Ironically enough, amid the bloodshed taking place in the Middle East as Arabs and Israelis again engage in a vicious conflict that has innocent civilians paying the price, we watched a movie about tolerance. The Syrian Bride, born from the joint efforts of Israeli and Palestinian movie makers, depicts the strife of the Druze community living in the occupied Golan Heights. Recognized neither by Israel nor Syria as citizens, the Druze carry an "identified" citizenship. The movie revolves around a Druze woman on her wedding day. Her conundrum is that she is engaged to Syrian who lives on the other side of the fence, thereby mandating a wedding on the border between Israel and Syria and the loss of her ability to return to the Golan. Getting the proper exist visa and finally reuniting with her husband proves a nightmare, as both Israeli and Syrian officials employ tedious bureaucratic snafus that highlight the harsh reality this community endures on a daily basis.
The movie is filled with great scenery, engaging conversations and an extremely compelling storyline. It sheds light on the Syrian Druze plight, which, for some reason, is neglected by the mainstream media. We chose the film because somewhere deep inside, we hope Arabs and Israelis can peaceably coexist one day. This beautiful movie was one small-scale product of such a peaceable coexistence. Looking at the latest developments in Lebanon, though, such coexistence seems highly unlikely. The civilian death toll in Lebanon so far is 212; Israel: 12 (Source: From Beirut to the Beltway). At this point coexistence seems far fetched. Perhaps joint movie production is as far as we can get at this point. What a sad reality!
I haven’t had the time to jot down a word on two on this blog in a while; the reason being that I’m simply at a loss for words. What is happening in the already volatile region ails me to no end. From Gaza to Iraq and now to Lebanon, things are deteriorating from bad to worse. Israel’s actions in Lebanon are yet another form of collective punishment that the Jewish State has so skillfully mastered over the years, with the latest example being Gaza where dozens of civilians, including women and children, have perished. Someone, somehow, must put an end to the carnage. It really is beyond comprehension.
What Hizbullah did was provocative and stupid. I see it as Hizbullah’s way of flexing their muscles. They say their attack across the border was to show solidarity with the Palestinians. What I see is that they not only drug their whole country to the bring of war, and killed civilians from both sides of the conflict, but, ironically, they have managed to distract the world’s attention away from the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Lebanon occupies a special place in my heart. I have visited this beautiful country so many times and every time I go there I fall even more in love with this breathtaking place. I have a number of Lebanese friends who I admire greatly and have the utmost respect. My heart goes out to you in these very difficult times. My heart also goes out to the Gazans who are also being bombarded for the actions of one group who also chose the now trendy regional game of muscle flexing.
My heart also goes out to the Iraqis who are now immersed in a civil war. My heart also goes out to the Syrians, the Egyptians, the Jordanians, the Somalis and eventually to humanity itself for what we are witnessing nowadays is a sheer insult to our state of being.
I found it quite intriguing that the Economist — which I personally think is one of the best magazines out there — chose the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan as the star of a new advertising campaign. The concept of the ad is that Economist readers are savvy enough to know that Jordan is in fact a country in the Middle East and not simply the name of an American basketball player. [Image enlarges on click.]
I’m not surprised that they chose Jordan, though. Just two days ago, I was at Barnes & Noble trying to find an outlet to connect my laptop. My search sparked a conversation with a man who decided to ask the usual question: "Where are you from?" When I said Jordan he replied, "That’s in Africa, no..?"
Anyway, as an avid reader of the Economist, I would say please keep advertising Jordan, for it is a wonderful place, and, after all, my home!
Right after watching the out-of-this world World Cup match between Italy and Germany, we jumped on the Metro and made our way down to the National Mall to celebrate Independence Day along with hundreds of thousands (estimates of 400,000) of people that flocked to the nation’s capital.
As expected, this once-a-year mammoth event was extremely enjoyable. Festivities were in full swing all over the mall. There were musical concerts, shows and even a Hare Krishna performance. We also managed to get a glimpse of Vanessa Williams, Jason Alexander — who played George on Seinfeld — and Elmo (the infamous Sesame Street puppet) after walking down to the Capitol building where the country’s main 4th of July concert took place.
Watching fireworks from the base of the Washington Monument made for a memorable sight. The cornucopia of colors coupled with the impact of the forceful explosions was simply breathtaking. Happy 4th of July everyone!
I had heard about the appearance of His Majesty King Abdallah as a young man on Star Trek in the international press on a number of occasions but I never got the chance to actually see the clip. I had always been curious. Now thanks to YouTube — and the blogosphere I must add — the clip is available to the general public. Here it is! Pretty cool, no? [Image enlarges on click.]
Ironically enough, amid the bloodshed taking place in the Middle East as Arabs and Israelis again engage in a vicious conflict that has innocent civilians paying the price, we watched a movie about tolerance. The Syrian Bride, born from the joint efforts of Israeli and Palestinian movie makers, depicts the strife of the Druze community living in the occupied Golan Heights. Recognized neither by Israel nor Syria as citizens, the Druze carry an "identified" citizenship. The movie revolves around a Druze woman on her wedding day. Her conundrum is that she is engaged to Syrian who lives on the other side of the fence, thereby mandating a wedding on the border between Israel and Syria and the loss of her ability to return to the Golan. Getting the proper exist visa and finally reuniting with her husband proves a nightmare, as both Israeli and Syrian officials employ tedious bureaucratic snafus that highlight the harsh reality this community endures on a daily basis. 
The movie is filled with great scenery, engaging conversations and an extremely compelling storyline. It sheds light on the Syrian Druze plight, which, for some reason, is neglected by the mainstream media. We chose the film because somewhere deep inside, we hope Arabs and Israelis can peaceably coexist one day. This beautiful movie was one small-scale product of such a peaceable coexistence. Looking at the latest developments in Lebanon, though, such coexistence seems highly unlikely. The civilian death toll in Lebanon so far is 212; Israel: 12 (Source: From Beirut to the Beltway). At this point coexistence seems far fetched. Perhaps joint movie production is as far as we can get at this point. What a sad reality! 
