One day you believe in God. The next all that matters is that cup of red wine, and worry about where the next will come from. It is conflicting, it is difficult: it make no sense. But sense is overrated these days, and the belief that it guides us, misguided. With my indulgence comes love for the lovers but not the beloved. I kneel for no one and whisper to none but myself. You ask why it is I care about that veil, though I spend my days uncovered (while my heart is covered): it is the way you look at my grandmother that moves me so. Her sightly smile and friendly eyes soothe the children while her clothing terrifies the elders. Is it really the sight of that old woman, my tata, covered from head to toe–to protect all her love, and mine–is it that sight alone that sets your eyes aflame with hatred? Is it her dark garb that you fear, though she walks with a limp that even a child can escape? Because when I awaken in the middle of the night, my bowels unsettled, to see my mother dressed in spotless white, whispering those words to herself and the companions on her shoulders: there is not a more humbling sight. I cannot believe, but I do, in other ways. It brings to my mind the image of mother before mother before mother: the pedagogy of humility. And what can one do before such a performance, except give a kiss on the hand and a moment of silence? From this we descend: and into whispers in the night we disappear, only to be found before we find ourselves.
i am not qualified to say this
- 2007: The democratic overthrow and why we need it
- 2007: Beyond Resistance
- 2007: Are Hamas and Hizballah terrorist organizations?
- 2008: Averting Contradiction
- 2008: Who are academics, activists, and the media talking to?
- 2007: Mapping Muslims: LAPD's Plan to Track Muslims
- 2007: Confessions of a Madrasa Grad
- 2007: The cycle of violence
- 2007: Suhail Khan and anti-Muslim sentiment
- 2007: Parades and Protests
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Categories
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‘Scores die’ in Afghan village raid
Up to 52 civilians killed in Nato attack in Helmand, Afghan president’s office says.
How regrettable. How unfortunate. Bombs away!
(Discussion)Paranoid Politics: The Denial of Islamophobia
While anti-Semitism means, rightly, social death, Islamophobia might get you a television spot, a column in a newspaper, or academic tenure.
Source: www.huffingtonpost.com
(Discussion)No To Oligarchy | The Nation
The 400 richest families in America, who saw their wealth increase by some $400 billion during the Bush years, have now accumulated $1.27 trillion in wealth. Four hundred families! During the last fifteen years, while these enormously rich people became much richer their effective tax rates were sla…
(Discussion)Secret Archive Gives Grim View of Afghan War – NYT
A six-year archive of classified military documents to be made public on Sunday offers an unvarnished, ground-level picture of the war in Afghanistan that is in many respects more grim than the official portrayal.
Shoot, you don’t need secret documents to tell you that… but viva WikiLeaks either way.
(Discussion)Israel and Economic “Warfare”: A Report on The Criminalization of Boycott in Israel
Israeli parliament passes first of three readings illegalizing boycott activism or advocacy
(Discussion)Israel turns upon its own | Rachel Shabi | Comment is free | The Guardian
But what we’re seeing today is just the unleashing of a long-incubated racism, both institutional and incidental. It doesn’t emanate from the Jewish component of Israeli nationhood. It is informed by the Eurocentric cornerstones of the country: the belief, expressed by Israel’s founding fathers and …
(Discussion)Battle Of Walnut Creek: Pro Oscar Grant Supporters protest a Mehserle Rally in Walnut Creek
More then twice as many Oscar Grant protestors came out to the Walnut Creek Courthouse to show that nowhere in the bay area will attempts to justify the murder of Oscar Grant go unquestioned. While about a hundred supporters of Johannes Mehserle and law enforcement attended the rally, their numbe…
Racists for Mehserle
(Discussion)
myMADRE: In Israel, Miscegenation Equals Rape
In the US, anti-miscegenation laws were on the books until 1967, when the Supreme Court declared them unconstitutional. That was the same year that Israel began its occupation of Sabbar Kashur’s home in East Jerusalem. Since then, Israelis have fine-tuned their own obsession with racial purity. Only…
Source: madreblogs.typepad.com
(Discussion)
2 Comments
July 29, 2007
Wow, Yaman, this is so beautiful. I feel the emotion of it deep within me, yet I cannot explicate what it is exactly. Thank you for writing this. It has given me a sort of spiritual experience.
November 26, 2007
the layered confusion is intimate and palpable. and yet, there is clarity.
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