Global Voices » Palestine

KFC Deliveries Smuggled into Palestine Through Secret Tunnels

Amira Al Hussaini — Sat, 18 May 2013 22:15:33 +0000

Palestinian Anas Hamra, from Gaza, claims he got his Kentucky Fried Chicken delivered – after a seven hour wait. His story tallies with a recent New York Times report which says that Gazans are getting their KFC deliveries, from Al Arish, in Egypt, where they are smuggled through secret tunnels.

After ordering his meal, he jokes [ar]:

راحت علينا الكنتاكي الحكومة صادرت وجبتي يفضح عرظها

@AnsRed: We have lost our Kentucky meal. The government has confiscated it, may it [the government] be scandalised

He then adds:

تم الإفراج حسب الإتصال عن 100 وجبة كنتاكي من لجنة الأنفاق التابعة لحكومة حماس الان وجبتي قادمة تباً خوفتيني عليكي يا وجبة!

@AnsRed: I was told on the phone that 100 Kentucky meals have been released by the tunnels committee run by the Hamas government now and that my meal is arriving. I have been worried about my meal.

Anas Hamra, from Gaza, claims he got his KFC after a seven hour wait

And he continues:

@AnsRed: am still WAITEN, actually am gonna have it as my breakfast for the next day! Sigh!!

When he finally gets his meal, Hamra shares its picture on both tumblr and Instagram.

On Instagram, many question whether his post was for real and Hamra confirms that he has indeed ordered a family size KFC meal. His assessment of the meal?

like an Egyptian KFC lol but cold

Mohammed Hassona, from Gaza, tweets [ar]:

أكل الكنتاكي علينا حق #غزة

@impalestinian: Eating Kentucky is our right #Gaza

And Michael Heaton quips:

@MichaelHeathon5: Kentucky Fried Chicken in Gaza? Havent those people suffered enough?

However, the Facebook page of the enterprise which runs the delievery service has since announced the discontinuation of the deliveries:

زبائننا الاعزاء : تم ايقاف طلبيات الكنتاكي وذلك لظروف خارجة عن ارادتنا… شكرا لاهتمامكم جميعا بهذا الموضوع

Dear customers,
The Kentucky deliveries have been stopped due to reasons beyond our control. Thank you all for your interest in this topic

At least Hamra got his KFC treat and tweeted and Instagramed the experience.

INFOGRAPHIC: The Forced Exile of Palestinians

Joey Ayoub — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:47:27 +0000

In commemoration of Nakba Day, the ‘Visualizing Palestine’ graphic team have released their latest infographic entitled “An ongoing displacement” which “quantitatively catalogues the multiple dimensions of Palestinian displacement and loss of land.”

On their Facebook page, they wrote :

May 15th marks the 65th anniversary of the Nakba – when 750,000 Palestinians were displaced from the territory that became Israel. In 1948, more than 50% of the entire Palestinian population was ethnically cleansed.

In commemoration of the Nakba, and the displacement that continues today, we are releasing ‘An Ongoing Displacement'. The new visual quantitatively catalogues the multiple dimensions of Palestinian displacement and loss of land.

www.visualizingpalestine.org/disappearing-palestine

The following image can also be found on their website (click for higher resolution)

Courtesy of VisualizingPalestine

65 Years After the Deir Yassin Massacre

Amira Al Hussaini — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 19:43:29 +0000

Israel blogger Elizabeth Tsurkov tweets:

@Elizrael: Today is the 65th anniversary of the Deir Yassin Massacre, one of the worst crimes ever committed by armed Israelis

A Platform for Middle East's Indie Musicians

Rayna St. — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 20:16:28 +0000

Music for a better future. Screenshot from Mideast Tunes’ Indiego campaign video.

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“Palestine in the Heart” of a Uruguayan Activist

Silvia Viñas — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:51:18 +0000

Uruguayan activist and journalist María Landi shares her reports on Palestine in her blog Palestina en el corazón [es] (Palestine in the heart). Radio Mundo Real [es] recently interviewed Landi on current events in Palestine.

Dima Al Khatib Remembers Hugo Chavez

Amira Al Hussaini — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 19:43:22 +0000

Some liked him, others hated him, but the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez held a special place in the heart of Arab journalist Dima Al Khatib. As Al Jazeera's Latin America bureau chief, the Syrian-born Palestinian journalist developed a close relationship with Chavez during her 10-year stay in Caracas. Al Khatib, who is now teaching in Dubai, reveals more about this bond in a series of tweets following his death on Tuesday [March 5, 2013].

In addition to her tweets, Khatib went back to the studio to give a series of interviews on Chavez.

On Twitter, she explains [ar]:

تعرفت على الراحل أوغو تشافس في سبتمبر أيلول ٢٠٠٢ في كاراكاس، أي قبل أكثر من ١٠ سنوات. أجريت معه ٥ لقاءات خاصة ورافقته في ترحاله حول العالم

@Dima_Khatib: I got to know Hugo Chavez in September 2002 in Caracas, more than 10 years ago. I conducted five exclusive interviews with him and traveled with him around the world

She adds:

#ذكريات_تشافس كنتُ الصحفية الأجنبية الوحيدة، وأحياناً حتى الصحفية الوحيدة على الإطلاق التي كانت ترافق تشافس في ترحاله داخل فنزويلا وخارجها

@Dima_Khatib: I was the only foreign journalist, and sometimes and only journalist at all, who has accompanied Chavez on his travels in Venezuela and abroad

And says:

#ذكريات_تشافس كلما رآني كان يقول : السلام عليكم ، بالعربية

@Dima_Khatib: Every time he met me, he would say Al Salam Alaykom (Greeting: Peace be on you) in Arabic

Many recalled Khatib's closeness to Chavez. Tunisian journalist tounsiahorra tweets:

تذكرت لقاءكما انت وشافيز في مقر الجزيرة…. ذلك الود والبساطة التي جمعتكما. الصحافية والزعيم جنبا الى جنب دون بروتوكولات

@tounsiahorra: I remembered your meeting with Chavez at Al Jazeera's headquarters [in Doha, Qatar]. Friendship and simplicity joined you. The journalist and the leader, side by side, without any protocols

Khatib shares many tidbits of information about Chavez on her Twitter account, which has become popular during the Arab uprisings. She asks:

@Dima_Khatib: Who would have thought that Fidel Castro would stay.. and Hugo Chavez would go ?

Dima Al Khatib speaks to Al Jazeera about Chavez following his death on Tuesday. Photograph from Khatib's Instagram

In response to a question on whether people in Venezuela like him, Khatib responds:

@Dima_Khatib: Many do. Others don't. But yes he is a popular guy. You either love him or hate him. Very polarising

In another tweet, she wonders whether Arabs too are polarised in their opinion. She reasons:

نعم أعرف .. نحن العرب محتارون .. نحزن أم لا نحزن على رحيل تشافس؟.. هو دعم فلسطين كما فعل قليلون في عصرنا، ثم لم يدعم الثورات العربية

@Dima_Khatib: Yes, I know. We Arabs are confused. Shall we feel sad or not on Chavez's departure? He has supported the Palestinian cause like very few in this era. And then again, he did not support the Arab uprisings.

On her memories with Chavez, Khatib is debating writing a book.

قد أكتب يوماً ما عن تجاربي مع تشافس .. والأحاديث التي دارت بيني وبينه عن قضايا كثيرة .. على مدى عشر سنوات .. وقد لا أكتب .. لا أعرف صراحة

@Dima_Khatib: I might one day write about my experiences with Chavez and the conversations we had over many issues.. over 10 years .. and I might not. I honestly don't know.

Palestine/Syria: A Tale of Two Women

Amira Al Hussaini — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 18:37:36 +0000

Palestinian blogger Budoor Hassan shares the story of two women in this blog post – Nariman Tamimi in Nabi Saleh, a tiny village north west of Ramallah in the West Bank and Maha Ghrer in Bustan Al-Qasr, a neighbourhood in Aleppo, Syria.

Israel Introduces Separate Bus Lines for Jews and Arabs

Amira Al Hussaini — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 19:34:24 +0000

Israel has introduced separate bus lines for Jews and Arabs, traveling from the West Bank to Israel, starting today [March 4, 2013]. Netizens react to the news, describing Israel as practicing segregation and apartheid.

According to +972, a blog-based web magazine:

A new Israeli bus line will serve only Palestinians. Officials claim it’s not segregation, but the ongoing experience of discrimination faced by Palestinian workers speaks for itself.

The post explains:

Early this morning, Palestinians from the West Bank with permits to work inside the state of Israel crammed onto bus lines specially created for “Palestinians only” — instead of using the same public buses used by Israelis. The Israeli Transportation Ministry launched the new bus lines today, for travel from the Eyal checkpoint to Tel Aviv and Kfar Saba and back to the checkpoint, after settlers complained about Palestinians using the same buses as Israelis on their way to and from work inside Israel.

On Twitter, Turkish blogger Esra Doğramacı comments:

@EsraD: All I can say is, you've got to be joking.

South African Bilal Randeree responds:

@bilalr: Hmm, why does this sound familiar? Hmm… Let me ask my parents, maybe they can help figure out…

Yemeni Noon Arabia chimes in:

@NoonArabia: Despicable!

Jordanian entrepreneur Fadi Ghandour calls the move:

@fadig: Apartheid

And Israeli journalist Joseph Dana finds the new move unbelievable:

@ibnezra: Hard to believe that we are reading this headline in 2013: Israel introduces ‘Palestinian only’ bus lines

Palestine: Fighting with the Poem

Eman AbdElRahman — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 19:19:00 +0000

Amira Abd El-Khalek, an Egyptian blogger who studied English literature and anthropology in Egypt and UK, wrote on the Arabic Literature blog about an evening of Palestinian poets, Asma’a Azaizeh and Marwan Makhoul, which was hosted by Banipal magazine and the Mosaic Rooms in London. During discussions that followed the poetry readings, both poets were asked about reading their work in Israel, their relationship to their work, and more.

New Palestinian Village Bab Al Shams Established in East Jerusalem

Ola Anan — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 21:05:39 +0000

As part of the popular resistance movement in Palestine, a group of about 250 Palestinian activists established the new village of Bab Al Shams or “The Gate of the Sun”, on a piece of confiscated land in Eastern Jerusalem, referred by Israeli authorities as “Area E1“.

The newly established #BabaAlshams village is located on the “E1″ area east of Jerusalem, tweets @_mahmoud

A Press release was published on the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee website earlier today, describing the reasons behind the establishment of Bab Al Shams. In their Press release, they said:

For decades, Israel has established facts on the ground as the International community remained silent in response to these violations. The time has come now to change the rules of the game, for us to establish facts on the ground – our own land.

Photograph of the Palestinian flag flown on Bab Al Shams. Photo shared on Twitter by @Lemapal

In addition to the Press release, the Palestinian activists used Twitter to declare their movement, and provide updates and photographs from the ground.

Activist Abir Kopty was among the first few to declare the establishment of Bab Al Shams as she tweets:

@AbirKopty: We a group of #Palestinian women and men have established the new village of #BabAlShams on Palestinian land on what Israel refers to as #E1

She also clarifies:

@AbirKopty: #BabAlShams is a new village, not one revived but it symbolizes a lot of things including return to our land.

Tents erected on Bab Al Shams. Photograph shared on Twitter by @AbirKopty

This movement could be considered as the first initiative to take an effective reaction to the confiscation of Palestinian land by the Israeli army, and its declaration that this area will soon be built into an Israeli settlement, which is illegal under international law.

Palestinian Pal_1948 explains [ar]:

اعلنت حكومة الإحتلال مؤخراً بناء 4 الاف وحدة سكنية، وغرف فندقية، ومنطقة صناعية في المنطقة , فقام قرابة 300 شاب فلسطيني باقامة قرية باب الشمس .

@Pal_1948: The Israeli government recently announced the construction of 4,000 residential units and hotel rooms, and an industrial zone in the region [E1], so a group of 300 young Palestinians established the Village of Bab Al Shams.

He adds:

حتى الان تم نصب 25 خيمة، تضم عيادة طبية مجهزة، يتواجد فيها طبيب مناوب وخلال الساعات القادمة ستم نصب 50 خيمة

@Pal_1948: So far, 25 tents have been erected, with an equipped medical clinic, where there is a doctor on call and in the coming hours about 50 tents will be set up.

A photograph inside the medical tent, shared on Twitter by @Tweet_Palestine

A few hours later, the Israeli army surrounded the area, closed the checkpoints leading to Bab Al Shams, and handed the activists an administrative eviction notice to evacuate the village. Interestingly, the Israeli supreme court issued a suspending order, which states that the village cannot be evicted for 6 days.

Fadi Arouri explains with a photo of the eviction notice:

الجيش يسلم قرار إخلاء فوري لقرية باب الشمس بالرغم من قرار المحكمة العليا بمنع الإخلاء قبل ٦ ايام

@farouri: The [Israeli] army delivers immediate evacuation notice of Village Bab Alshams, despite the Supreme Court's decision to prevent eviction by 6 days.

Abir kopty wasn't surprised by the Israeli notice, and tweeted:

@AbirKopty: We were ready to the eviction order so along with building #BabAlShams we went to the court & got suspending order! We are using their tools.

Despite the Israeli notice of evacuation and the cold weather, the Palestinian activists decided that they will stay the night at their tents in the new village. Keep following updates on Twitter on the hashtag #BabAlshams for further developments.

MENA: Acclaimed Authors’ Favorites of 2012

Eman AbdElRahman — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 20:40:05 +0000

M. Lynx Qualey, blogger, who is interested in Arab and Arabic literature, wrote a series of posts introducing acclaimed Arab poets, novelists, and short-story writers’ favorite Arab reads of 2012. She started with a list of nonfiction books, then followed by a list for poetry [En] and fiction [En].

It's Christmas in Bethlehem

Amira Al Hussaini — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 16:47:05 +0000

It's Christmas in Bethlehem, in the West Bank, Palestine, the birth place of Jesus Christ. What better way than to celebrate this occasion than by sharing photographs and reactions of netizens to this event, celebrated by billions worldwide.

Israeli journalist Joseph Dana was in Bethlehem to see the lighting of the Christmas tree and shares this photograph:

The lighting of the Xmas tree in Bethlehem. Photograph shared by @ibnezra on Twitter

Lauren Bohn offers a closer image of the tree, from the same celebration:

Beautiful Christmas tree lighting in Bethlehem, comments @LaurenBohn on Twitter, as she shares this picture

And Maath Musleh shares pictures of the lit up streets of Bethlehem, in preparation for Christmas:

Bethlehem streets lighting up for Christmas, tweets @MaathMusleh, who shares this image on Twitter

Ahmed Aggour posts this photograph of the tree during the day:

The most beautiful #Christmas tree ever, and right where it belongs. Merry Christmas. #Bethlehem #Palestine, tweets @Psypherize

And Daniel Aqleh posts this video on YouTube of the ceremony to light the tree, which included a fireworks display:

Merry Christmas!

Global Voices: Where Every Voice Counts

Sana Saleem — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 22:42:59 +0000

Every year Human Rights Day provides an opportunity, to many of us, to highlight issues that matter to us and to advocate human rights for all. This year the spotlight is on the rights of people – the poor, the marginalized and the disingenuous, women and youth and those across the gender spectrum. Every one has the right to be heard and the right to participate.

The idea that every voice counts is one that is very close to the notion of Global Voices as a platform and as a community. As netizens unite to have their voices heard when the world's authorities argue on who should run the internet, we decided to ask our diverse community to participate and speak out on issues that matter to them and look back at issues we have covered over the year bearing in mind that every voice counts.

Global Voices community members make their #VoiceCount. Image collage by author.

With Syria and Gaza plunging into information by pulling the plug on the internet, the right to access remained one of the most pertinent issues. Our special coverage included Syria,archiving online reactions to Syria's internet blackout and the resurgence as parts of Syria regained connectivity, protests in Bahrain and Yemen amid media blackout, conflict voices from Caucasus and Sudan revolts, in-depth coverage of Russia's protest movements,bearing witness to Egypt's historic presidential elections and the aftermath and the intense elections in Venezuela, seeking indigenous voices representing 370 million people that speak more than 4000 languages, a spotlight on the forgotten voices of Myanmar's Rohnigya, keeping an eye on the worldwide #occupy movements and SlutWalks a new protest movement defending women's rights and most importantly monitoring and defending internet freedom, free speech and freedom to access with Global Voices Advocacy evolving in to a community determined to take a stand.

Then there were other stories that needed the world's attention as we stood true to the notion that we are reminded of today; every voice counts.Qatar's life imprisonment of a poet that praised Arab spring,Russia's crackdown on online satire, women being barred and penalized from using mobile phones in villages in India, stricter SIM card registration process hampering communication in Zambia, Pakistan's consistent pursuit to replicate the great firewall of China, Tajikistan blocking of facebook and summoning Mark Zuckerberg – a move startlingly similar to that of Pakistani authorities, Internet companies overlooking user privacy, the fight for free expression as authorities muscle in more control, we continued to speak out against impunity and for justice for threatened voices, these are the few issues global voices as a community has been able to bring attention to. As we move forward towards the end of the year, there will be a more comprehensive overview of the year through the eyes of the networked.

For now, on Human Rights Day, we stand in solidarity with people around the world and believe in every individual's right to be heard, to participate and be counted. Our commitment remains, to amplify the voices of the networked and to enable and support the indigenous communities to become a part of the larger community.

From Jerusalem to Damascus

Amira Al Hussaini — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 09:47:57 +0000

#This_Is_Damascus.. The Syrian revolution flag flies high in Jerusalem. Photograph shared on Twitter by @prometheus_92

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From Ramallah to Gaza: A Tearful Reunion

Amira Al Hussaini — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 20:58:21 +0000

From Ramallah to Gaza, Linah Alsaafin had to travel through two countries – and two continents – for a tearful reunion with her grandmother. Read her account here.