By: Yasmeen J. El Khoudary

The basmala, بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم , graffiti-ed on a wholesale truck driving through a midtown intersection.

Part II of the Arabic graffiti collection: A tagger by the name of “Samer” makes his presence be known on 5th avenue between 14th and 15th street.

The orientalist wholesalers at ABC carpet on Broadway in Union Square stock some “Spirit of Aleppo” saboon-appropriately dressed up in the colonial langue française packaging.

A favorite I know Kabob-ers love to see: “Israeli-style Iraqi” food. The inner folds of this menu to a Union Square, New School adjacent, establishment touts the glories of “Iraqi kebab beef.” I wonder if anyone reading this can explain exactly what makes “Iraqi kebab beef” Israeli???

While waiting for my train back at the Nassau Blvd stop in Long Island, I notice something peculiar etched school-desk-style markings on the blue border of the sign:

Part III of the graffiti collection: One by the name of Ayman apparently does something I was close to doing after waiting an hour for a train back to Penn Station. Yo Ayman, why do you make your “ya’s” look like alif-ya combos dude? work on your public etch-art man. You’re making all us Ay-rab Amreekan look bad!

[Tarboush Tip: Jillian]

Tarboush Tip: Daniel

Name of martyr: Dena Ba’losha
Age: 4 years old
Date of Death: Mon., 29/12/2008
Place of Death: Inside her home, Jabaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza.
Weapon Type: Air-to-ground missile.
Cause of Death: Killed in her home, as well as her other young 4 sisters, by rubble falling through the roof
Details of the last hours: Dena was inside her house with her other 4 young sisters: 8-year Jawaher, 12-year Samer, 14-year Ekram, and 17-year Tahreer Anwar Ba’losha, when their house was hit by an air strike in Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza, while three other young children were killed when a bomb struck their house in Rafah.

Name of martyress: Iman Hijo
Age: 4 Months Old
Date of murder: May 07, 2001
Place of murder: At her grandmother’s house in Khan Yunis Refugee Camp
Weapon used: Israeli Tank
Details of the last hours: Suzanne Hijo, Iman’s mother, hastened on to the street with her three children, Dina (6 years), Mahmoud (18 months), and Iman. She was trying to escape a sudden Israeli attack on the grandmother’s house. A tank shell ripped through the wall next to the front gate. Small fragments of shrapnel sliced into Iman’s body, killing her almost instantly. Her mother, brother, and sister were severely wounded. “There was blood everywhere here,” said Rocha Hijo, Iman’s 15-year-old aunt, scuffing her foot on the floor. The shell’s fragments went through Iman’s back and dispersed parts of her body in the street and on the walls of the house.
Belongings: Suzanne Hijo said, “Until now, her toys are still all in place… Her lollipop, her bed, her clothes – all are in the same place.”

Name: Lama, Haya Talal Hamdan
Age: 4, and 11 years old
Date of Death: Tue, 30/12/2008
Place of Death: Biet Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip
Weapon Type: Air-to-ground missile
Details of the last hours: an Israeli drone plane fired a missile at a donkey cart the girls were riding in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya, killing them immediately.

Name of martyr: Na’el Zohair Abu-`Oun
Age: 13 years old
Date of murder: March 1, 2008
Place of murder: Eastern Jabalyah camp, northern Gaza Strip
Weapon used: Air-to-ground missiles from an Israeli reconnaissance plane
Details of the last hours: The situation in Gaza went from bad to worse as the Israeli military operations continued to target the area. Na’el’s school had to close its doors to protect the lives of its students.
Curious, 13-year-old Na’el and six of his schoolmates went out of school and walked to the nearest place where clashes between Palestinian freedom fighters and Israeli forces were under way. As the children were attentively watching, an Israeli reconnaissance plane fired a missile toward them. Na’el and two of his friends were killed on the spot. The other four children were seriously injured.
Hobbies during lifetime: Drawing and swimming
Dreams martyr once had: Na’el dreamed of being a lawyer like his father. He was eager to finish school and become a law student before he died.

[Tarboush tip: Palestina Libre (Chile)]

See the Russia Today story on the DC protest.

[Tarboush tip: Will and Fadi]

Related: “A New Arab Hero Emerges“

Thanks to KABOBoperative, Chaim “Hussein” Sugarman for spotting this one.