients. But what the heck, let’s just wait until Saturday.’ How do these people define ‘emergency’?

Let us give them some breathing space shall we? We are in Christmas period and everyone needs a break. Only, Israel decided not to give any to their soldiers and asked them to bomb Palestine instead, and by logic that should have automatically delayed the holiday plans of our UN leaders. Now, what about you OIC? What excuse can you give to the suffering Palestinians? I know what your answer is going to be - ‘Hey, we are having our first ever meeting in 2009 this early to discuss about their plights, give us a bit of credits would you?’

Go down to Gaza and see for yourselves the massacre. Stop the Israeli tanks from marching across the border yourselves, or ask your army of bodyguards to do it if you have not got the nerves. Drive doctors in to treat the victims, and use your bare hands to feed the child who had just lost their parents to the enemy’s missile. Okay, those might be a bit of exaggeration and is not possible, but you get the idea don’t you? We are asking you not to just sit down in your comfy office and write a memorandum or call for the emergency meeting; they are not going to change a thing.

On another note, it is encouraging to see the rage at the violence and support for Palestinians being demonstrated all over the world. If only our leaders feel the same kind of urgency, and demonstrate the similar line of actions.

You bastard Israel, you better wreck that sorry state next to you to dusts or no one is lighting you up the victory cigar. Everyone knows that this is a David versus Goliath war. What are you, cowards, using those advanced American-made weapons against the unarmed civilians?

Yes I am raged. You should be, too.

God, Give Them Strength

Let us spare some thoughts for our brothers and sisters in Palestine during this difficult time of theirs. While we are busy making plans and indulging in this long holiday period, let us think for a moment about all those people who are kept busy all year long by the threat of bullets and bombs from the enemy. We are pleased to have had the chance to go on a Boxing Day shopping spree, when thousands of others in the Gaza Strip do not even have enough food and warm clothing and had to endure the sight of a killing spree. Let us share our grievance amidst the sparkles and sounds of fireworks in celebration of the New Year for the fate of young Palestinian kids who are not even unsure if they or their family members could survive another day.

May God give them patience, and may they be rewarded with goodness here in this world and the hereafter.

Word of the Day

Han - The Korean cultural concept of lament. There is no literal English translation. It is a state of mind. Of soul, really. A sadness. A sadness so deep no tears will come. And yet still there is hope.

Bukit Antarabangsa Landslide

I just came to know that Shaiful Khas Shahrudin, one of the four victims of the destructive landslide in Bukit Antarabangsa is a younger brother of the girlfriend’s good friend. I may not know her directly, but I hope wherever she is she can remain strong and cope well with the terrible loss. Let us just spare a minute to recite Al-Fatihah for the victims, may they find peace in the afterlife.

Raf lives nearby the landslide site, he is safe and his house is unaffected except for the electricity cut-off. He even joked about needing a helicopter to get out of the area, and how restless he felt not being able to go to work. An auntie’s sister-in-law was also in the area, mom told me her family is fine. Didy’s house was even closer, in fact her family was trapped for a few hours but thank God they are safe. Another friend, Haziq, lives not far from Didy’s. I have not heard of his fate. I pray that his whole family is okay and he can come through this whole episode unscathed.

Let us hope that this is the last time we heard about a tragedy of this magnitude, and that the powers that be can find ways to help put a full stop to it. Let us also pray for the surviving victims to remain calm and patient in coming to terms with this unwanted catastrophe.

Guantanamo Bay & American Values

I thought The Road to Guantanamo is a beautifully crafted movie, though I must say that beautiful is perhaps not the right word to choose when referring to the story. This is a movie based on a true event that chronicles the journey of a group of young British Pakistanis from their home in Britain to Pakistan and Afghanistan, where a series of unfortunate events led them to be mistaken as terrorists and brought them to the world-infamous Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I particularly like the part where they have brief, silent flashbacks, you know, the kind of thought the prisoners have when they were physically numb and tortured and all they could do was think about the good old times they used to have.

Putting reviews on the movie aside, I must admit that I did not have any clear idea about the Guantanamo Bay apart from the news updates I read in the newspaper. Neither do I know much about the condition in Afghanistan, save for the few hazy pictures I gathered from watching The Kite Runner. Please pardon my ignorance, but I wish to put that behind me now.

Donald Rumsfeld was shown as saying at one point in the movie that the treatment in Guantanamo is ‘proper and there is no doubt in his mind that it is humane and appropriate’. Having now watched this movie, I wish that he could just experience the treatment for a day himself, and let the world see if he can come back and still stick to that earlier belief of his.

As much as I am opposed to the brutal handling of the prisoners, I am still able to understand the paranoia faced by the US that leads them to take stern action in the fight against terrorism, especially in the wake of the 9/11 attack. They simply could not take the danger posed for granted, and for that reason it is pretty understandable that they did not want to easily believe in the assertion made by the prisoners. But what I do not understand, is the method of torment they exercised on them, as well as the wild, false accusations being put.

“These people are murderers, they don’t share the values that we share.”

- George W. Bush, with his usual silly face while saying this.

So yeah, those people are possibly murderers, but that does not give you any right to beat them up close to death unless and until they are proven so, does it? That would make you murderers too. And while we are at it, Mr. President, when you say your values, what exactly are you referring to? Is it the integration of that 'f' word in each sentence that your soldiers utter? Or perhaps the prohibition of prayers for Muslim detainees, an act that does not pose any danger to you anyway? Or the act of letting the naked prisoners with their head all covered being chased after by your barking dogs? Are these the values that your fellow citizens uphold so highly, Sir? Well, I am pretty sure that you would not want to admit that. After all, I suppose that your sheer arrogance in admitting your mistake is also one the values that you treasure, as pictured clearly in this movie.

I wish that George W. Bush had watched this movie. I wish that Barack Obama would watch it too, before he resumes office. I wish he had come down to Guantanamo himself to watch the arrogance and inhumane behaviour of his so-called soldiers, and try to listen to the plight of the prisoners. I wish that all the American parents whose sons are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, who have been supporting the wars and atrocities had watched this movie and fell down to their knees upon encountering the reality. I wish that every sane human being can find some time to watch this movie, to see and judge for themselves the sheer cruelty of our own species. Then maybe we could find some ways to stop it. I wish I had watched it earlier, and passed the story to you.