Imagine...Arab Woodstock

Growing up reading Gandhi,
Watching Lady Diana,
Listening to Cat Stevens,
Singing John Lennon
Learning about Mother Theresa...

Why can't we have peace movements in the Middle East? Why is it that the alleged "blood thirsty/violent" West have more calls for peace, awareness on humanitarian issues and respect for life than we do?

Where are the voices of truth in the Middle East? And why do I get attacked for expressing my opinions and articulating reality by my own people?

Check out this article written by Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a US soldier who died 2 years ago in Iraq. Mrs Sheehan and everyone out there, you are a true inspiration.

Anyone wanna join me for a peace movement?

Code PINK
Gold Star Families for Peace

5

مبروك يا كويت! صارت خمس

صح لسانك

"أقول لنصر الله: لبنان ليس غزة"

رئيس اللقاء الديمقراطي النائب وليد جنبلاط

Why should Lebanon continuously pay for its neighbors' pain, violence, and greed?? This is ridiculous! Lebanon is a sovereign state! Its people shouldn't be used as human shields for other other people's war. Nor should it have to live the misery that Palestinians are living!

Globalization, loves it! Check out this link The Truth Laid Bear it features Israeli, Lebanese and Palestinian bloggers discussing the Mid East crisis. You can't get any more fair and objective than this.

* Please visit the buttons to support Lebanon

The Voice of Truth

Check out Mustapha's latest entry Playing Chicken

Laish ya Hizbullah?

Nurfudh ne7na nmoot, oloolon ra7 neb'aa
Ardhak wil byoot wilsha3b il3am yish'aa
... ya 7abeeby ya jnoob

Ghabit Shams il7aq - Julia Botrous

Soccer Politics: My Favorite Republican

Watching the way Horacio Elizondo, the Argentinean referee, boldly reacted to Zidane's head-butt, resolutely showing him a red card and ejecting him from the game, made me think about how great it would be if we had the political equivalent of a red card --something we could flash for campaign fouls and astonishing acts of bad political behavior that would immediately remove the perpetrators from the political pitch.

OK, so I will share with you my Political Godmother Arianna Huffington's blog. For you who are fans of Bill Maher's show Politically Incorrect and (when that became too hot for national television, he later moved to an even better show) HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher you'd know Huffington, a lady with a presence you can't ignore, the most liberal-conservative political figure who does not articulate anything but well thought out opinions that reflect her solid principles, and even if you don't agree with her, you can't help but respect her. Arianna is the epitome of democratic dialogue, wish we had her in our majlis.

Don't know if we could remove corrupt, political perpetrators by flashing red cards, even countries with Watch-Dogs still have corrupt elements in their political system. This idea is some food for thought for Kuwaiti youth.

Dr. Al Tabtabaei...Ahead of His Time?

More schools test single-sex classrooms
Federal change expected that will see trend grow further

So segregation, a hot topic amongst youth in Kuwait, and a topic that makes my temperature rise (and not in a good way) whenever I hear it. I've heard the arguments, I've met people who agree with segregated education, people like you and me, but I don't understand it because frankly I don't want to! It makes absolutely no sense to me.

Considering the poor standards of U.S. public school education, reformers have been trying to improve it for years. Currently in the U.S, "at least 223 public schools accross the country already offer some single-sex classrooms." Apparently, students in same-sex classes perform 20-50% better than co-ed classes. I've heard about such statistics in regional development conferences recently, but does performance on tests/exams validate Islamists' decisions to segregate education including higher education in Kuwait? The decision to segregate universities in Kuwait was based on no study other than the religious ideologies interfering with human development in a region that is already 3rd World.

Look at this case! Studies have been conducted before ideas were put forward and decisions made, moo e7na bad decision-making taken by bad-management based on...hawa!! Nothing!!

And so what if the students perform better? They will grow up to be timid, low self-esteemed and perverts.

According to the article, it is a trend that will catch on, but the truth remains that the U.S along with many other Western countries never impose policies on their people that leave them without a choice...in the developed world, there is always a choice, and segregated classrooms will remain a "trend."

What do you guys think?

UN Predictable politics, sports and the future

A beautiful end to a stressful month. Funny how soccer takes on a life of its own, controls emotions, individuals, citizens, politics and of coarse the economy...yet when you think about it, it's just a game.

I'm very content with the choice of South Africa as a World Cup 2010 host, the benefits that will have on South Africa's economy from beautiful architectural designed stadiums, to advertisements, to tourism and to potential awareness of South Africa's social and political issues. Perhaps this decision will in part help address some of the MDG's before 2015.

Above is an ironic banner they have on their website preparing for a September conference. We'll see shino akhrat'ha ma3a hal UN, an IGO that has not accomplished much in recent years.

Zidane: You will carry a scar of regret for allowing yourself to lose it in the last moments of your career for as long as you live. Instead of leaving the game with pride, you left it with shame. What can I say, Arabs will remain Arabs.

Viva Italia! A team that has it all: looks, charm, skills and great skin tone to match their 4th Cup

...And World Peace

Hero Square - Budapest
March 20, 2004
Burning torches "peace" event protesting the war on Iraq


The Nabeeha 5 and elections have distracted me from international news. I didn't realize it's been almost a year since the London bombings struck 3 subways and a bus. According to a recent survey by the Times of London 13% of British Muslims believed the 4 July 7 bombers are "martyrs." Nothing disgusts me more than hearing such ignorant, hateful and inhuman views by (most of the time) Muslims or Arabs. How inhuman do we have to get to prove our dedication to Islam? or Arab nationalism for that matter?

A colleague of mine asked me "how can you not feel strongly about the killings of Palestinians?" I replied "I feel horrible about the atrocities that are committed worldwide, and my feelings when a Palestinian is killed is just the same as an Israeli teenager's body being torn to pieces by a suicide bomber falsely labeled as a "freedom fighter."" With shock and disappointment, he said "Where is your Arab nationalism?" I explained to him I don't believe in Arab nationalism, it never succeeded and it's never gonna happen. BeforeI label myself Arab, Muslim, Kuwaiti, or Female, labels that mean NOTHING, I am human. In the wise words of Her Highness Madonna on MTV's TRL "I consider myself a humanist."

2005 was a bad year, London bombings, Rafiq Al Hariri assassination (the best Arab public figure the Middle East ever had), the series of Lebanese assassinations and assassination attempts, the continuous terrorist attacks in Isreal and Iraq. I don't want to witness another episode of shock and awe, I don't want to cry over the loss of Al-Hariri, the hatred in 9/11 and the destruction of Madrid. Aggression is aggression, so whether or not you agree with the cause of the picture above, it will move you some how, the way it moved me. For the sake of sounding like a contestant in an American Beauty Pageant "...and world peace!"

On a non related issue:

الجمعة 7/7
8:30 م
ساحة الإرادة
تجمع بمشاركة النواب لحكومة وطنية دون عناصر الفساد...و هم نبيها 5

The Day I Saw Myself in the Eyes of Democracy

Ma gidart anam...gemt ilsa3a 7 o ne6art ommy teg3ad min ilnoom. Wesalna ilmadresa..7asait butterflies in my stomach, the second I walked into that room, I felt it was a dream, I don't remember how many people were there, what they looked like, what the room looked like, I just remember a feeling...a feeling I can't even describe, I had to read the ballot twice to identify the names. I did it...

Ladies: We did it! Although disappointed with the 35% female voter turnout (amongst election results) it made me appreciate the ladies that I met in line, the older woman who was rambling out loud "Walla ana maly ib hal sowalif bs bassawet 3alashan 3yaaly!" and the women cheering her, the young ladies that I worked with until the polls closed, and my girl friends who knew nothing about elections and couldn't give a damn about politics, yet exercised their right in the blazing heat, and finally my mother, who's participation not only mattered to Kuwait but it meant a lot to me :)

18 seats for the Islamists... and we lost Al Nebari o Al Haroun, the most important men in Kuwaiti politics are now gone. Basil Al Rashid down by 23 votes, shay ebachy. This country won't know what's good for it if it hit them straight in the face. Magool illa hal netayej are a reflection of our ignorant society.