Winter Ups and Down

Well, it snowed in Jordan!

I can’t help but feel constant ups and downs about the early start to winter.

I’ll share some of them in attempts of explanation..

1) Being snowed in for an all-night Christmas party at Dan’s house.

2) Watching little kids building a snowman in a neighborhood of Homs in Syria – which has been blockaded by the regime for 500, thus left to face the early winter storm with no gas or electricty.

As the citizen journalist describes the dire situation in the neighborhood, the kids interrupt, talking amongst themselves “Now put the eyes! Yeah, just use the snow.”

More at: Syria Direct

3) Venturing out in the snow to gather the necessary supplies for 3 days of movies, hot chocolate and kahlua, and snuggling.

4) Thinking of friends in Zaatari sitting in caravans, or worse, in tents without heaters or winter clothes as strong winds and heavy rain rips through the camp.

More at: Syria Direct

5) Arriving in Boston, happy to be home for a White Christmas.

6) Reading about refugees in Lebanon, who are all the more worse off from snowfall and lack of resources.

A flock of small boys trotted by. “Bring us clothes!” one shouted. “We are cold!” called another.

More at: NY Times

I guess its inevitable that I couldn’t be happier or sadder that winter is finally here. It seems appropriate to return back to some favorite lines from Mahmoud Darwish, Think of Others:

As you return home, to your home, think of others
(do not forget the people of the camps).

As you sleep and count the stars, think of others
(those who have nowhere to sleep).

One of my favorites from Zaatari wearing his new winter hat – which he chose himself during our distribution of over 4,000 donated hats.

He was pretty happy with himself and, needless to say, warm.

You can donate to the UN emergency response here

The Arab Idol from the Gaza Strip

I can’t claim to have ever seen a full episode of Arab Idol… Yet, I have in the past days gained a new interested due to one of the three finalists: Mohammed Assaf.

This week as I travelled Palestine, visiting my friend Marah’s family in Nablus and a nearby village, Jen Safout, I kept hearing about Mohammed Assaf. He has an amazing story. Assaf, a young 23 year old Palestinian refugee from Khan Younis Camp in Gaza, has risen to stardom and is now the favorite to win Arab Idol.

Gaza has been under blockade by Israel since 2007. The land and naval blockade means that 1.7 million people are locked into the 62 square km Gaza Strip — one of the most densely populated areas on earth. In contravention of international law, Israel restricts Gazan’s imports and exports, access to the water, and freedom of movement. The blockade has crippled Gaza’s economy, resulting in an over 30% unemployment rate and 70% of the population is dependent on aid to survive. The blockade collectively punishes the Palestinians of Gaza, degrading their living conditions and depriving them of a chance to live normal lives. 

To leave Gaza, there are only two land crossings – Erez Crossing with Israel and Rafah Crossing with Egypt. Until 2011, Rafah was closed and movement through Erez was limited to people granted permits through an arduous process that meets the Israeli criteria for an exceptional case. Now, Rafah is open to Palestinian passport holders – one access point for 1.7 million people to the outside world.

However, there are still stipulations. Most notably, the majority of men between the ages of 18 and 40 need to go through a time-consuming bureacracy and get a permit to leave. Often, this results in men being turned away from the crossing.

This is what makes Mohammed Assaf’s story so remarkable. He actually managed to leave Gaza —  with the purpose of attending Arab Idol auditions in Egypt.

However, the border crossing took a long time and delayed him so much that all the audition numbers had been given out by the time he arrived. Yet he started singing in the hall, where a fellow Palestinian overheard…and gave Assaf his number. The rest is history – he auditioned, was accepted, and the judges/audience have fallen in love with him throughout the season.

Last night, we were sitting outside when our hosts heard his voice from the tv inside singing a famous Palestinian song… and we all dashed in to watch the performance. It was the first time I actually saw Assaf and heard his voice. He deserves all the hype.

All over Palestine, people were talking about him. The pride of the people – a different face for Palestinians – a symbol of hope.

If anything, I think the most important thing about his story is that Mohammed Assaf is just an ordinary guy —> 23 years old, handsome, charming, great talent.

Yet he is also from a place that is not well understood, nor recognized for its suffering. When it comes to Gaza, it seems like media forgets that the people… are people… seeking to live a normal life — not a group of terrorists nor statistics in a news report.

I doubt there is a better way to send my generation of Americans that reminder, “they are people, just like me and you” than the below video:

 

 

 

Needless to say, I will be tuning in with the rest of the Arab world tonight, hoping Mohammed Assaf brings one home for the Palestinians.