Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Greetings from "gladiator" in the Middle East |
|---|
| jannah |
| 07/15/01 at 23:02:39 |
| From Gladiator: ----------------------- Hi guys, just thought I'd share some experiences.... "Waiting" July, 2001 Amman, Jordan Palestinian children darted between the stalled traffic in front of us as we drove through the Wahdat Refugee Camp. Basel, a Palestinian friend of mine, gave me a guided tour. "This is the poorest area in all of Jordan. These houses used to be tents. We were waiting to go back...waiting, eventually we built houses. But this is not our home, these are not our homes." Across from the makeshift housing I notice the blue UN flag above a school, surrounded by rusted barbed wire, and a broken gate. There are three refugee camps in Amman. On the highway out, there's women sitting on the ground with piles of bread, we pass one every minute of so. "They're either Palestinian, or Iraqi, they're selling bread." There's no shade, and that pavement has got to be hot. Nothing but desert around us. Its amazing the things a mother will do for her children. Basel invited me to his house, to stay for a few days. The warmth was beyond words. A guest is treated like a king, and I can only wonder how there can be so many smiles among those who have so little. We talk about life in America, they know more than me. I never met people of such kindness, so alive. But their proud smiles hide the hurt, the suffering they face everyday. Basel asks the inevitable, and I feel the pain from where his words come, "Why do the Americans help them do this to us, what have we done to them? We are good people." He mentions Edward Said as if he were some distant hero. I want to tell them about the complexities of media control, about Democracy Now!, alternative radio. But what does that mean to someone whose seen bulldozing, bombing, bullets. Basel holds his wife's hand, I can see the pain in his eyes, waiting for an answer. Waiting... And I don't know what to say. Check out this Op-ed piece from the Orlando Sentinel if you get a chance: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/columnists/orl-oped-reese071301.column Hope your summer is going well, Take care, |
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