سوفَ نـبـقـى هُـنا

سوفَ نـبـقـى هُـنا, Mohammed Nabbous' favourite song dedicated to every Libyan and whoever out there believes freedom will come at last.

سوف نبقى هنا كي يزول الألم
سوف نحيا هنا سوف يحلو النغم 

رغم كيد العدا رغم كل النقم
سوف نسعى إلى أن تعم النعم
سوف نرنو إلى رفع كل الهمم
بالمسير للعلا ومناجاة القمم

In Mohammed Nabbous' Memory

Mohammed Nabbous or ''Mo'' is the founder of Libya AlHurra TV; a private station that provided the world with news and on-ground footages from Benghazi, Libya. On 19 of March, he was shot in the head by a sniper by pro-Gaddafi troops. Ever since the beginning of the revolution, Mohammed's been wandering the dangerous streets of Benghazi, shooting videos and pictures of the regime's crimes that haven't been aired to let the world know what's going on without censorship. He founded the channel on livestream and people have started following his videos since Feb 17th.

I haven't known him personally, but his sister, a teacher of mine is so proud of him and for what he's done. A real hero, 28 years of age, lost his life and left his wife behind him and a yet-to-be-born son. Mohammed's famous statement is this  "I am not afraid to die, I am afraid to lose the battle." And inshAllah, his son would come into this world and get to live in a free country, a free Libya. 

الله يرحمه  ويغمد روحه في الجنة إن شاءالله

Is It Too Much To Ask For?

Millions and hundreds are being killed each passing day in Libya.. It's saddening to hear the toll of the deceased being spoken about as if they're counting any ordinary numbers.. What's yet more devastating is the fact that we're hopeless, we can't see anything happening in order to stop all these killings of innocent lives. As if it became the norm to hear/watch people being shot down, murdered without feeling a pang of pity... Can't imagine how the Libyans are living right now with planes flying over them, dropping bombs and killing whoever comes in the way. We'd say it's none of our business, but how's that so? Aren't they Arabs? Muslims? More importantly, human beings? 

Can we live in peace again? Is it so much to ask for under all that's going on? Would I be selfish to wish that all of this stops right now, at this very second? Just last night, my Libyan teacher's brother was killed in his own house..just because he's a reporter, for getting the truth out there. Does he deserve to die for telling the world what's taking part in his country? When did taking one's life for doing his job become ordinary? May all of their souls rest in peace.

A question to think about; Can't we do anything at all to stop this madness?

Sohar Protest

Update: Click here to read the Sohar Protest [2] ~ 1/4/2011

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One finds this hard to believe but it's happening as I type this. Protests in Sohar, 2 reportedly have passed away and others injured. Muscat Daily and Reuters have reported it this morning.

Last night's

For keeping up with the up-to-date minutes follow this #Sohar hashtag on Twitter but please don't believe EVERYthing you hear or spread it in fact.

To make it clear for all of you out there, Omanis are not protesting for change in regime, on the contrary, they're fighting for some political reforms. It was supposed to be a peaceful protest but something, somewhere might have gone wrong when the protesters put a gas truck on fire. Police stepped in by firing rubber bullets and tear gas. And that's that.

Once again, we do not want this to get any further if it means causing chaos and distruption in our beloved country. So please go back to your homes and come back only when you're ready to carry out a civilized protest; not riots and havoc.

Dilemma

You know that feeling when you feel like writing but you just don't know what to write about exactly? (Noticed how I used the word 'feeling' and 'write' twice and now thrice?) I'm not talking about updating this blog or about my column. It's just that I used to write a lot before; poems, thoughts, stories, book reviews, etc but I've gave up on that now and I hate myself for it.When I really think about it, I realize that I've adored writing only because it helped me take my mind off things; kept me busy and occupied as long as I have fingers moving and there are words on the paper. With having days off for the past 2 weeks, not only have I been careless but I've spent most my days and nights in front of the TV screen. I've watched movies, shows, and a lot of news channels that had to do with Egypt's revolution.

There's just too much going on in the world and I hate how we're not giving them any support. You'd see some of us Arabs blaming those young people who gave up on everything and sacrificed their lives in order to have a dignified living when others out there call this destruction and causing chaos and disruption. I'm not one to get into politics but to see all these protesters holding on for more than 2 weeks is truly magnificent and utterly inspiring for all of us here. It's more than mere pleas of help; it has a lot to do with claiming ones' rights and speaking up their mind no matter how dangerous it is.

The past weeks have never been easy on the Egyptians in Tahrir square; they've fought mobs, thugs, tear gases, bullets, hunger, discomfort amongst other things. All of this to let their voices heard to those who have forgotten how to listen and might never will. Such heartless people exist everywhere but it didn't stop the protesters from doing what they believe to be life-changing to live decently and in peace once again.

Last night's interview with the detained (Head of Marketing at Google in the Middle East and Africa) Wael Ghonim gave a new meaning to the revolution. He was arrested by the Egyptian military for 12 days and have been blindfolded for that amount of time. Ghonim was released only last night and this was his interview with Mona, a show presenter on Dream TV 2; Part 1, 2, 3 and the emotional, tensed final part of the interview here if you've missed it:

Misunderstood Hijab Concept

I've spent ages trying to find another version of this video that actually lets you hear what they're talking about instead I only found that. It's basically an episode of Jessica Simpson's: Price of Beauty show featuring in Morocco.

There are certain things I'd like to point out;

(1) When asked about why women cover up, one of the Moroccan girls answered ''To preserve ourselves for our husbands". I'm sorry but that's about the ridiculous-est thing I've ever heard. Where's the religious part of this? Wearing hijab or covering up have never been a cultural thing, I beg to differ, it has everything to do with Islam. If the question in hand was ''Who are you allowed to uncover in front?'' then your husband might be the right answer. Islam honours women by giving her a value; instead of being judged on the amount of skin she shows or what designer's brand she's wearing, she should be judged by her actions and the way she carries herself in society. 

(2) The girl 'Laila' in the video was a jerk, a totally ignorant woman that shouldn't have been there to present her 'idea'. She was the liberal type-of-person and blamed Jessica for showing a big part of her legs when she was wearing a low-cut top . Laila thought Jess was offending the culture when she was a good damn example of that. 

I have nothing against Moroccans but I just think that the situations mentioned above only gives a bad idea of what our Islamic and Arabian culture is all about. 

/End of blog post. Just had to let that out. Good night.

Why Don't We Read?

Based on the article I read yesterday with the title of 'Ma waraa2 3uzoof el3arab 3an el8era2a' (The reasons behind Arabs neglecting reading) [?] on Al Khaleej newspaper, I found out many points and I'd like to hear your own take on this.

Some of the reasons were,

Political instability; according to what people think and emphasize on, due to lack of trust some Arab government has on its authority, they resort to the policy of obscurantism, in order to stop their own people from reading and enlightenment.

Other than this, the rest of the article talked about poverty being the main reason.

Do you agree/disagree, and what, in your opinion, are the reasons why we, Arabs, don’t have that habit of reading?