Apartheid's 60th Anniversary

Palestinian women of the village of Battir, source

All week long, I have been trying hard to ignore anything to do with the 60th anniversary of the Nakbah. Maybe because all the optimisim and faith I can muster will not make the fact that the Apartheid state of Israel has been allowed to exist and excercise its brutality for the past 60 years any less depressing. Not only has the Apartheid state been allowed to exist, it has been given unmatched support from most of the world.

Will the people who fled from Jaffa, Acre, Baysan, and Nazareth sixty years ago ever return to their homeland? Probably not. Will there grand, grand children? I am not sure.

What I am sure of though is that there grand, grand children, and their children will never forget what happened to their forefathers and will not easily give up their right to return to their homeland, no matter how hard that is to swallow by the rest of the world.

Urban Outfitters: At It Again?

Submitted by Guest Blogger Sawsan Morrar

As if the hatta/keffiyeh wasn't enough of a trend for ignorant followers to strut around in, Urban Outfitters makes another strange attempt to be "politically aware."


Is the word "victimized" referring to the children being "child soldiers" or the fact they are oppresssed by the Israelis? And notice the circle above the Palestinian flag? That's the West Bank and Gaza--their corrupted definition of Palestine. If it is a Pro-Palestinian shirt, they are very wrong in defining what Palestine is.

Introducing Birthright Palestine

Do you ever get tired of hearing folks talk about their birth right in the Apartheid State? Does the idea of Jewish people who left to Europe and the US willingly decades ago now claiming a birthright in the Apartheid State rub you the wrong way?

Me too!

So now, if you're a Palestinian there is an alternative. There is the truth. You've got a chance to claim YOUR birthright.

Check this out:

New for 2008 - Introducing Birthright Palestine!

Birthright Palestine is a unique program by native Palestinians for Diaspora Palestinians, so as to assimilate them back into their homeland via cultural immersion. It is meant to gather first-generation, western-born Palestinians (over the age of 18-years old) in their ancestral homeland, so that they can reunite and witness firsthand how their brethren are living under illegal Israeli military occupation, while assimilating them into Palestinian society.

The program is made-up of four major components, education, tourism, hospitality, and volunteering, and was created to maintain Palestinian unity on an international level and to make foreign-born Palestinians feel at home in their homeland.

The First Annual Birthright Palestine program is to launch this summer, marking the 60th Anniversary of Al-Nakba.

Moreover, Birthright Palestine will allow for the international Palestinian community, largely living in exodus, to become more closely knit, because this program will nurture relationships between participants of Palestinian ethnic origin whom were born in different countries around the world, as well as relationships between Diaspora-born and native-born Palestinians. Also, an exchange of ideas will take place, as local Palestinians will begin to better understand the situation of Diaspora Palestinians and vice versa – possibly leading to a cohesive consensus on core issues of importance to the Palestinian Nation.

Here are ten reasons why you should join! Click here to sign up now!

Who are we?

The concept was created by the Palestine Center for National Strategic Studies (PCNSS) is a new, non-profit, non-violent, non-factional, non-governmental organizational think tank based out of the Dheisheh Refugee Camp that facilitates student-based research guided by PhD mentors, so as to force Palestinian college students to be more critical of national political and socio-economic policies. Thus, we are primarily fueled by youth, specifically students. We also host and accommodate foreign researchers in conducting their studies in Palestine, and conduct social experiments of our own in the form of projects.

This program is being implemented in cooperation and partnership with the Siraj Center of Holy Land Studies. Siraj is a non governmental organization based in Beit Sahour, Palestine, and aims to create links in between the Palestinian people with people from around the globe through travel programs, interfaith, ecumenical dialogue and culture and youth exchange programs. Through its local links, Siraj has been able to work directly with the local community in the Bethlehem area and around the West Bank. Its relationship with the Rapprochement Center have enabled Siraj to reach out to a wider community all over the Holy Land which makes the impact of it programs much wider and reach many of the grassroots communities.

What you can do to help:

Forward this e-mail to as many Diaspora Palestinians as possible, circulate our flyer at your local events and spread the word!

For more information:

Log onto: www.birthrightpalestine.com

E-mail: info@birthrightpalestine.com

Call: +972-2-274-6955

Iraqi Child Prostitution on the Rise

By Guest Blogger Yesi King

MSNBC has come up with a video of Iraqi women who have been forced into prostitution to survive as refugees in Syria.

Bush’s "Democratic Revolution" in Iraq has produced some dismal results, but the story of young girls—some only 6 years old---being exploited takes the cake. It is both appalling and heartbreaking.

The video is served up with typical western-media cynicism--as though America played no part in this latest horror story from Iraq.

Furthermore, how do our fellow Muslims supporting such an atrocity sleep at night? Perhaps it is that I am a naive convert, but I just don't get it.