The man that has got the world begging for the slightest recognition is Khader Adnan.  He has been under administrative detention and has just completed his 64 days. But this time, things are different. Right after getting detained- Khader went on a hunger strike. He refused not only food and water, but even supplements causing his health to deteriorate rapidly. This time, Khader was arrested but without charge and every appeal has been delayed.  A man of faith, Khader prefers to die in dignity and says his strike is not only for his freedom, but for all unjustly detained Palestinian prisoners.

However, not many knew his name or story until recently. It took Khader approximately 54 days and 40 KG later for his story to finally get noticed. By then, he had already outlived Irish hunger striker Martin Hurson who died after 46 days. He was then settled in Rebecca Ziv hospital in Israel, shackled to his hospital bed with handcuffs, where he agreed to take vitamin infusions for the time being. His state was frail. Israeli authorities were not taking responsibility for Khader, leaving him dirty, not even snipping his fingernails. It took Khader that long to get noticed, and not even by the media, but human rights activists which ultimately sparked the sudden coverage the Many were wondering, what was taking the media so long?

A few fellow social media activists and I, Palestinians and foreign alike, stumbled upon Khader’s story. There is admittedly a slight clique on the social media platform, Twitter, when it comes to the Palestinian cause. Everyone knows each other which makes it easier to plan events like protests and fundraisers, or even something as simple as a trending topic on Twitter. Being “cyber activists”, that was our plan. To simply make Khader a trending topic. What would this achieve exactly? No, it would not free Khader and most certainly not would not give him strength.  Without knowing how much time Khader had left, it was a last minute attempt to just wake the world up, fight the media and prove that we didn’t need them.  

Activists came up with clever hashtags, #dying2Live being the first. These activists have had trouble with getting Palestine to trend in the past, many blame censorship and accounts being removed from the public Twitter feed therefore weakening tweets and information from being spread. But to our surprise, #dying2Live trended within minutes and people starting catching the drift, participating to strengthen the trend.

However, we had to do our homework. There are even more complications when it comes trending topics on Twitter. The hashtag must be one that has never been used and it must be tweeted at a high velocity, if you will. At least 600 tweets per every few minutes has to be tweeted for the trending topic to stay comfortably on the top of the trending list. I’m not sure if many are familiar with Twitter trending topics, but it’s usually hijacked by teen bopping Justin Bieber fans asking him to tour in their home countries. To even get something meaningful on the list was slightly victorious.

So, we didn’t stop.

Since then more hashtags have floated to the surface, becoming more and more successful every day. The media started to pick up not only on Khader’s story, but also the criticism of their lack of coverage. Al Jazeera English was one of the first of mainstream medias to mention Khader, then BBC, CNN and other outlets started to follow. Even chief secretary of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, mentioned Khader Adnan in his February 16^th speech for martyrs saying, “If Khader Adnan was an Israeli held by resistance groups, would Arab princes, kings and presidents have intervened?”.

Even some celebrities have jumped onto the bandwagon, like American comedienne Roseanne Barr who lightheartedly tweeted, “It has been 64 days since Khader Adnan has been on a hunger strike in Israel. God bless bless Khader Adnan and the people of Israel/Palestine: we can solve this sh*t! Vote for me, Barr 2012″

Now, the hashtags have become somewhat of a new tradition. Every night at 9pm PALESTINE time, hundreds of activists await a tweet from the unofficial @KhaderAdnan account revealing the new hashtag until Khader is free. 

goldandglitz.wordpress.com/2011/08/23/why-citizen-journalism-rocks-and-real-journalism-is-dead-to-me/

Since the Syrian uprising began in February 2011, I have found myself being attacked on a daily basis for speaking my mind about the ongoing violence. For those who know me by now- I have to give my opinion about everything regardless of who does or doesn’t value it. It might annoy people, but I can’t help it. Naturally, I bottle up my political rage daily and vent it all out of Twitter. This is the new age, people. We are no longer strapping bombs to our chest out of angst but instead tying ourselves to 140 characters that, and I know all too well, get us into a decent amount of trouble. I mean, what moron decided that we should shove the political complications of the Middle East in a tweet? Twitter is not the greatest platform for debate. This leaves people offended, friendships lost and words misconstrued.

Well alas, I have decided to add a few more characters to 140 in an attempt to discuss both sides of the revolutions. Now, I’m not usually one to explain myself or my opinion because I am beyond the point of caring about random strangers but the abuse is just too much and Syrian activists of both sides are just doing my head in. I find this issue comparable when speaking about Bahrain.

There are only two sides in this game. I so eloquently named them the “pro-regimers” and the “anti-regimers”.

Let us speak about pro-regimers. I can do so little as link an article about a reported number of deaths and because of my South Lebanese background I should ultimately support him otherwise I am labeled as a conspiracy believer. Bashar Al Assad should be my savior and as a Lebanese I mustn’t even assume he would kill his people. Now, sure…Bashar Al Assad played a major role for helping my people out. 2006 was not easy. Whether it was for his benefit or whatever, I’m still alive. Perhaps that’s selfish but no one likes to be blown up to bits. Although, when it comes to internal Syrian affairs, naturally a human activist wants to see all humans free. I will not bow down to any politician who supports my freedom while oppressing others. This is a Zionist rhetoric and I definitely do not enjoy Zionists. Here are some conversations I’ve had with the “believers”:

——————–

Me tweeting: “Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea for political reform”

Them: “WHY SO AMERICA CAN OCCUPY US?”

Don’t let this confuse you, the Free Syrian Army is who I don’t support, support intervention so this can be a somewhat justified thought. But I definitely support people power and I know most Syrians are not okay with occupation. So don’t round them all together and assume they are all for the worst.

———————–
Me: “I do not support the deaths of anyone”

Them: “But these are terrorists, it’s okay.”

No comment.

I hate to say it, but the outburst caused by asking for verification from anti-regimers is similar to the reaction from Zionists when you mention white phosphorous. It turns into something like this (again, based on real arguments I’ve had):

*someone tweets*
“47 die in Homs attack by Assad forces. This footage cannot be verified”
Me: “Hi can you find me a link that verifies this?”
Tweep: “How dare you deny the deaths of innocent Syrians! You are a hypocrite! You only follow sexy revolutions”

Now this needs no explanation because I really don’t freaking know what a sexy revolution is but I imagined a bunch of Arabs in 3 inch heels and mini skirts.

——————————

Me, when someone keeps bringing up the conspiracy that Iran/Russia/Hezbollah are killing protestors: “Why don’t you talk about the allegations of Qatar mercenaries trying to infiltrate through Turkey?”

Tweep: “Why are you concerned about Qatar? You are a conspiracy theorist”

Uh no. How about if you’re going to talk about one conspiracy, you bring up the others too. If you don’t, you are being biased and shaping people’s views against their will.

———————–

“You only support Palestine because you get attention from it”

Yes, I very much enjoy getting attention from people getting murdered.

———————–

“You are a fake, you don’t care about Syrian freedom because it’s not ‘in’”

I assume this has something to do with a revolution being sexy.

————————

“Why don’t you ever ask for confirmation when it comes to issues regarding Palestine? You would never question an IDF operation”

Really? I come from Lebanon where I’ve seen IDF operations with my own eyes. I need not any confirmation as I know their capability. And even then I still need a little confirmation.

————————-

Lastly, my favorite:

“You support Assad because you are Shia, from South Lebanon and we all know your stance on Hezbollah. You are brainwashed.”

Ah, the never-ending obnoxious tweeps that bring my sect into my political view because clearly I am too retarded to do my own research and shape my own political opinion. And I was unaware that in my very American public school system in California that we were forced and brainwashed to adore Sayyed Hassan. These jerks are the worst, because they are the ones that make the uprising sectarian.

The most annoying part of the situation is that NEITHER side can give you any statistics. I am an average citizen of the world, concerned about the state our earth is in. Is it so wrong to question? Is it so wrong to ask just for one itty bitty verification, from both sides, without opinions slobbered all over it and people getting all touchy about it?

And this is the part where I await the abuse provoked by this blog (even though almost everything is a provocation. Saying “Syria” is a provocation.) Please, use the comment section of this blog to vent your frustration at me because I know you were going to anyway.

UNESCO is the branch of the United Nations (UN) that calls for peace by educating through science, culture and history. By passing the bill, UNESCO not only recognized Palestine as a state but as a cultural and historical land proving that it has always existed, making Israel’s plan of making their country fully Jewish illegitimate.

After the aid cut- a call came from online activists for Palestine to start a project to raise the money cut by the US and donate it to UNESCO. Not only is that a large sum of money and perhaps probably not a main concern for some, but the aim is to make a statement to the US- we are not going to let you bully us with money.

Within a few hours, the project had broadened in most social media websites and hundreds climbed onboard, mostly from Europe. “YOU SHARE US’ SHAME OR DONATE TO UNESCO?” painted some blogs’ headlines and Twitter accounts and Facebook pages began springing up everywhere. Even a website called www.donateunesco.org was created, asking more people to join the campaign with hopes of returning the 60 million dollar paycheck the US snatched away.

But by making this statement, how are we really benefitting from it? Do we even benefit from it at all? Is UNESCO really on our side? With a little research, it’s not hard to uncover that the organization may have “Goldstoned” us and tricked us into thinking that it really cares about Palestinian rights. While as a whole, it might not be completely fickle, it has done its fair share of sweeping Israeli crimes under the rug which Palestinians cannot afford right now. At such a crucial time where Palestine is searching for recognition, UNESCO, at one point, was actually aiding in the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people’s land in a subtle way.

UNESCO, which claims to preserve cultural and historical sights, did a bad job of helping to protect the Temple Mount, a sacred land located in Jerusalem for most monotheistic religions. The land was captured in 1967 during the six day war and has been under Israeli authority ever since. Israel has been illegally destroying Islamic artifacts in Temple Mount to conceal evidence that Muslims inhabited the land at any point. In 2007, a UNESCO session was held to hold Israel accountable for its crimes, but then was dropped and the Israeli government was never charged. This not only fuels Israel to continue to perpetuate said crimes again but also goes against what UNESCO stands for. It makes one wonder what the point of its existence is in the region if it’s just going to drop cases that are not only important to Palestinian culture, but to spiritual ones as well.

There is also the issue that the bid for statehood is not black and white. You cannot just recognize a state without actually acknowledging the state it is in now. While the outer appearance of UNESCO’s move with the statehood bid may look like a good idea, beneath it really is just another silly game of politics. The bid made by the PA calls for a two-state solution on 1967 borders that includes West Bank, East Jerusalem as the capitol and the Gaza strip, currently besieged by Israel, which means that is only 22% of Palestinian land giving Israel the rest of Jerusalem and the rest of the land it had already occupied in the past 63 years. However, a day after the bid was put in place, Israel called for the accelerated construction of 2000 illegal settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem- on the very little land promised to the Palestinians for a future state. How can a state be built on a land that is still being seized by Israel? Surely it would be logical for a powerful organization like the UN to call for imposing sanctions on illegal settlement building first rather than call for a Palestinian state which, although is based on a map from 1967, doesn’t really have borders that aren’t under Israeli authority. Not to mention, scattered Israeli checkpoints infiltrating Palestinian land where Palestinians are often subjected to beatings and unfair detainment or stopped for hours making traveling from one city to another excruciating. Although these lands are promised to be included in a Palestinian state, they are also still under Israeli occupation. It seems as though the only thing promised by UNESCO is a Bantustan state, similar to the apartheid of South Africa, disallowing Palestine to ever be independent in the future.

But by stopping settlements, this goes completely against what Israel wants- which is more Palestinian land. The notion of a two-state is only emphasized on one side; the side of Israel. So why would we donate to an organization that will ultimately only provide for Israel in the end and not be as punctual about the problems of Palestinians? Another one of the issues being Palestinian refugee rights.

What will happen to the Palestinian refugees who rightfully dwell on their “Right to Return”. If a state is only settled on 1/3 of their land, where exactly will they return? Palestinians who dispersed in neighboring Arab countries being forced to spend the rest of their lives as refugees live in some of the most horrid conditions, especially those in Lebanon where the living has been compared to the besieged Gaza strip. It seems that by settling for this two-sate compromise, most will not even be able to go live in their land making their situation no different than it is now.

Although the recognition of Palestine may be enough for some, it is not enough to pledge such a large about of money that one can’t even promise will go to Palestine. In the end, words are words and it is actions that matter. UNESCO taking the reigns of the statehood bid only leaves us to an organization that continues to contradict itself, so long as it continues to surrender to Israel who has shown us that they are the ultimate decision makers. Why should the people finance something that goes against their morals?

Eliat attacks occur. At least 7 Israelis dead. No one knows who did it. Everyone is in shock. The news ate this news story up; from CNN, to NBC all the way to Al Jazeera.

A few hours later, Israeli politician Ehud Barak accused Gaza “militants” to be behind the attack without providing any information or facts to back up his claim and promised that Gaza would “pay”. But suddenly then, everyone forgot about this important story that was only developing into something worse.

Perfect timing for Israel. Or was the silence deliberate?

It was only a matter of time before Israel started bombarding the strip on all corners: North, East, West, South. By the end of the day, 7 were killed, including 2-year-old Islam Qreiqe on his birthday, and many critically injured. All this information, I found via Twitter; a source I have been turning to for quite some time especially since the Arab revolutions began. Citizen journalism was definitely one of the ways to go for me, but I still needed that hardcore journalism. You know- reporters in helmets and bullet proof PRESS vests, working tirelessly to provide information that I so desperately needed to know.

So I frantically turn on my favorite news channel, Al Jazeera English, which had impeccable coverage of the Gaza massacre in 2008-09. I thought- well, if something is happening in Palestine, AJE has got my back right?

Turn on the TV. A documentary is playing. “Oh okay” I said, “I’ll read the scrolling headlines”. Nothing. Zip. Nada. But oh wait, they’re talking about the Egyptian soldiers that were killed in a brawl between Israeli soldiers. Phew, so they are paying attention. But why no Gaza? Where is Gaza?

So I did something that was unlike me- I started flipping to other news channels. BBC, CNN, SKY and NOTHING. Perhaps by now there would have been a mention of it in the scroll bar, but it was probably so small of a mention that I forgot or the words went by too fast…

Were Gazans making this up? No way. I mean why would they? Not one news station was playing any sort of reportage from the strip, I started becoming skeptical. But I shook it off my skepticism because I know Israel and I thought it was a one day thing where they went completely ballistic and took out all it’s aggression on Gaza like it typically does. I thought it was over. I let the media silence slide. Then the “BREAKING” tweets start reappearing on my timeline from average Palestinians living in the strip and it went on for 2 days into the attacks on Gaza. More deaths, more injuries, still no evidence by Barak that Palestinian militants were behind the Eliat conflict.

Again, I quickly open my TV and see the headlines, “Libya, Syria, more Libya”. Very important news. Gaza is just as important right? Oh look, Gaza reportage…I can’t wait to see what they’re about to repo..

“Hamas has broken the 2 year truce. Gaza rockets are now being fired into Israel, we are now going to speak to an Israeli spokesperson…”
WHAT!?!

Gaza has been getting bombarded for nearly 3 days in a row, the death toll had been risen to 15 by then and 40 people were critically injured and NOW all of a sudden they feel like reporting about it? When Hamas breaks the so called “truce”? Maybe the news forgot that the night before the Eliat attacks, Israel bombed Rafah? Oh but that’s not breaking the truce until a homemade rocket is fired, right?

So I drag myself back onto my computer and see minute to minute updates on the situation in Gaza. Every explosion reported, every injury acknowledged, every person murdered was given a name. I’m shocked. Not only by what’s happening, but the fact that these unpaid average civilians were doing a better job than any top notch news agency who apparently think some news stories are more important than others.

Five days into the bombardment, I had stopped watching the news. My journalism dreams= dead. My love for the news was gone. I found a new source of information: Citizen journalism. I too took part in this, yet did not more than confirm reports with other Gaza tweeps and retweet on Twitter. It was so easy to get news now, but I underestimated how hard it would be to get it heard. While I have to give credit to average people around the world WANTING to learn more about the situation and wanting to help out: the lack of actual TV coverage was disheartening. It basically meant that if people didn’t search for Gaza, then everyone who didn’t wouldn’t know what was going on. I know that if I hadn’t signed onto Twitter, I wouldn’t have known.

So is Gaza’s story exclusively for twitter now and for people who feel like reporting on it? Because personally, I’d think that 5 days of heavy bombardment (which is slowly halting, but still occurring as I type this) seems like important news to me.

Wrong. There’s one thing missing. One of the most basic things that almost every country that claims to be “modern” can provide it’s citizens- ELECTRICITY. I can hear every Lebanese saying, “tell me about it!!!” and oh I am about to!

Sure, Lebanon’s not perfect (but I’m good at making it seem that way, huh? I should work in advertising). We have our political problems, but doesn’t every country suffer from the wrath of corrupt politicians? That’s not the point. The point is, HOW on earth does a country like Lebanon not have the capability to light up it’s nation? We apparently have enough money to contemplate building a island in the shape of a palm tree (see here: http://tinyurl.com/3m7xrr3) and have Beirut be one of the most expensive cities to live in (see here as well: http://tinyurl.com/3nnd8kv). Surely, that money could go into basic things like electricity and water correct?

Wrong again. While tourists are chillin’ on a palm tree island, I’m unable to turn on my washer and dryer machine on at the same time. Why? Because I fear that all that power will make my apartment building explode. Lebanon’s infrastructure cannot handle powering a house for a full 24 hours a day. So want do we end up with? How do we get by? Depends which part of Lebanon you live in.

If you live in the south, you get around 6-7 hours of electricity a day. Bare in mind, that’s just around 3 hours more than what the besieged Gaza strip gets. And that’s not promised, you’ll likely end up with 3-4 on most days. On the hottest days of the summer. Like right now. I feel like death.

If you live in Beirut, where the tourists roam, you get a little bit more than that and personally I think that’s just to show foreigners how awesome we are. But if you live in a residential area in Beirut, without tourist attractions, you’re gonna live like us damn southerners.

Oh, but no reason to live in dismay. You can always purchase ishtiraq. What’s ishtiraq you ask? Let me enlighten you.

Ishtiraq is a ridiculously overpriced substitute for electricity which is generated by a motor to power the houses of unfortunate Lebanese. You pay a certain amount of money for a certain amount of amps. The amount of amps you have determines what you can and can’t turn on while the government owned electricity is out. So, if I pay for five amps (which is 125,000 Lebanese pounds, 83 USD ), I can probably power about 3 lights and a small TV. If I get 10 amps, I can power 5 lights & an air conditioner. If I get 15 etc…you get the point. It might seem like a good deal huh? It’s not. We’re forced to pay for government owned electricity and unless we wanna sit in the heat for 17 hours of the day, we have to buy ishtiraq too.

So imagine being in a separate room, wanting to turn the AC on but you can’t. Either you bunk with your siblings for the night or wake up in a pool of your own sweat. (Look on the bright side, you’ll lose ten pounds in 8 hours.)

Considering that the maximum wage for your average Lebanese employee is about 500 dollars, you can imagine most of us live in the dark (or in my part of town at least) and cannot afford much amps. For a country that claims to be so up to date with technology and is perceived as the “Paris of the Middle East”, you’d think we wouldn’t have to succumb to such dumb, undignified ways to get one of the most basic necessities of 2011.

Don’t forget about what I like to call “dancing electricity”.  It’s when the electricity flickers, causing every appliance in my home to go absolutely berserk usually resulting in something catching fire or just breaking. How many times has dancing electricity wrecked your fridge? Your radio? Your laptop? How much money have you spent trying to fix these things? Probably the same insane amount you pay for electricity.

Supposedly Iran, ally of Lebanon’s newly formed Hezbollah majority government, is going to help provide Lebanon with 24/7 electricity within six months. This seems promising I guess and while I like to be a positive person, Lebanon forces me not to. There have been rumors about this for the past 5 years, they came out right after the 2006 war actually. So we have been waiting patiently in the dark, waiting for this, when really this shouldn’t be Iran’s problem.

This is our problem- we as Lebanese people should step up and demand this right. What is stopping us? Why aren’t we inspired by Egypt or Tunisia? Why don’t we revolutionize? Why, instead of building islands, are we being denied the right to fully power our homes? Doesn’t this make you angry? Come on, don’t make me protest on my own….

Don’t you want to watch TV, while doing laundry, blow drying your hair & have the lights on all at the same time without having to worry about your ishtiraq switch imploding? Because remember, you paid a lot of money for that freaking switch too.

What are we waiting for?

I’m gonna go with waiting for the electricity to come back so you can turn on your computer and read this.

My plan is to stay in Egypt for a week, then stay in Gaza for a week. I am going to try and raise enough money for this trip locally (even if it ends up with me street begging) and I thought maybe I could ask some of my online friends for help? Anything is appreciated- from 1 dollar to 10. Again, my dream is to visit Palestine & to help my brothers and sisters out. I will try my hardest to bring anything with me- books, toys, clothes etc for the children of Gaza.

If anyone is willing to help me out, please contact me at leila.saleh@hotmail.com to work out a plan on how I can receive this money. If I don’t have enough cash by the winter for the trip, I will donate all the proceeds to a Palestinian refugee family here in Lebanon. Or send donations via Western Union to Leila Saleh in Lebanon. Remember to email me the number code they give you. To everyone who donates- I will put your name on an item I donate (a book, toy etc)

Please & thank you.

(also- my friend is asking for donations too! Help a sister out: http://cynicalarab.org/2011/07/15/fundraising/)

Why did it take me so long to learn about Palestine? I have this question running around in my head frequently. I have been living in Lebanon for a while, in fact, this month marks my seven year anniversary. And while I endured a lot- and trust me it was plenty, it was never as much as my neighbors living in the shadows. The forgotten souls, the unwanted, the ‘burdens’…the silenced Palestinians of Lebanon. All along, they were right next to me, but I never saw them. I’d never spoken to them, I’d never asked for their names. No one mentioned them, everyone was always indulged in their selfish pleasures- long enough to leave a whole race live in the most impoverished living conditions. And not only that, when they tried to speak up with their a shattered voices, they were stomped on by the racism of my community making sure no one ever heard their story. Their whole entire existence had been defined by one label- refugees. A label that is not meant to cause offense and has much truth to their struggle, yet it is used as an insulting term. For years, while not really knowing about the Palestinian people, my mind was made up about them- or forced to be at least.

You dare utter a word about their struggles and you are deemed as disloyal to your people. “How can you defend them over us? They are not your people. They are trash. They don’t belong here. You are better than them”. And with annoyance and ignorance about their situation, I bite my tongue before I end up getting into a heated debate. Now, I realize that keeping silent was a vain act. For silence is never acceptable when people live in agony; especially before my very eyes. Silence is never acceptable when you know one side of the story. That silence, to me, is racist. It exists solely to satisfy the bigoted and to keep the egos of my community as large as one can imagine.

And these are not the thoughts of my government, but the thoughts of ‘my people’. Those who try to convince me of the faults of others while they too are committing faults right before me. They are trying to justify their racism, their sick need for superiority. They are making excuses to continue to ignore the direness of this situation. It is REAL, it exists and you’re contributing to it.

To the many that have tried to convince me to spread their hatred: Why are they not my people? They look like me. They speak like me. They laugh like and cry like me. Why are their tears silent? Why are your materialistic cries for “modernity” and “democracy” worth more than the child we besiege in a tiny confined camp, with no electricity or even clean water? Why can we cry about our sufferings, our occupations, our wars, the racism inflicted upon us and not they? What made me better than them? What gives me the right to speak out about my enemy, when I use the same tactics they used on me on the Palestinians?

So finally- I meet them. I meet the ever so vilified Palestinians. I expect to see evil. I expected to be hated. I expect to be kicked out. And what I got were open arms. What I got was a second family, what I got was acceptance from those who don’t know how it feels to be accepted. Not one ill word from their mouths, just words of love.

And my people want me to hate them?

These people, the Palestinians, who have been battling a sixty year long war with not only Israel, but their OWN people- still find a reason to smile every day. Under the harshest conditions-with no telling if they will ever see a permanent home. In their confinement, shackles don’t exist on their love for life…it runs freely, unlike them who are not allowed to do so. Because they are not ‘my people’. They don’t drive the same car as I do nor do they carry the latest cellphone but they know what it means to be humble…they know the value of life because they yearn for it and we won’t give it to them.

I ask these questions and all I get in return is, “You’re not Lebanese. You’re Palestinian. You’re a liar. You’re a poser. Get out of Lebanon”.

And my response to you is: I’m not Lebanese. I am not Palestinian. I am Arab. I am not Sunni nor Shia. I am human. A neglected child has no race. A grieving mother has no skin color. No tears are cried to be ignored.

Nice beard

This wasn’t a random old person rampage, the kind where your grandpa goes nuts when you hide his slippers or put crazy glue in his dentures (no seriously, don’t try that), but a racist uncalled for outburst against the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Which I guess is technically an old person random outburst.

Now, to break this down: there are 400,000 Palestinian refugees scattered across 12 main camps in Lebanon. Not only are they confined to the smallest, most poorly built areas and live in similar conditions to those in besieged Gaza (see for yourself: http://tinyurl.com/33hlene) , but they are also subjected to the worst kind of racism. Whether it be by the average Joe the plumbers (or ‘Mohammed the najjar’, whatever floats your boat) in Lebanon to apparently the top ‘mufti’ of whom I barely found out we had on Thursday, Palestinian refugees are made out to be the ‘scum’ of Lebanon. When, in my opinion, Lebanese people are perfectly capable of being scum themselves and don’t really need to hand that title to anyone else but that’s a whole other story.

Palestinians in Lebanon are forbidden from attaining some of the basic things such as jobs, education and just plain old acceptance by the people around them

Sheikh Qabbani stupidly lashed out blatant remarks in a pit of Palestinians (PLO members to be specific) saying, “You are trash. You [Palestinians] will never be victorious nor will your cause. I’m no longer afraid of your weapons.” Now I don’t know about you, but that’s sorta like saying the “n” word in Compton. Who does that!?

As an avid Palestinian activist in Lebanon, I of course took offense to these remarks. Seeing the dismay amongst fellow Palestinians on social networking sites made me disappointed. This is the image being created for us. I dedicated my life to this cause just for it to be overshadowed by some idiot who forgot to take his medication that night.

This man, who’s on a higher pedestal than I because he was lucky to be born in some wasta-filled family that secured his political position, will inevitably always have a louder voice than us Palestinian activists. What I say won’t make tomorrow’s headline and will most likely be lost in the shuffle. Therefore, the love that does exist for Palestinians is overshadowed by asswipes who claim to represent my country. Well, in a sense he does really represent half of my country on terms of Palestinian acceptance but we just won’t go there…..

Anyway, this ain’t about me. In such a crucial time for the Palestinian people, who have been working hard for the ‘Right of Return’  this year(most recently on May 15, see my blog post: http://tinyurl.com/6kmx5kt). The unprecedented events, such as May 15, have suddenly become a ‘threat’ to Lebanon’s security and stability. Because clearly, we are the most stable country in the world. I firmly believe that Mr. Qabbani is trying to cause a disunity (or a larger one at least) between the Lebanese people and the Palestinians in order to let them continue suffering, at the will of Israel. Because really, who else benefits from the racism and imprisonment of Palestinians other than Israel? And sadly, we as Lebanese probably will fall for it. Just as we have today, just as we have 60 years ago.

Yet, thankfully for the interwebz…us little voices can be heard. So if I may show my condemnation for this man, after having cleaned up my language: Sir, YOU’RE TRASH. I don’t have room for racists in my country so kindly escort yourself off my land and make more room for my Palestinian brothers and sisters.

Activists all over the world had the chance to become aware of Bouazizi’s story and the protests he inspired and actually become a part of a the revolution thanks to websites such as Twitter and Facebook. When protests started to get violent after Tunisian activists and Ben Ali forces clashed, people all around the world were given live updates from activists and reporters on the ground through these sites. Information was being circulated, showing the true colors of Tunisia’s president, decreasing his support. On January 14, 2011, the 40 year ruling of former president Ben Ali was over and he was forced to step down. The impossible became reality and dawned a new era across the region.

Swiftly, activists all over the Middle East were inspired and decided to stage protests in their countries. Not much time passed when citizens in Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria, Libya, Algeria and even the Gaza strip were demanding political reform and a democratic system. Just like with the Tunisian uprising, social media networking sites, specifically Twitter, became a platform for planning gatherings and updating the public with data and photos. At least once, every Arab on the internet caught themselves re-tweeting some of these revolutionary tweets. By the time of legendary uprising in Egypt, there was no resting in the land of the world wide web. People who partook in this tweet marathon would find that every three seconds, there was an estimated 40 tweets updating the situation in Egypt. It was hectic and by then, everybody had joined in.

But was the all the attention beneficial? With the amount of misleading information online, could we have done without social media?

I asked the influential Palestinian-American journalist Ali Abunimah, co-founder of the popular website “Electronic Intifada” (www.electronicintifada.net) and author of the book <em>One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse</em>, about his thoughts regarding the role social networking played during the Arab revolutions.

“On the whole I think social networking is positive because it has enabled activists to connect across large distances and to learn about each others work and circumstances.” he said. “That’s certainly the experience I have had with the Internet since the mid-1990s before it was called ‘social networking. Some of the real life relationships I have developed came about first through social networking online.”

Abunimah spoke about attention surrounding social networking stating, “There is also a lot of exaggeration and hype about social networking and media being behind the Arab revolutions. I have not seen any convincing evidence of that. Revolutions are always made by people who have decided that they are prepared to risk their lives to bring about changes that they can see no other way of bringing about. Perhaps social networks played some role, but no doubt printed pamphlets or cassette audio tapes might have played a similar role in previous revolutions in earlier times. So these are useful tools, but we must always keep them in their proper perspective!”

I also got different perspectives from average online users who rely on the internet during this pivotal moment in the Middle East. And what better place to get in contact with them than on Twitter and Facebook?

Twitter user @AsiefD from South Africa thought social networking caused negativity because “everyone has their two cents and throw around their ‘expert’ opinion” whereas @iAmArabb from Newcastle said, “[It's] positive-everyone is in touch and kept up to date, no one is really in the dark about whats going on”

On Facebook, Zeinab Saleh from the California stated, “I think they’re helpful because they spread the word of what’s going on and there’s different people with different opinions. You read it all and see different sides to everything. You learn”. And Austen Maddox from Kentucky thought, “It’s helpful on getting people organized but on the other hand it’s very easy for the governments they oppose to read everything they plan”

Arabs have witnessed the truest form of democracy ever in the history of the Middle East, which is freedom from tyranny and capitalism.To echo what Mr. Abunimah said- it was regardless of how people chose to communicate with the world but actually the will of brave protesters that helped achieve the vital change in the region. And, to me, they owe it all to one young heroic Tunisian man- Mohammed Bouazizi.

Leila Saleh

I woke up at 6am, a time that is a stranger to me, pumped with energy and my excitement was at a level I could never explain. I didn’t know what to expect as it was my first protest, but I knew that I had to be there. Time felt as it was passing quickly and as soon as I knew it, I was out the door and heading down to Bourj Ishamil where I would enter a Palestinian refugee camp for the first time. Although these refugee camps have existed for decades, Lebanese seldom ever visit them and most just drive on past. Most have their excuses, some blame the fact that they are afraid for Palestinian refugees are often perceived as violent. Knowing the superiority the Lebanese in my city have over everyone- I did not care, I was willing to ‘take the risk’. I joined some friends who were going to join the thousands of Palestinians from this particular camp in the march to Maroun Al Ras.

As we went inside the very confined camp I remembered being warned by other activists previously that the state refugees lived in Lebanon was depressing, so I braced myself for tears. Knowing how vulnerable my emotions are, I just knew I would leave the camp crying. But I didn’t. The atmosphere was full of happiness and I assume it was the first time in a long time that Palestinians here were full of glee especially with the conditions our government forces them to live under. The most inspiring were the older generation. The very little seventy and eighty year old Palestinians that were left were the most uplifting because although they might have been weak physically, but mentally they were as strong as rocks. They were determined to go back home. And that was definitely something I needed to witness in the start of the day for it made me fearless. At that moment, I wished to myself that I was Palestinian. The sense of humbleness filled the tight camp and every stereotype I had heard of them was blown away in an instant. These people were friendly. These people were no different than me. These people wanted me to know their story. And like them, I feel as though I don’t belong in Lebanon. Like them, I am rejected because I am an outsider. I understood them and they understood me. I was comfortable in the camp and if I had to stay there with them forever, I don’t think I would have minded.

I left the camp with hundreds of refugees, marching the streets of Bourj Ishamil to our transportation. There was some trouble with the buses, so my friends and I had to separate from the refugees and take a personal car to Maroun Al Ras also known as my father’s car! Though I did snag some photos of some lucky ones that got a bus:

My village Yaroun, which is right next to Maroun, is a village I often travel to. It is nothing more than a 45 minute ride to a land of green valleys and villas, but that day the car ride felt like it was taking forever. Even though I tried not to show it, I was ecstatic at an unhealthy level! When we got there, we first went to the Israeli line that bordered with my village.

We kept getting warnings that Lebanese and foreigners would not be allowed inside of Maroun Al Ras because of the amount of people that were already there. At this point I was petrified that I would not be let in. So I begged my father to please try and negotiate with the Lebanese army into letting my friends and I in. We took the chance. Boy, was it easy negotiating because all we had to do is ask twice and the Lebanese soldier let us in. We walked our little distance inside Maroun Al Ras straight to the border only to have our breath taken away by this amazing scene:

By 12pm, there was already thousands of Palestinians there! Some who kindly posed for pictures:

I went deeper into the park that was built by Iran, appropriately at the border.

"From the people of the revolution to the people of resistance"

Loud music and cheers were all you could hear and Palestinian flags was all you could see. And to my surprise, thousands of Palestinians were standing maybe half a mile away from the border which has been a forbidden area since the 2006 war. I knew that if I did not join them, I would regret it later despite how dangerous it was.

About an hour into the protest, we were left with another shocking scene: a small group of Palestinians who marched RIGHT to the border fence.

The little gray patch at the bottom is a group of brave Palestinians who marched straight down to the border fence

Many were fearful for what might happen next. And now, instead of Israeli soldiers firing warning shots in the air, they were firing right at the protesters. By this point, you would think the Palestinians would run off but instead more started marching down. The sight was unbelievable and I was left speechless.

Video of gunshots being fired at protesters

I have to admit, I grew a bit scared by now. But it only took a couple of minutes for that emotion to fade and I started getting closer along with the Palestinians. I had to stop myself though for my safety and let’s just say mom wouldn’t be to pleased if she knew how close I had gotten! So I stayed at my half mile mark and stared in awe at the brave Palestinians, risking it all to get near their home.

Another video of protesters close to the border line: http://yfrog.com/42fojz

Israeli soldiers started creating dust clouds with their tanks, trying to suffocate protesters

I unfortunately had to leave earlier than I wanted to as my parents called and started to grow weary. The situation was getting tense and news of martyrs was floating amongst the crowd. At this moment, ambulances zoomed in and out of the park almost every 3 minutes. As I was leaving, more army was being deployed. When protesters asked them what was happening, they shrugged their shoulders. I didn’t know how to feel, but I knew this would happen. It is not the first time Israel has fired at peaceful protesters and blamed us for it. I heard the chatter amongst young Palestinians who said they went to Maroun to become martyrs. Many of them were born and raised in this cooped up refugee camp, isolated by society. They were ready to die for Palestine, to die for the next generation’s freedom.

Walking out, I looked back and yearned to be in the crowd again. It only took me a couple of seconds to miss the people. The loud chants and patriotic anthems started to fade and I was finally realizing what I had just witnessed. I had witnessed history in the making, something that might not ever happen again. I saw what real love was between people. Nobody asked me if I was Sunni, nobody asked me if I was Shia. Nobody cared if I was Lebanese. Because at that moment we were all Palestinian. Whilst in the crowd, I forgot who I was. I didn’t have a label. I didn’t see race, I didn’t see color, I didn’t see refugees. I saw bravery and determination. I saw passion and frustration. I saw hope. I saw the most important thing: Palestine.