al Aqsa on Friday

UN-truth has some pictures of the crowds at Masjid al-Aqsa on Friday night, and also some pictures from the Qalandia checkpoint earlier that day.

She was wondering how so many people managed to get there despite all the checkpoints. Plenty of people who wanted to go, didn't make it. A friend of my son's from university tried to get into Jerusalem for Jummah and Taraweeh, but he is young and has a West Bank ID, so he tried to sneak through. He got caught, held for a few hours and roughed up a little. Then the forced him to sign a paper, ostensibly to promise he won't try it again, and then released.

more pictures of people trying to reach Friday prayers

Ok, I confess to being a little fixated on this topic. Anne Paq's blog has 2 posts of pictures from the Bethlehem checkpoint into Jerusalem, here and here. Her website is full of moving, emotional pictures of Palestine too. The active stills site is also excellent. I hope they will forgive me for posting 2 of my favorites from last week. I love the way she caught the shadows in this one. I want to take pictures like this.

more Ramadan pictures

If you didn't already see the link on Sunni Sister's blog, check out these photos about Ramadan from the Boston Globe. Surprisingly, there are several from Palestine, including more pictures of Qalandia (Kalandia) checkpoint.

Ramadan lights

UN-Truth posted a few more pictures of Jerusalem's old city streets decorated with lights. When I lived in Jerusalem years ago, I don't remember them decorating like this. I used to wish that Palestinians decorated with lanterns like I read they do in Egypt. I keep wanting to buy some of these lights when I am out, but my money always runs out before the list of stuff I am supposed to buy does.

I'm wondering about you!

L_Oman from Culture Shocked started a game of tag. She asked:

Am I the only blogger out there that sometimes thinks of other bloggers?
Have I lost it? Gone over the edge? Is it right? Is it ok?

Oh dear! If it is not "right" and "OK," then I am really in trouble because I am always wondering about the other bloggers I read. So L_Oman tagged me. She wants each of us to list 5 other bloggers that we think about.

Post at least five blogs that you read and tell us what you wonder about with them!

So I have been pondering this for a couple days now, and I have no idea how to choose just 5. If you look at my blog roll, you will see that I have way too many blogs I try to keep up with. LOL, my Google reader has twice that many.

Beth used to have a blog called "Indiana Beth," but she recently moved to Jordan and now it's called The United States of Jordania. She hasn't posted a lot lately, and I am wondering how she is adjusting to the big changes and how is her Ramadan going? And Molly from The Confessions of a Multicultural Muslimah just moved to Egypt and Izzy Mo just moved to Dubai, so I am wondering how all three of them are doing.

Najiya from Prairie Heart of Damascus doesn't update very often, but I often wonder what is going on in her world. She teaches English in Syria, and she has written a novel. Cool, huh?

Aaminah Hernández has been updating her blog a lot lately, journaling about how her Ramadan is going and posting some very useful hadith for building an Islamic character. I keep checking her blog to see if she is meeting her goals and if she has gotten over the nasty cold she got as soon as Ramadan started.

Saha has recently returned from Yemen where she was studying, and I have been reading about her trip and some life changing experiences she had in Yemen Journey. The Cairo Gyro is by a sister who is studying Arabic in Egypt, and Damascus dreams was studying Arabic in Syria, although she has not updated in nearly a year. I always want to hear more about their travels and studies. I wonder what it is like. To be honest, I am kind of jealous of their chance to concentrate on their own education, although I don't think I would have been up to what Saha went through.

I always make Southern Muslimah one of the first blogs I check if she has posted. I am jealous of her too, because she has been involved in this wonderful project to assemble packages of food to distribute this Ramadan, and before that they made up backpacks full of supplies for poor kids going back to school. I wonder how she got all that organized and wish I was doing something as good as that too.

In addition to L_Oman's blog Culture Shocked I always read Stranger in this Dunya and Susie's big adventure but they both have been tagged already. I would love to have them over for tea along with AlienBea from Underwater Light , KhadijaTeri and mamamona, so I could hear more about their kids and lives.

Amy from Ibnat al-Hidayah: Daughter of Guidance sounds really interesting. She is about my daughter's age and I wonder how her school work is coming along and how she is coping. I wish I had had a friend like her when I was in college.

I also wonder about a wayfarer's journey... and Outlines since they are both pregnant, may Allah give them safe deliveries and healthy babies, inshaAllah. And I wonder when JD is going to post more baby pictures at Dunner's. What a darling, mashaAllah, mashaAllah!

There are a bunch of Palestinian bloggers that I wonder about, but they don't have the kind of blogs where they play games like tag. I always read Joy in Palestine's blog I Saw it in Palestine. She is a member of the Christian Peacemakers Team and she was living in a very small village called Tuwani south of Hebron where the people are often subject to attacks from settlers. Joy has gone back to the US now, temporarily I think, but her friend Jessica is there writing Ordinary People. Orphans Under Threat is all about the schools and orphages run by an Islamic charity in Hebron that the Israelis are planning not only to close, but to confiscate so no one can use them. That blog is maintained by another CPT member. Then there is Hannah in Palestine and Nora in Palestine. I used the signature "Carol in Palestine" for years and years, but I guess that was not so original, lol. Neither is alajnabiya. I have run across 4 other variations of the name ajnabiya online since I started using that name. :-( Back to my topic, Body on the Line is an American woman teaching at an Najah University in Nablus. I always wonder how all these people ended up in the West Bank. And there is UN-Truth and Our life in Jerusalem, who are westerners in Jerusalem.

From Gaza, with Love, tabula gaza, Contemplating from Gaza and Gaza Gardens: The Save Gaza Blog are all by people living in Gaza. How do they manage? May Allah give them strength and change their situation for the better. Is the Gaza gardens project still going, I wonder? They gave seeds and chickens to people and helped them to be a little more self reliant.

There are 2 more pro Palestinian bloggers that I wish I knew more about, Lawrence of Cyberia and bruised earth, but they both have serious, not chatty blogs. I assumed that Lawrence of Cyberia was a guy, but apparently he's a she. There is a link to a facebook profile on the page, and I have almost been tempted to join facebook just so I can read more about the author of this excellent blog.

I have resisted joining facebook, because I already spend way too much time online, can't you tell?????

Who you telln' to get a life? hmm...... Was I supposed to choose 5?

Pictures of al Aqsa

UN-truth posted some pictures taken at Taraweeh and Jummah prayers at al-Aqsa mosque yesterday. I wish I was there.

For more pictures, Visual Dhikr has a wonderful 360 degree panoramic view of the inside of the al Aqsa Mosque (not to be confused with the Dome of the Rock with it's gold dome and blue tiles).

Malek's Page on Bayt Al-Maqdis has more pictures of the whole al Aqsa compound, and and explanations and descriptions of the different buildings.

Friends of al Aqsa has a page that describes all of the little buildings around the al Aqsa compound. I used to sit with my friends under the "Dome of the lovers of the prophets" to study Qur'an together, while our little kids ran around and played in the gardens. (They are college students now.) This site used to have a very nice interactive guide, but it doesn't seem to be working for me now. InshaAllah it will be back.

At-Tuwani

This video was on Joy_in_Palestine's blog this morning. It is about the Palestinian village of at-Tuwani in the south Hebron hills, where the Christian Peacemakers Teams maintain a presence to try and protect the villagers.

And this video is also about the same area, and the children who have a daily struggle just to get to school.

When I think my life is hard...

The last 2 weeks we have had no water from the pipes in the house on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Now that I got the pump for the cistern fixed, it is not such a hardship. I am using the water from the cistern only for laundry now, to conserve water from the main for drinking and other uses. That means I fill the washing machine by bringing in a hose from outside through the bathroom window, but alhamdulillah I have a top loading machine that allows me to do that. I don't know what I would do if I had one of those European style front loading models. I am grateful that we live in a single family house with a cistern. There are a lot of apartment buildings around us, and I wonder how they manage when their water runs out. I guess they have pumps though, to pull water out of the main lines, since so much of the time the water pressure is so weak it doesn't even reach our house's roof.

As frustrating as these water shortages are, it pales in comparison to what people in Gaza are going through. Read Contemplating From Gaza's account of a weekend with no water, no electricity, no gas for the stove and no gasoline for the car. And then to top it off, she gets comments from trolls who feel the need to imply that it is her fault that there are rockets fired from Gaza and call her filthy names. Personally, I have my comments moderated, and I won't let anything abusive be published here, but perhaps letting the morons have their say proves a point.

I don't want to see any innocent civilians suffer, not Palestinians nor Israelis.

who's afraid of airport security these days?

The last time I flew anywhere was 1994. The world has changed a lot since then, and every time I read about a Muslim having trouble with airport security, I get more nervous about the idea of trying to get on a plane again. Not that I am likely to try it any time soon. I know that certain security measures have to be taken, after all I don't want to get on a plane with any crazies either, but sometimes the security folks go overboard.

Read Tunisianbelle's post Muslim While Flying, for her upsetting experience. This is the first time I have seen her blog, which I found via Global Voices.

gas prices!

You think prices are high where you live? Laila from Raising Yousuf wrote today about the price of gasoline in Gaza being about $35US per gallon, 600 Shekels per 20 liters! That is if you can get it at all. Shameful, shameful, shameful. How can people live their comfortable lives and support Israel unconditionally while they strangle life in Gaza. The BBC is reporting this morning that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a cease fire starting Thursday. Let's pray it works.

Elderly couple beaten by settlers

Today the BBC website had an article about an elderly Palestinian couple and their nephew from the village of Susiya south of Hebron being beaten by settlers. Accompanying the article is a bit of video showing the beginning of the attack. It is not a great video, but it is shocking to see strong young men, faces covered and wielding bats, base enough to beat a 70 year old man and a 68 year old woman. They were attacked for grazing their goats too close to an Israeli settlement. It is a shame that the BBC didn't mention that the family has papers to show they own the land or that they are living in tents because their homes have been bulldozed repeatedly, according to joy_in_palestine's account.

a ruined mosque and the rest of the al Jazeera documentary on Jaffa

Al Jazeera has posted the second part of their documentary on Jaffa. This one deals with the aftermath of the war in 1948, looking at the lives of Jaffa residents who became refugees and those that stayed behind.

About half way through the last of the clips below, it tells of 2 mosques that were left after the Israelis destroyed the neighborhoods around them. One has been renovated, but the other is in a sad state. The Siksek mosque was built by members of the Siksek family over 100 years ago. The Israelis confiscated it, and sold it into private ownership. It was most recently used as a store room for a plastics factory. The reporter who did the documentary entered the mosque with a descendant of the family who built it, and he cried when he saw the destruction. I wish they had some clearer pictures of the interior, but here are 2 screen shots of the mosque incase you don't have the bandwidth to watch the video.

Here are the videos:
Palestine Street - The Bride in Exile - 15 May 08 - Part 1

Palestine Street - The Bride in Exile - 15 May 08 - Part 2

Palestine Street - The Bride in Exile - 15 May 08 - Part 3

Palestine Street - The Bride in Exile - 15 May 08 - Part 4

alJazeera documentary on Jaffa

Al Jazeera has put online the first part of a documentary about Jaffa before and after the naqba. It is called Palestine street - The Lost Bride. I thought calling the street that already has several other names "Palestine Street" was kind of a lame idea, but the documentary was interesting. These 4 parts are only episode one. I love that al Jazeera has some of their programs up online, but I wish they could make it a little easier to watch the longer shows that are broken up into parts, by making a playlist for them so you don't have to hunt for the next part, or at least not saying that it is a "2 part documentary" and then dividing part one into "4 parts." Anyway, here it is all lined up for you.........

Palestine Street - The Lost Bride - 14 May 08 - Part 1


Palestine Street - The Lost Bride - 14 May 08 - Part 2


Palestine Street - The Lost Bride - 14 May 08 - Part 3


Palestine Street - The Lost Bride - 14 May 08 - Part 4

Settlement on a mosque!?!?! Hebron / al Khalil

Buried, originally uploaded by subterranean_.

"From the rooftop of a Palestinian home you can see how the settlers are effectively building new homes on top of existing Palestinian houses and holy places. In the case of the Mosque below, because it could not be razed without fierce resistance, the settlers simply built above it.

The new settlers in the buildings above have recently arrived from Brooklyn, New York."

The situation in Hebron / al Khalil in the West Bank is one of the most shocking and extreme. Like many West Bank towns, it has settlements all around it, but there is also a settlement right inside the city. I have been reading about it for years, but this photo seriously shocked me. HOW can they build OVER a mosque??? Please look at this photo set on Flickr for more pictures and explanations.

West Bank Part Two: Hebron

This is a Door

This is a Door, originally uploaded by subterranean_.

"This sewage system is the only means of school children crossing from one side of their town to the other. The school is located on this side of the barrier, and most of the children live on the other side.

The water is filthy, hazardous and utterly disgusting. "

This photo set on Flickr is about the wall. The pictures are well labeled and worth the time. I have been wanting to take a picture of the CTRL + ALT + DELETE graffiti for ages, but I have no other reason to get out of the car in that area. It is right near the Qalandia checkpoint and refugee camp.

Road 443

Please watch these excellent videos about Road 443. This road was built in the West Bank, on Palestinian land. When it was built, the people living next to it were told that they would benefit from it, but now they are not even allowed to use it.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this first video really explains the situation.

The second half shows some of the non-violent demonstrations against this injustice.

Al Jazeera reports on Palestinian refugees and the Nakba

Al Jazeera English has presented several interesting reports this past week, in memory of the Palestinian nakba and the founding of the State of Israel.

Palestinian villages lost in 1948 war - 13 May 08


Palestinians struggle with land ownership - 13 May 2008


Aging Palestinians reflect on the past - 13 May 2008


The Promised Land? - Pioneers - 5 May 08 - Part1


The Promised Land? - Pioneers - 5 May 08 - Part 2


The Promised Land? - Conflict - 12 May 08 - Part 1


The Promised Land? - Conflict - 12 May 08 - Part 1


And in case you think that alJazeera is just Arab propaganda and never presents an Israeli point of view, you may watch these.

Riz Khan - Palestinian 'Right to returm' - 13 May 08 - Part1


Riz Khan - Palestinian 'Right to Return' - 13 May 08 - Part2

Slideshow: Inside Shatila

The BBC has a slide show of pictures from Shatila refugee camp in Lebanon. You might have to keep pausing it to both read the text and get a good look at the pictures, but it is definitely worth a look.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7398071.stm