I’m extremely disgusted and horrified by the assassination of Rafiq al-Harrii in Beirut this morning. I just called my very good Lebanese friend Amal and she is shattered. This could herald a civil-war style conflict in Lebanon. It really is bad news.
My thoughts go with all the Lebanese people right now. May God give them strength, patience and tolerance in these very difficult times. And above all may the Almighty protect their beautiful country.
I’m so sick of this whole region. Mere words cannot convey my frustration. It is endless chaos.
I know Linda, that was not you.
Jareer, i never attacjed your pride and joy: Hummos 😉
Take it easy ladies.
Now that the “Hammus” was attacked and mocked of, I feel offended. My only specialty, and almost my only remaining reason for pride . No one should undermine the Hummos, and its influence on others. First, it is not “Hammus”; it is “Hummos”. Although Americans might call it as such. I repeatedly make a dish of Hummos whenever there is a potluck. I am humbled to say that a lot of praises and popularity I gain from that dish. With my unique, ISO9000 certified recipe, the whole middle east is praised and thought of as a must-visit region. See, we can change the whole perception about the region by the Arabic cusine and food we proudly make. Just one last advice, call it “Mediterranean food”. By the way, this is not my profession, I am just an amateur. The thing that still amazes me though is that I was not successful yet to make a Hummos that has a taste matching 100% the one I am used to in Jordan. There is a mysterious flavour in that Hummos ( the cheated-maghshoosh- version).
Amal,
Your comment is so rude. Plain and simple. Maybe you should start from the beginning of the comments and how this discussion started, okay. So let’s take a look.
Ameen talked about how he is upset and frustrated with the Arab world. I am too. I mention this on my own blogg, thank you very much. Natasha said “proud Arab” is an oxy moron. The discussion started putting down Arabs in general, and I am sorry, but if someone started saying the same things about Blacks, or Hispanics, I would still be offended. To generalize an entire race as if they were worthless and never did anything of importance is not only pathetic, but downright scary and sad.
I am the first person to stand up and condemn many of the Arab leaders in the Middle East and how things there need to change soon, for the better of the future. I am in no way supporting them just because I say, hey you guys have some faith, there are still good Arabs.
Now Amal, I have never even stepped foot in the Middle East for the simple reason that I am still 21 and have never had the time to go there, because I have constantly been in school. This semester, when I graduate and earn my Masters degree, I will be coming out to Jordan for the summer. Now, does this mean I am not allowed to say, hey, have hope you guys? I am sorry if my comments make you sick, but see, where I was born and raised, am used to something called freedom of speech. So I will say your comments offend me and will always say have hope, because I have a positive out look on life.
And if you don’t like where you are living Amal, then move. No one is forcing you to stay where you are. I did not want to get personal, but hey, you are the one who got personal first.
As for my knowledge of the Middle East, I have learned a great deal and still want to learn more because my parents raised me in a way of getting to know my culture and the history of my culture. Is there anything wrong with being a proud Arab American? I don’t think so.
Then you state: “Have you even left your safe little secure world? Don’t you dare tell us you’re offended-you are not watching your world possibly go up in flames.”
First of all, you have the right to tell me what not to do. But, like I said, I am used to freedom of speech so I don’t think your command will work.
Then you ask if I have ever left my “safe little secure world”. Hmmm, let’s just see how safe it is. I live in the San Fernando Valley. My parents are very protective so I really don’t go any where. I don’t blame them because look at what we deal with:
Since the start of 2005 to Feb. 12, there have been 59 homicides, 101 rapes, 1528 robberies, 2026 Aggravated Assaults, 657 shots fired, 251 shooting victims, and out of the 101 rapes that occurred, only 24 suspects have been arrested.
Happy New Year!
Okay my point is Amal I will always have hope and tell people to be strong, no matter what their situation is, because that is what I am used to. That is the philosophy I was raised on. I will never stop giving my opinion.
If my opinion sickens you, when you see the comment is by me, just don’t read it. No one is forcing you to.
But I still do hope the best for you and hope that you can live long to see the Middle East become a peaceful place.
Jareer, you are quite the contrarian, and so it is only fitting that we have a moderator (c’est moi).
Arash, King Hussein practiced RealPolitik (in lieu of Nasser’s pan arabism), he merely reacted to regional forces around him in a way that enabled Jordan to survive and not be run over by the Palestinian Fighters or the Syrian Army. So the situation wasn’t entirely his own making.
Linda, I wasn’t aware of your background, but what Amal is saying is true, you can’t comprehend the true gravity of our dire circumstances until you experience living in Arab world. I am a generally positive person, but you can’t be happy because you’re skating when you feel the ice beneath you breaking. (I feel that should be a lyric somewhere).
Linda,
I’ve finally found a couple of minutes to log on to Natasha’s blog. With all due respected I am so sick of you decreeing to us here in the Middle East that we should be ‘positive’ and that you are ‘offended’ by some of the comments. Have you even even lived here??? Do you know anything about this region other than some pop Arab singers and hammus?? Have you even left your safe little secure world? Don’t you dare tell us you’re offended-you are not watching your world possibly go up in flames.
To the rest of the readers, sorry for venting.
Maybe Natasha. But, things weren’t bound to happen that way. Hussein had already ruled the country for almost 20 years then. I’d say by that time he had done enough to be considered responsible for the state of affairs.
Arash,
You should be impressed by these great contributions, not mock them.
Ameen,
Can you show your liscence as a certified “referee” for the debate?
By the way, I agree with you that religion does not save people, it is simply because religion is a set of “do’s and dont’s – ritual from here and ritual from there, but the life, peace and love that our Creator brings to those who believe and receive Him in their hearts is what makes the change in this world. 75% of the universe is water, but that water does not wash even one face or the hands of a person if he/ she does not chose to.
Linda,
I like your sincerity toward whom you think you belong to. But, you did not live enough, if ever in that part of the world to “experience” the reality. I am not being either pessimistic, nor optimistic, but some of those whom you mentioned are great because they lived out of their countries. The others are just celebrities except the ones you mentioned great like you and me and those who struggle on a daily basis to live and try to make a difference.
Onzlo,
You should call loosers those who carry out evil things like the assassins, and those who have similar agendas, not those who are disgusted and fed up with these kinds of brutal acts.
Arash,
The iron fist that you are talking about was the only way left to handle the crisis that engulfed the region back then. Without the “iron fist” I doubt that Jordan would have survived the difficult situation back then and mainly during the 1970’s period.
Linda:
“oh yeah, i forgot one more little thing that Arabs contributed to the world. its not that big od a deal really. what was it again? oh yeah, numbers!”
‘Arabic numerals’ are just a set of symbols that represent numbers and were borrowed from Indians (and are correctly called arqam hindiyyah in Arabic). People have been using numbers from pre-historic times.
“King Hussein: in a Kingdom he was able to create some democratic reforms in the 9os by lifting the band on political parties in ’91”
Yeah, but who put the ban in place to begin with? I don’t know what’s really great about a despotic leader that ruled with an iron fist and lost a big chunk of his country in unnecessary wars.