Dead Baby Photos and the Israel/Palestine Conflict

Surprise! Israel and Palestine are at it again, swapping bombs, slaughtering teens, blowing shit up and generally just hating on eachother. And, as always, social media is booming with all the back and forth, tit for tat discussion that has been going on for, well, ever. As long as this conflict has been going on, it's the same back and forth arguments with no end. "Israel is worse than Nazi Germany!". "Palestinians are terrorists!", etc, etc, etc. It gets rather tiresome. It's the same old thing over and over and over. And then, both sides wonder "Why are we not getting the attention we deserve!!!!???". Well, maybe it's because you've been at this for 60 fucking years and it's always the same old garbage and you guys haven't been able to sort it out, and we're all a bit tired of hearing about it because there is not much we can do. It is, quite frankly, easy to tune out this conflict because, quite frankly, the story is getting old and tired. But, of course, it is still an important story because people are dying...mostly Palestinians, but that isn't to say that Israel hasn't faced it's fair share of death. I am not even going to bother arguing for or against anything here. Enough people have researched the issue to death (usually to suit their own predetermined bias) that there will always be someone who will come along, on both/either side that will say, "That's wrong, and you are an idiot!" Well, in some ways, yes, I am, and I have no clue what is true or false anymore. Not all that is said to be false is false, and not all that is said to be true is true.

BUT, BUT, BUT, here is what is making me quite angry at the moment with how social media, particularly the anti-Israel camp (thought the pro-Israel camp does this too) is conducting itself. If I see one more picture of a slaughtered baby with absolutely no source cited, I'm going to scream. Just throwing up a picture of a dead baby that could be a dead child from anywhere there is conflict and declaring that it is the work of Israel is just....wrong. Have children been dying in the conflict over the years? Yes, sadly, and tragically, children on both sides have been a victim. But, really, does tossing up a picture of a dead baby from three years ago, that no one knows where it was taken, really helping anything other than further inflaming an already toxic issue? Constantly, constantly, dead baby pictures, with an angry message that says, "Look what Isra-hell is doing! Wake UP!" or something. Again, I'm not trying to downplay the pain and suffering being felt in that area, but, come on, let's be level headed and rational about this. Find out before you post it what the picture is actually of. I keep seeing pictures of things being blown up that are attributed to today....that happened 3 yrs ago! Why? If you are going to lie about that through pictures, what else are you going to lie about?? Not everything you find on the internet is true folks. You aren't helping your side with these pics. You aren't helping to do anything but make the situation, dare I say....worse!

And, now, it's back to your regularly scheduled tit for tat war. Enjoy! 

The Doha Rants: Y Village, Doha

Okay, so, I have this going through my head and I thought I would write it down.

So, for three years we lived in Qatar. I've sorta covered that in past posts, though not much. Anyway, it wasn't my favourite place to be for a number of reasons, but the insane racism was definitely high on the list of issues that I had with being there.

Now, for the last stint of our time in Doha, Qatar, the company we were associated with decided that they would move us into a place called Y Village, a compound near Aspire Park, owned by Ramco. Now, this place was pretty nice, aesthetically anyway. It had the look and feel of a resort as a opposed to a compound which, well, was okay I guess. It was just a cold, not very friendly place in the end really. All looks, no substance, as most things are in Qatar. Completely devoid of character, completely devoid of everything that makes a true community.

Anyway, the number one complaint that I have about the place is what I see as their racist, discriminatory policies which shouldn't come as a shock in a region that, in my mind, defines the term racist. Now, there are some people in the compound who have live in nannies and maids. This alone is part of the culture that really got under my skin. Having a human servant on hand to raise children and do the chores? Not my favourite idea. But, regardless, it is the reality of living in Qatar. And to be fair, we did have a wonderful person who came to clean for us every two weeks, and babysit every other week. We really appreciated her help and she was a great person and we were so grateful to have her in our lives.

So what bugged me is that the facilities, like the pool and the clubhouse were OFF LIMITS to nannies on their spare time. Excuse me? These people who are such a big part of our lives, who live ON the compound, and who work hard, and they are not allowed in the pool?? These people are part of the community! They are part of families! They live there just like anywayone! So, hold on a second, what's the problem here. Well, these can easily be explained. Most domestic workers in Qatar are from countries like the Philippines (like most in our compound), Malaysia, Nepal, etc. Why could they not use the facilities? Basically because of their nationality. Because of their nationality, they are identified as domestic help and as such should not be in the public areas. Sound bad? Yes, that's because it is. But that's par for the course in Doha.

And it made me mad. I won't mince words about that. I sent the management an email over this. I heard no reply. I sent another one because I was also angry about another issue, which was that people just kept showing up at our door at weird hours to do little jobs that no one told us about that didn't seem to need to be done. So, in this second email, I was a little more angry. I used swear words. Oh yes I did. And I meant them, dammit. Boy did I. I was angry about these people showing up, but more angry that not only their racist discriminatory policies were in place, but that when questioned they didn't even bother to respond.

Well, turns out I rubbed some people the wrong way, and guess what. The company we work for got in trouble over this. Excuse me? Come again? This place that we were moved into has a racist policy, I call them on it, and the company has to face the music because I used swears or whatever it was that got things going? Now, should I have sworn in the email. Well, of course, that is up for debate. It probably shouldn't have been done, and I will admit that, although it did a good job of helping to express the anger I felt. But, was it wrong? Probably. But, what happened? Instead of racist policies being put into question, the big deal became swear words. And that's the kind of culture it is in Qatar. And, yes, I am glad to not be in it anymore, thanks for asking.

You know what, that place was horrible as far as I am concerned. I was completely disappointed and disgusted by Y Village. With these restrictions in place, it created a prison for several people we knew and cared for. It meant that they were second class citizens in our community who did not share the same rights and privileges we had merely because of their race and their jobs. This left me with a sour taste in my mouth that sticks with me to this day, even though we have been out of that country for 1 year now. I still can't believe I lived in a place like that. I feel rather sad, a bit ashamed and disgusted that I lived in a place with a policy like this. It mad me feel like I was also living in a prison, knowing that members of our community had restrictions placed on them and there was NOTHING I could do about it, and that the company that we worked for was completely indifferent about, even though it is a Canadian company. That will lead me to more posts. Just the idea that this company should be operating in a country like Qatar to begin with needs to be question. 

No More Rockets, No More Hamas!

I woke up a few mornings ago to see that prominent Hamas armed wing leader Ahmed Al-Jaabari had been assassinated when an Israeli missile hit his car in the Gaza strip. Blammo. This has come after at least a week of escalation in violence between Israel and Gaza militants that had seen an increase in rockets being fired into Israel and then retaliation by Israel. Hamas has a missile problem. They like to randomly fire these things into Israel with seeming no rhyme or reason and with no particular destination. Sometimes it is in retaliation, sometimes it is for....I have no clue what reason.

Anyway, since then, of course, all hell has broken loose, with rockets being fired wildly into Israel, some reaching Tel Aviv and at least one reaching Jerusalem. Meanwhile, in Gaza, Israel has bombed the snot out of several hundred targets, which they claim are key militant sites which, for the most part, I tend to believe. However, clearly the population of Gaza are getting the brunt of the destruction with at least 16 dead and a hundred injured. Seems not all of the bombs are hitting their mark, and/or the dense population of the strip means that injury and death is unavoidable. If Israel is, for some ridiculously stupid reason, intentionally targeting civilians, then clearly they are idiots. I don't believe however that this is what they are doing. Regardless, people in Gaza are dying and being injured and it is a sad, sad situation. At the same time, the Israeli death toll is at three. Of course it's not as high, but these deaths as well are very sad. The fact that anyone is dying here is unfortunate.

So all of this leads me to ask: Hamas and Islamic Jihad (and whatever other militant groups there are in Gaza), may I ask, how has firing rockets indiscriminately into Israel working out for you and the people of Gaza? At what point will you see that these rockets you insist on shooting off are suicidal? How many times must Gaza be struck by Israel before the point is made that the rockets achieve nothing? How many people must die? For some reason, there are those in Gaza and those who support Palestinians who believe that these rockets are justified and show strength and determination or some crazy thing. They are seen as an act of defense instead of what they really are which is an act of offense that leads to retaliation. And, when Israel does retaliate because rockets are fired at them, the world screams “Israel is attacking Gaza!” Well, no kidding! They are trying desperately to stop these rockets! You can’t fire rockets into Israel and expect no response. Whether you like it or not, Israel can outgun you! Be reasonable!

The common argument is that these rockets are just small, crude devices and Israel is showing disproportionate force. The answer is, don’t fire rockets! There seems to be an implication that Israel should just accept rockets being fired into it because, meh, they aren't that big of a deal. That is completely unrealistic. There are those who say that Gaza has been treated like a concentration camp and that their grip on power over the strip is inhumane. Yes, I can see that. However, the grip tightened significantly, and understandably, when Hamas took over power of the strip. Hamas has virtually dedicated itself to the destruction of Israel. Can people not see the connection here? Again, what is Israel to do? At what point will people see that Hamas is not helping Palestinians as a whole in any way shape or form. They are not offering security, that’s for sure. They are not offering a better life for the people of Gaza. They are offering war and destruction. And for all the talk of Israel’s iron grip, there is little mention of the grip Hamas has over its people. Somehow, Hamas gets a free ride in how it treats it's own citizens at times and the way it has dealt with Fatah, it's rival in the fight over control of Palestinians. Their actions against their own citizens, such as a heavy crackdown not long ago against protesters in Gaza that dared to call for peace and reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah makes me scratch my head at how anyone can not see that Hamas are a bunch of dicks!

Am I a firm supporter of Israel? No. I do support its existence. I do see it as an independent country. I see Israel as a move by Jews to have an independent state where they were no longer at the mercy of the rest of the world, including the Muslim world. It seems that as long as Jews were under Muslim control, paid their taxes to their overlords and knew their place everything was cool. But when Jews said "enough is enough" and declared independence, that's wasn't cool. The fact is, many Jews have also been expelled from "Arab" lands, having their property taken and being sent off, generally as refugees to Israel. Over 50 percent of the population of Israel are Jewish refugees pushed out of "Arab" lands. This seems to be forgotten for some bizarre, strange reason.

But at the same time, I believe that Israel has done many wrongs over the years that are intolerable and disgusting. Israel is no angel that is for sure! In the saga of Israel/Palestine, there truly are two sides doing ridiculous, horrible things. But for Gaza, I believe strongly that the answer to progress is to get rid of Hamas, get rid of Islamic Jihad, get rid of rockets and work on becoming a state that Israel can live beside peacefully, like it does with most of its other neighbours. At the same time, Israel has a responsibility to stop expanding beyond its borders and to not be quite as heavy handed as they can sometimes be. It would be nice to see the blockade and sanctions against Gaza lifted, but how can they be as long as Hamas is determined to destroy Israel? At the same time, should all in the strip be forced to live in an intolerable state because of Hamas? Can Israel afford to lift the blockade? Can Israel afford not too as public opinion sways against it?

I have little faith that we will see peace in the Middle East anytime soon. Divisions are so deep, polarized and steeped in a cycle of violence that it is entrenched in the societies and cultures. Both sides in the Israel/Palestine situation are stubborn and hot headed. There are solutions. I believe I have presented a few. There, however, is much more to do beyond that. But, as long as rockets are being shot off into Israel indiscriminately and Hamas is in power, there is little hope of peace, little room for negotiation. It’s time for Gaza and Palestinians to step back and rethink their futile strategy. Then, hopefully, life can improve for Palestinians.

GCC Dress Codes: To Support or Oppose?

When I first heard that activists in the United Arab Emirates had started a campaign to educate locals and foreigners about proper dressing and being respectful of the UAE dress code, I thought, "I can back this. I think cultural preservation is a good thing." Perhaps it was partly out of that thing sometimes referred to as "white guilt" where you can't help but want to distance yourself after centuries of colonialism and all the issues that has caused on the planet. "Yes! Let's preserve culture! I support you!" And so I started to follow the #UAEDressCode thread on Twitter where information about the campaign is spread.

And then, my views began to change...

You see, the folks who are calling for this dress code to be monitored, enforced and even turned into law are the very same type of people I would oppose pretty much everywhere else on the planet: Social (religious) conservatives who are more concerned about how others dress than actual important issues. In this case, the religion is Islam. But, it happens with all religions. So, no, I don't support this. And then I see locals in the UAE who are against laws that would impose a dress standard. Then, I thought, "Wait a minute, the UAE is NOT just made up of conservatives. It really is a diverse place and not everyone acts or thinks the same way, and by ME supporting this dress code, I am saying it's okay to have rules imposed on people I would normally support!" Why on earth would I do that?

The vision of the UAE Dress Code campaign is outlined in their twitter profile: "Freedom and Respect are given as long as you are not abusing them. Support #UAEDressCode for decency in public and for the UAE." One of the key words for me is Respect. Okay, respect. Sounds good. But, whoa, wait a minute. Respect? Okay, let's stop here. Now this is a country well known for it's abuse, mistreatment and exploitation of migrant laborers and domestic servants (check out this Human Rights Watch report for starters. Or, this article as another example among many that can be found). Where is the respect here? How is this continued mistreatment of workers showing any amount of respect? And the answers from Code supporters when this issue is raised? Consistently the same: "These people are being paid, given security and a good life. They can go home if they don't like it here." What?? The reality is, there are millions of people who have come to the UAE and the rest of the Gulf who have worked 10 plus hour days, often for much less than 7 dollars a day, 6 days a week usually in brutal conditions, such as extreme heat. Too often they end up living in worker slums. They often have their passports taken away until they have paid off the debt that they went into to try and get to the UAE to get the good job they were promised, which basically turns out to be a lie. And, while there, they have helped build the country, the whole REGION, virtually by hand, doing jobs that locals find too demeaning. Yes, workers are desperate to get to the UAE to try and make some money to help their families at home. That doesn't give the UAE or any other country the right to use, abuse, mistreat and exploit this source of labor. Too many people are dying of heat exhaustion, abuse or suicide as the result of these actions! And the Coders don't seem to care or understand this! Furthermore, these are supposed to be Islamic countries. Where in Islam does it say that this type of treatment is acceptable? This is NOT Islamic. So, when this campaign talks about respect (in a social and RELIGIOUS context), all they really care is about respect for themselves, and that is it. There is no respect in the Gulf if you are a migrant laborer, period. All you have to do is spend some time in the Gulf to know that this is true. And I have written about it before in a previous post as well.

Now, I do not live in the UAE. Until the other day, I did live in the Gulf and I have to be completely honest to say that I am very happy to no longer be there. Ultimately, of course, I have no say, and my opinion is just that, an opinion. My views will have no impact, and I understand and am perfectly okay with that. Because I have been living in the Gulf I have been more aware of and informed about what has been going on there than I have been my own country these days. What I saw while in the Gulf disgusted me. I have never seen such a level of racism, social and economic apartheid, exploitation, abuse, cruelty and lack of empathy or understanding. Now, of course it has been raised that my own country of Canada has not had a stellar history when it comes to how Native Canadians have been treated. I can't argue with that at all. It's true, and it is an issue that continues to haunt Canada. So, yes, there is some hypocrisy of my own as a Canadian when bringing up issues of human rights. But, I feel at least I, and many other Canadians, acknowledge that great wrongs have been done (though there are many who, sadly, don't). I know there are people in the Gulf who also can see the human rights abuses there and have concern. But, thus far, in communicating with people who support "The Code" I haven't found anyone who even cares, or is willing to admit the hard work and sacrifices that many have given to build a country that it isn't even theirs! Why??

So, between wanting to control fellow locals through religious and social conservatism and completely disregarding the idea of respect for a vast majority of the UAE's actually population (it is estimated that over 85 percent of people in the UAE are foreign workers with a massive number of these being migrant laborers and domestic servants from poor countries) I can't help but look at this campaign with a certain amount of disgust and frustration. All I can say is, if you demand respect, then it's a good idea to GIVE respect FIRST to the majority of people who aren't receiving it at the moment. If you love the UAE, great....thank a laborer, thank a nanny, thank a driver, thank one of the many who have given up so much (including their lives) to create the UAE that you love. Respect!!!

Palfest Facepalm

So, the Palestinian Literature Festival, or Palfest, was scheduled to run May 5 to 9 in Gaza. Good. This is good. It's a travelling festival of Literature focusing on Palestinian issues. It also seems to be quite insistent on pushing the idea of cultural and academic boycotts of Israel. The festival has been running since 2008, apparently. It has been trying to get into the Gaza strip since then. This year became the big year when they were able to do that. It also seems to be quite insistent on pushing the idea of cultural and academic boycotts of Israel.  It took a while to get the required permits to go into Gaza from Egypt, to begin with. It has been reported today, via twitter by folks that were at the event, and the event organizers themselves that, low and behold, the event was shut down by Gaza police. Interesting indeed. From @Palfest:

We've been shut down by the police. #palfestgaza 

Everyone has left the event. Police were aggressive. We're staying together, have put as many people on the bus as possible. 

Everyone back at the hotel - will carry on here. Probably wont talk about books right now, though. 

Correction: The final #PalFestGaza was shut down by Gaza Police and the armed policemen stood in the entrance and on the stairs of the venue

Hmmmmm. I do feel for Palestinians, I really do. But, when the biggest obstacles to putting on an event with the partial motive of showing how oppressed Palestinians are by Israel, and to point out why Israel should be boycotted, are from Hamas, who governs over Gaza, and Egypt, who are Arab allies, then something isn't quite right. If it were up to me, I would be changing the goals to boycotting Hamas in a hurry. Hopefully, the next Palfest will focus on ALL issues that affect Palestinians beyond just looking at Israel. Palestinians deserve freedom from oppression, including oppression from groups like Hamas. Israel is not the only source of pain and heartache for Palestinians. Too often it is their own neighbours, fellow Arabs and fellow Muslims that add to the overall problem. It's time to look at the big picture, people. 

No Foreign Intervention

I believe someone has spoken. I have no clue who. If this voice represents those in Libya fighting for democracy and their wacko of a leader to fall, then I would say what they want is pretty clear.

Why The West Must Stay Out of Libya (And The Whole Middle East)

Face it. No matter what the US and "The West" does when it comes to Libya, it will get criticized harshly. Libya is in a difficult region where people are already pretty pissed off with "The West" for support of Israel and, of course, colonialism. Anti-Western sentiment runs very high, justifiably or not. The US/West getting further involved in the region would be, frankly, quite stupid. And there is no reason to.

What is happening right now in Libya is bloody, horrific and brutal. But, it is what Libya needs. It is a true, grassroots uprising. It is change from within. Many lives have been lost, and many more will be lost. But, with defections happening amongst Gaddafi's regime, more and more areas of the country falling out of his control, and a more determined than ever population, it is fair to say that those who want freedom and democracy are winning. This is good. If outside forces get involved militarily, even more lives or going to get lost and there will be a distraction from the real cause. Those who oppose Gaddafi but are equally defiant against The West will be stuck in the middle, those who are sitting on the fence not sure who to support could be emboldened to jump in with the pro-Gaddafi side to try and oust the "occupiers" and pro-Gaddafi fighters could get a new lease on life with a new reason to fight. It will, once again, be perceived in the same way as colonialism, an invasion of sovereignty, a spit in the eye of proud Arab people, and as an expansion of the great American empire (as it is seen). All around, it doesn't sound like a good scenario. There have been talk of sanctions already, and the concern is that the people being affected by them are going to be the population of Libya, not Gaddafi and his friends. So, even this attempt at action has the potential to backfire tremendously.

US President Obama has been hammered for not coming out quick enough with condemnation of Gaddafi or the violence. I think that Obama has made a number of very wise moves with this approach. Throughout the change in the Middle East, he and his government have not been quick to jump in. Good! That's exactly the way it should be. Revolution is happening. The people are taking to the streets and demanding change, and it is coming, slowly but surely, from within. This is the way it should have been in Iraq, and the way it would be optimal to have happened in Afghanistan. There is no doubt that those two wars have been pretty disastrous. The US became further hated around the world, hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost, and trillions of dollars have been spent. Already, there is so much anger because the regimes that are falling are seen as being "US backed" (a point that Al Jazeera LOVES to point out over and over again, but I digress). So, any new regimes will be dealt with pretty suspiciously if the US endorses them, or shows too much of a preference. The US will be seen as interfering if, on the surface, it appears to have too much of an opinion on how these revolutions should transpire.

So, like I said off the top, no matter WHAT the US, and it's Western friends do, it's going to get blasted from someone, somewhere. So stay out, let the revolutions unfold and hope for a much better future for the citizens of those countries and a better, more trusting and solid relationships with "The West" in the years to come.