Archive for 2007
The guy with the gun wants to know…
“What religion are you?” The Israeli guard at Hebron’s Tomb of the Patriarchs wanted to know. In Israel and Occupied Palestine, answering this question correctly can make a world of difference as a tourist. And at the current moment, it meant either entering or not entering the cave where father Abraham, his many sons AND [...]
Happy New Year
Since I will probably be the only sober Kabober tonight, I want to wish you all a very Happy New Year on behalf of everyone here. May 2008 bring us all peace, prosperity, justice and all that other shit which we all struggle for yet know is still so far away. At the very least, [...]
Funniest comment today if it had been meant satirically
Today at a checkpoint between Nablus and Jericho (both Palestinian areas, mind you), I got out along with all the Palestinian passengers to walk through a metal detector and show ID and then stand in the sun waiting for our cab to get through the long line of vehicles waiting on the road in the [...]
How many Muslim women leaders can you name?
Charismatic, striking and politically sly, Benazir Bhutto, 54, was reared amid the privileges of Pakistan’s aristocracy and the ordeals of its turbulent politics. Smart, ambitious and resilient, she endured her father’s execution and her own imprisonment at the hands of a military dictator to become the country’s – and the Muslim world’s – first female [...]
Dickheads of the Year 2007
There’s an interesting little competition going on at the Gaza-Egypt border, with three competitors (the Egyptian government, Israel and Abbasshole and Co.) in a tense, last-minute struggle for the title of 2007’s Dickheads of the Year (DOTY). With the Rafah crossing (the only border crossing available to most Gazan’s) closed since June, there were legitimate [...]
Photo diary: Hebron (al-Khalil)
Hebron is the only Palestinian city in the West Bank with an Israeli settlement encroaching from within. Israeli-installed barbed wire, fencing, gates, and concrete serve to segregate Palestinians and Israelis, further encouraging and legitimizing illegal settlements. [Click on photographs to enlarge] Hebron’s Old City souq. Tarps serve as make-shift protection for Palestinian shoppers, store-owners and [...]
The Pakistan Bhutto Party
Benazir Bhutto was a great verbal champion of democracy. I remember reading an article about a speaking tour she gave in the United States when she was PM. The article noted she used the word “democracy” roughly 60 times per speech. That however did not make Pakistan any more democratic but it did shift public [...]
Yemen, its a Blast!
The Yemen news agency reported a blast at a “qat market” in Sa’dah. This is hilarious when you consider that Saada is basically one huge open air arms market, but it was probably the qat, right?: Witnesses said the explosion was caused by a cannon shell mishandled by a man trying to sell it at [...]
Tito Kayak highlights intersecting struggles
The following story is from last April, but needs to be posted as not enough people know about the amazingness that you are about to witness. But first, some background: Puerto Rican activist “Tito Kayak” (born Alberto De Jesus Mercado) is internationally known for creeping into places he shouldn’t(?) be, and planting flags in places [...]
Western Sahara: update and timeline
Looks like the Polisario is engaging in a little more saber rattling if negotiations don’t get more substantive with Morocco. Interestingly enough, Senegal is trying to put some of the pressure on Rabat that France and the US are unwilling to do. Also, for those unfamiliar with the conflict Reuters recently published a good rough [...]
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