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Can anyone one tell me what this Pakistani-British lunatic is doing wearting this red headscarf (commonly known as a Hatta). This headgear is primarily worn by indigenous Jordanian and Saudi tribes! Why on earth does he think he has any connection to it such that he would wear it in his video bombing claim? Is he from a Jordanian or Saudi Arabian tribe ? Hey you lunatic Jihadis, leave our Hattas alone!! |
Actually Dalia, you take Oscar out of context. That quote is meant to suggest that friends tell friends how they feel to their face. It does not mean that friends use a public forum to try and ‘shame’ their friends into a change that they feel is necessary. That type of behavior is despicable and certainly not the type of thing Oscar would have advocated. Natasha does not need an ‘intervention.’
What you miss in your largesse (read arrogance) is not that Natasha can’t take some criticism. This blog has pages and pages of it. It’s that this type of personal criticism, based upon your personal knowledge and relationship to her for years outside of this blog, is being brought in here to prop up your personal opinions about what she should and should not do, about what she should and should not say.
In your final little summary about what you do on your blog, you should take a moment to think about how you would feel if Natasha was not happy about something you were doing and decided to take it onto your blog to debate it with you. Think about how you would feel if she decided to bring out personal things about you and discuss them in a public forum. I think you would find it as shameful as I find your behavior here.
You don’t like what Natasha is blogging about? You don’t like what Natasha is putting on newswire? You don’t have to, Dalia. This is not your blog, not your space. If you want to make a personal attack you even know Natasha’s phone number, why on earth would you choose to take this space to try and ‘shame’ her into the political line you feel is correct based upon your personal relationship to her.
Who do you think you are that you alone know what direction she should be headed or what she should be discussing? How is it that you find yourself in such a position that you alone know how best to direct her. Perhaps she finds issues that speak to her that she feels are not addressed elsewhere and decides to open them up here. Perhaps not. That is her prerogative and surely not yours.
But worst — worst of all — is that you, someone who purports to be her friend, comes along into this public space and tries to slam and shame her for following her heart, for exploring things that have some meaning to her. How would you feel if the same was done to you? You can imagine that right now that is just how Natasha feels Dalia. Nice work.
7abeebteee –
“A true friend stabs you in the front.”
– Oscar Wilde
it was not a personal attack, it was simply me stating my opinion… something i have done to you in person, via email and chat many times in the past..
If you expect all comments on your blog to be positive, brace yourself for some dissappointing days or just disable comments and post your email address instead.. a journalist/blogger as public as yourself should work on getting some thicker skin to survive in the dog-eat-dog media world..
nowhere did i state that you were NOT affected by katrina.. nowhere did i state you SHOULDVE blogged about it.. nobody in the world who has an ounce of compassion could watch without feelings of sadness overwhelm him/her and just because you didnt have a blog entry about it doesn’t make you unaffected..
i did however say that, in light of all what is happening in the world this week, i find it shameful that you saw this as a priority..
I still believe (IN MY HUMBLE OPINION OF COURSE) that the news you find ‘interesting’ or ‘blog-worthy’ and choose to ‘jot’ down usually sounds like it was written by an anti-moslem writer (maybe i’m just a conspiracy theory kind of gal).. and will continue to believe so until proven othewise..
and yes – I didnt mention it on my blog – and don’t plan on it.. my blog is my scrapbook (as you are well aware). it’s about my son and my own personal journey through motherhood.. i rarely blog about current events (i think the last one was actually last year’s tsunami – from a mother’s perspective nevertheless)..
why you ask? well – because i love creating this keepsake for my son, my family and myself. Because i love looking back to see what sanad was up to a few months ago. Because it gives our friend’s and family that are scattered all over the globe sanad’s latest. Because probably, and possibly more pathetically, i am just more interested in my son’s babbling, steps, milestones and diapers than i am in what’s going on in this crazy world around me..
cheers!
Dalia
Dear Dalia,
I just woke up and I have to admit that I was extremely shocked by your personal attacks. The shocker for me was not that I was criticized on this blog, but that it was coming from a dear friend who chose to unleash her anger online and to the public.
Anyway, I’m not gonna comment on your “bigot” comments as I assume after all of these years you knew better. Apparently, I was mistaken.
As for what I choose to highlight or ignore on my blog, let me say that this site is a personal journal and Not a newspaper and whenever the time allows –which is proving to be scarce these days– I jot a word or two.
As you might well know, I was deeply affected by Katrina and as if my memory serves me right we had a chat about it just yesterday. Anyway, will it make you feel better if you know that I have been glued to the TV for the past two days and that I’m even considering assisting in the relief efforts.
To answer your question, there was no reason why I did not mention it on the blog. The only reason that I can give you is simply because it was already discussed intensively on Jordan Planet and I believe I expressed my dismay on Jameed’s blog.
But Dalia, that’s beyond the point. And by the way, I did not see you mention Katrian on your blog.
I will stop here although I have a lot to say, but I will choose not to drag an argument between two friends to the open cyber space which you have sadly done.
My point is not that she should have reported about Katrina (or the Baghdad Bridge)..
Natasha is very aware of what my point is.. I am pointing out to her that she tends to focus on many news issues that portray Moslems (and Arabs) in a negative light.. As if she’s agreeing with all the already-existing negative media they receive..
Go through her newswire archive to get a sampling of the articles she chose to post this past year and you will see what I’m talking about..
But this doesn’t come as a surprise from Natasha because she (as I have told her on many occasions) is very prejudiced against Islam in general.. Maybe not against a handful of Moslems (her friends/neighbors/colleagues), but the rest of Moslem population in general..
However, I will admit that every person is a racist in one way or another.. People just tend to gravitate towards others they have more in common with and – frequently – tend to look down on people who are different.. This is basic human nature and people they have never done this in one way or another are probably lying to themselves..
Anyways – back to the post, I don’t remember there being any disclaimer about who can wear what in the world..
If i remember correctly – the author herself is a big fan of East Asian clothing and hats for example.. Does that give the sub-continent a bad/good name? or do we assume that she is trying to portray those cultures in a different light?
During my trip to London last month, I saw a bum wearing a black and white Hatta.. Did I try to dissuade him or scream at him for giving my people a bad image?! NO! Last time I checked, clothes are primarily meant for protection and modesty (as well as self-expression and status symbols to lesser extents)..
Just for the record – I am half Palestinian/half Jordanian who is damn proud of both sides of my heritage..
And yes – I wear both the black and red Hattas and try not to judge whether or not others do or don’t..
Dalia
yea, give her a break guys, everyone else in the world is writing about Katrina. I would’ve missed this story if I hadn’t seen it here.
It’s not just about a hatta, although enough of what is wonderful about Arabia has been hijacked by evil men already.
It is very important as it stops the conspiracy theories about who was behind and what was intended by the July 7 bombings. And better start some serious soul-searching by people who thought this guy was average Jamal Muslim.
C’mon guys, easy on her….she got a point!
Most of the traning camps in Afghanistan were lead and heavily populated by Saudis and other Arab nationals. So it was the norm to were this beduin headgear found in Saudi Arabia and southern Jordan!
Just as much as Bin Ladin wear an Afghani turbine that some American mistook Hindus for Arabs and killed them!
Now if your only concern is attaining a good image of Jordan! Then don’t worry everytime Abu Musaib Al Zarqawi is mentioned on the news….they say : The Jordanian terrorists! Which makes me slap my forehead!!
Though it’s very important that they drop off this headgear.
On a final note, he’s a “British national of Pakistani descent!” rather Pakistani-British.
With a disaster that will soon reveal its victims to exceed Sep 11 victims, and placed that spot of the US on the world news for the 6th day in a row so far; I do not see the “Hatta” as a subject that will attract any of your readers soon. After all, this is a time to reflect on what humanity suffers from despite of race, ethnicity or any other consideration.
This magnitude of tragedy exceeds any emotion we might hold for misusing a cultural symbol like the red Hatta. On the other hand, it might not be a good idea to place a post on this tragedy since it might turn into a political argument as it always happens.
Seriously Natasha – you and I should have a talk..
With all the disasters that took place this week, this is what you choose to blog about??! Even your newswire has no mention of Katrina or the Baghdad bridge stampede..
NOT that I am in ANY way supporting what these people (lunatics) do.. Or that I am happy of the image they give to Islam and Arabs.. But I do expect from you, as a journalist, to explain things better and present the Arab world’s case in a more non-judgmental way that highlights facts and not emotional (and dare I say: bigoted!) preferences.. And not in a way that just strengthens the case of the Western media against these ‘terrorists’..
Ah well.. Nothing new there 🙂
The weird thing is, you – whether you admit it or not – are bundled into the west’s misconception of ‘barbaric arabs’ just for the fact that you were born of a certain race.. (not all westerners of course – mainly the media, the governments and the ill-informed everyday citizens).. Yet you act differently..
Again – I cannot stress enough how I loathe the wrong-doings of this MINORITY that are the reason we have a bad name worldwide..
Love you and miss you my friend..
Dalia (your Moslem friend who loves you even though you are a self-declared bigot)
i think he is trying to look like Zarqawi…from far away he kind of looks like hime
What She said!!! You go Natasha, take your heritage back from these murdering cowards, who try and use these “daily life” symbols, such as your Hatta, to contaminate it, and pervert it, with the majority of the Western world not knowing any better. Then when people see the Hatta on beautiful people such as yourself, they will link it to terrorism and evil. More people need to stand up, if only for these small symbols, and reclaim them, one by one!
Take Care