Cruelty, originally uploaded by izzi_zz.

“There are very few in the Arab world who think about war, leaders, Bush or Israel to begin with. Despite the little honor restored to the Arabs by the Palestinian, Iraqi and Lebanese resistance, they remain the object of ridicule throughout the west, thanks to the absence of any countervailing challenge to the dominant racist Orientalist dogma. And it has all to do with the egregious Arab apathy.”
I agree with this statement wholeheartedly. I have, on numerous occasions, tried to discuss the diurnal news with people I see in my daily life, and most-, if not all of them, would sternly say, “I don’t like to talk about politics.” What a timid, unprogressive, elementary and bourgeois thing to say. “I never get involved in political discussions”, and why not? Why don’t you? Why not get involved? Maybe what you should be saying instead of, “I don’t like, “ is, “I don’t know how…”
Politics? What is Politics? The word politics, as defined by The American Heritage Dictionary, means: The art or science of government or governing, especially the governing of a political entity, such as a nation, and the administration and control of its internal and external affairs.
But wait a minute. We switch on the TV, and we read the newspapers and we hear of people dying, we see bloody/graphic images of leaders being hung, babies being shot, Armed militias in resistance, A complete religion scandalized and abused, terrorists blowing themselves up, Zionists bulldozing houses and building apartheid walls, building illegal settlements, refuges scattered on the Arab borders unable to go back and not allowed to move forward, children starving to death… And all of these things are either happening in our own backyard or in our neighbor’s backyard… and yet, you have the selfish and utter audacity to call the realistic and serious human suffering and injustice… Politics? No it is not Politics. Personally, my respect for you plummets every time I hear you proudly state that, “ you don’t like to discuss politics”. As if this makes you seem modern, elegant and genteel because you refuse to dirty your mind with the blood of the innocent that constantly quench the dry sand of the Middle East. You are heartless. Wimpy. You are selfish because you refuse to waste your effort on timely matters that are defining us as human beings in this day and time. There is nothing to gain from being selfless except your own personal gratification in the fact that you may have done something that might have stopped the murder of one more innocent child. I truly believe that each and everyone one of us will one day be held accountable for our indolent, slothful, unindustrious, comatose and apathetic behavior when finally facing God. How much more misery and destruction do you need to see to before you are moved into any sort of positive action? How you belittle yourselves to think or believe that nothing you can do will make a difference… If you can’t make a difference in the world, let the difference be you. Life is not about slaving during day time to make money so that you pleasure yourselves in the weekend, there is more to life than that; there is a bigger purpose to our existence. I t will make a difference. This is not something that you are doing that deserves praise from anyone; it is your duty as a human being.
No it’s not a discussion about politics; it’s about humanity and morality. Are you in, or are you out?

“It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us…

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightening about shrinking
so that others won’t feel unsure around you.

As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously
give others permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.”

Nelson Mandela

Blush in Shame, originally uploaded by izzi_zz.