Shadia Mansour featuring M1 from Dead Prez, Al-Kufiyyeh 3arabeyeh video
Lyrics
Good morning cousins, y’all welcome, come in
What would you like us to serve you, Arab blood or tears from our eyes?
I think that’s how they expected us to receive them
That’s why they got embarrassed when they realized their mistake
That’s why we rocked the kuffiyeh, the white and black
Now these dogs are startin to wear it as a trend
No matter how they design it, no matter how they change its color
The kuffiyeh is Arabic, and it will stay Arabic
The gear we rock, they want it; our culture, they want it
Our dignity, they want it; everything that’s ours, they want it
Half your country, half your home; why, why? No, I tell em
Stealin’ something that ain’t theirs, I can’t allow it
They imitatin us in what we wear, wear; from this land enough, what else do you want?
About Jerusalem, Jerusalem, would they be worried, how can you humans?
Before y’all ever rocked a kuffiyeh, we here to remind em who we are
And whether they like it or not, this is our clothing style
That’s why we rock the kuffiyeh, cuz it’s patriotic
The kuffiyeh, the kuffiyeh is Arabic
That’s why we rock the kuffiyeh, our essential identity
The kuffiyeh, the kuffiyeh is Arabic
Come on, throw up the kuffiyeh (throw that kuffiyeh up for me)
The kuffiyeh, the kuffiyeh is Arabic
Throw it up, come on “Bilad Al Sham” (Greater Syria)
The kuffiyeh is Arabic, and it will stay Arabic
There’s none yet like the Arab people
Show me which other nation in the world was more influential
The picture is clear, we are the cradle of civilization
Our history and cultural heritage testify to our existence
That’s why I rocked the Palestinian gear
From Haifa, Jenin, Jabal al Nar to Ramallah
Let me see the kuffiyeh, the white and red
Let me throw it up in the sky; I’m
Arab, and my tongue creates earthquakes
I shake the words of war
Listen, I’m Shadia Mansour, and the gear I’m rockin is my identity
Since the day I was born raisin people’s awareness been my responsibility
But I was raised between fear and evil; between two areas
Between the grudging and the poor, I seen life from both sides
God bless the kuffiyeh; however you rock me, wherever you see me
I stay true to my origins, Palestinian
and other news from today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing
Construction in Judea and Samaria Up a Whopping 660%
About 75,000 new homes are under construction in all of Israel right now, a government agency said Wednesday. With the end of the building freeze, construction has started up in Judea and Samaria (Yesha) communities. In fact, said the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), building jumped 660% in Judea and Samaria during the first half of 2011, as compared to the previous year.
link to www.israelnationalnews.com
EU 'concerned' by Israel's separation wall route at Walaja
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- EU representatives said Friday they were "deeply concerned" by the impact of Israel's separation barrier on the historic West Bank village Al-Walaja. The 2,500-strong community lost an appeal to Israel's Supreme Court on Aug. 22, requesting the re-route of a portion of the wall they say cuts off the village from vital resources. European Union missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah said in a statement that the barrier "will cut off much of the village's land, preventing many residents from accessing their land, including agricultural land."
link to www.maannews.net
Israeli settlement expansion in Ramallah signals isolating Palestinian towns
The Israeli ministry of war has signed a contract with the municipality of Beit Arye settlement to construct an additional 100 units to the settlement, the Israeli Peace Now organization has reported.
link to Palestinian Information Center
U.S. aiding Ethnic Cleansing
How US "charities" break tax laws to fund Israeli settlements, Mike Coogan
In spite of US government statements about its displeasure with the expansion of Israeli settlements, US based organizations are abusing the 501(C)3 section of US tax codes to provide billions in subsidies to do exactly that. There are hundreds of these tax-exempt, so-called charities funneling money to illegal Israeli settlements, often with the names no more creative than “American Friends of name an Israeli settlement.”
link to Electronic Intifada
Settlers
Jewish settlers storm Aqsa plaza
Jewish settlers stormed the holy Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem under Israeli police escort at dawn Sunday, eyewitnesses said.
link to Palestinian Information Center
Settlers attack Jalud village as Israeli soldiers stand guard
Armed Jewish settlers attacked in the Palestinian village of Jalud southeast of Nablus city in the West Bank as Israeli soldiers stood guard, Palestinian officials reported.
link to Palestininian Information Center
Settlers beat up child in Al Khalil (Hebron)
In the city itself, Jewish settlers assaulted a 15-year-old child in Shuhada street, downtown Al-Khalil, near his family home, locals said, adding that the child was carried to hospital with minor injuries.
link to Palestinian Information Center
Gaza Siege
Egypt begins destroying border tunnels
Al Masry Al Youm 3 Sept -- Smuggling tunnels at the border with Gaza are likely being destroyed, eyewitnesses have said. Eyewitnesses added that even though there are around 1400 tunnels, only 300 are used. Many of these tunnels have not been affected by machines used to destroy them since they are internally lined with wood. Other tunnels have been dug in a way to resist attempts at destroying them. Some sources have said that the destruction is being carried out in conformance with a deal between Egypt and Gaza to destroy all tunnels which Palestinians have failed to control. An official source said that tunnels accessed from houses in Rafah will be destroyed. These tunnels, he said, have been the hardest to shut due to their location in residential areas.
link to www.almasryalyoum.com
Turkey says it will challenge Gaza blockade (AP)
AP - Turkey is preparing to challenge Israel's blockade on Gaza at the International Court of Justice, the foreign minister said Saturday, ratcheting up tensions between the once close allies.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110903/ap_on_re_eu/un_israel_turkey
Report: Turkey navy to escort aid ships to Palestinians in Gaza
The Turkish navy will significantly strengthen its presence in the eastern Mediterranean Sea as one of the steps the Turkish government has decided to take following the release of the UN Palmer report on the 2010 Gaza flotilla, Turkish officials told the Hurriyet Daily News. "The eastern Mediterranean will no longer be a place where Israeli naval forces can freely exercise their bullying practices against civilian vessels," a Turkish official was quoted as saying. As part of the plan, the Turkish navy will increase its patrols in the eastern Mediterranean and pursue "a more aggressive strategy".
link to Haaretz
Gaza: Registration to cross Rafah border opens Sunday
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Gaza residents can register to travel via the Rafah crossing on the Egypt border from Sunday, the Hamas-run Ministry of Interior announced. Registration is only open for students, foreign passport holders and those with referrals for medical treatment abroad, the ministry said in a statement.
link to www.maannews.net
Palestinian protests & Israeli regime attacks on protesters
IOF troops crack down on marchers
Armed Jewish settlers attacked in the Palestinian village of Jalud southeast of Nablus city in the West Bank as Israeli soldiers stood guard, Palestinian officials reported.
link to Palestininian Information Center
Beit Ommar Residents Protest In Solidarity With Majde Za’aqiq
Today in Beit Ommar, around twenty-five demonstrators marched towards the illegal Israeli settlement of Karmei Tsur in protest of the imprisonment of Beit Ommar school teacher Majde Za’aqiq. Demonstrators held signs protesting Majde’s imprisonment, advocating Palestinian membership of the UN, and ending the occupation.
link to palestinesolidarityproject.org
Activism / Solidarity / BDS
The end of civilization: no ‘dignity’ in remaining silent at BBC Proms, Eleanor Kilroy
In a Guardian review of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) at the BBC Proms, and referring to the boycott protests that disrupted their concert in London's Royal Albert Hall on Thursday, classical music critic Erica Jeal praises IPO conductor, Zubin Mehta, as 'the model of composure'. In the comment thread she clarifies that 'the only ones who came out of this with any dignity intact were Mehta, Shaham and the orchestra'. This reverence for Mehta's physical control is echoed in the right-wing, establishment paper, the Telegraph: the 'supremely unflappable conductor-for-life Zubin Mehta, kept going... unflappable dignity is clearly his default mode'.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/09/the-end-of-civilization-no-dignity-in-remaining-silent-at-bbc-proms.html
Apartheid Art Not Welcome
Congratulations to BRICUP, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods, and the Boycott Israel Network for disrupting a performance of the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra at the London Proms to such an extent that the BBC was forced to take its Radio 3 live broadcast off the air. The IPO has a ‘partnership’ with the murderous Israeli Defence Forces and acts as a key element of ‘Brand Israel’, whitewashing the crimes of the apartheid state. Below, a letter from concerned musicians to the Independent explains why apartheid art is not welcome here.
link to pulsemedia.org
Letter to International Participants of the "Welcome to Palestine" Campaign
Sep 1, 2011-- The “Welcome to Palestine” initiative took place July 8-16, 2011. In response to an invitation put forth by Stop the Wall along with 40 other Palestinian civil society organizations, popular resistance committees, and political factions, hundreds of international visitors reserved flights to Israel's Ben Gurion airport for July 8th, 2011.
link to stopthewall.org
Letter to the Students Protesting for Equal, Affordable Education in Chile
This summer has seen massive protests in Chile on a variety of issues: student movement, Mapuche defense of resources, and demonstrations against damming projects. Tens of thousands of youth have taken to the streets to demand equality in affordable, public education. Our Palestinian youth express their solidarity with the demonstrators, especially because it is often our youth that, because of their courage, face disproportionate repression.
link to stopthewall.org
Video: Keszler Gallery, NYC allegedly removes Banksy's West Bank stencils for unsanctioned show
HuffPost 1 Sept -- An unauthorized Banksy show at the Keszler Gallery in New York City has angered arts commentators for apparently removing original works from their West Bank walls for display in the gallery. Arrest Motion first reported the removal on August 31st, saying that "the Keszler Gallery in association with the Bankrobber Gallery where unnamed individuals traveled to Palestine and boldly removed some of the well known and much beloved work Banksy created for the Santa’s Ghetto event held in the West Bank in 2007." According to the Keszler Gallery, the show consists of "Unique street works and prints acquired from their original locations in Bethlehem, Brighton, London & Los Angeles." See some of the works displayed in the controversial exhibition in the video, courtesy of Justin Sutcliffe/Polaris Images NY.
link to www.huffingtonpost.com
Two Banksy pieces from the West Bank are now for sale in the Hamptons
NY Mag 2 Sept -- How did a Hamptons art gallery come to show several Banksy works, including two pieces originally stenciled in Palestine? It's not completely clear, actually, but Wet Dog, which originally appeared on a bus stop, and Stop and Search, which originally appeared on the wall of a butcher shop, are now among the works for sale at the Keszler Gallery. None of the harvested pieces in the show have been certified by Pest Control, Banksy's authentication office, though the firm does not authenticate works that have been removed from their original locations. According to ArtNet, a rep for the U.K.'s Bankrobber Gallery, which partnered with Keszler to bring the works out of the Middle East, says a Palestinian entrepreneur originally removed the paintings, and that the galleries stepped in only after discovering that the works were sitting in a stone mason's backyard for years.
link to nymag.com
Artnet News: Galleries defend controversial Banksy show / Rachel Corbettt
Artnet.com 1 Sept -- Yesterday, Artnet Magazine reported on the controversy surrounding the decision by Keszler Gallery and Bankrobber Gallery to bring two Banksy stencils from Bethlehem to the Southampton Village Power Plant, where an exhibition of reconstituted street works and prints opened Aug. 20, 2011. Banksy fans argued that the artist intended the works for the West Bank and the galleries had no right to remove them.
link to www.artnet.com
Israeli regime attacks against Palestinians
IOF fires flare bombs in Jenin raids
Israeli occupation forces fired flare bombs and deployed in the plains and open areas in a massive raid operation in the West Bank city of Jenin and its environs.
link to Palestinian Information Center
Detentions
Report: Israel arrested 15, deported 30 pro-Palestinian activists in August
Some 15 activists were arrested and 30 were deported last month in a wave of incitement against pro-Palestinian activists, a French rights group said in a report marking the end of August.
link to Palestinian Information Center
IOF soldiers arrest 3 Palestinians including young woman
Israeli occupation soldiers (IOF) rounded up three Palestinian citizens on Sunday, two young men in Al-Khalil and a young woman in Ramallah.
link to Palestinian Information Center
IOF soldiers arrest 3 Palestinians in Al-Khalil village
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up three Palestinians in the village of Doura, southwest of Al-Khalil city, at dawn Saturday, local sources said.
link to Palestinian Information Center
Hamas lawmaker sentenced to 6 months in administrative detention
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- An Israeli court Sunday sentenced Hamas-affiliated lawmaker Anwar Zuboun to six months in administrative detention, Hamas officials said. The sentence was condemned by Hamas lawmakers as part of Israel's "arrogance and systematic crime."
link to www.maannews.net
Family of MP Yousuf slams Israeli attempts to fabricate charges against him
The family of lawmaker Hasan Yousuf strongly denounced the Israeli intelligence agency for trying to fabricate charges against him and avenge him after failed attempts to undermine his high morale.
link to Palestinian Information Center
Egypt releases 2 Palestinian brothers from Rafah
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Egyptian authorities on Saturday released two Palestinian brothers after two years in detention, relatives told Ma'an. Ammar and Arafat Abu Nima, from Rafah on the Egypt-Gaza border, were detained with their father on the Egyptian side of the city two years ago. They were sentenced to three years on charges of smuggling and entering Egypt illegally.
link to www.maannews.net
Family says Palestinian sheik detained at Cairo airport
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Egyptian authorities detained a Palestinian sheik on Saturday at Cairo International Airport, his family told Ma'an. Abdul Aziz Odeh was detained at the airport as he returned from a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, relatives said. The Palestinian ambassador to Egypt was unable to secure his release. Odeh was one of the first Palestinians to be deported to the Gaza Strip during the first intifada, or uprising, in 1987.
link to www.maannews.net
Turkey & Israel UN Flotilla Report
Turkey to take Israel to UN court
Turkey says it will challenge Israel's blockade of Gaza in a UN court after rejecting a UN report into the killing of nine of its citizens on a ship.
link to www.bbc.co.uk
Turkey talking tough to Tel Aviv, Ira Glunts
The Turks say they plan to challenge Israel over its naval blockade of Gaza. Turkish officials claim they will take legal, diplomatic, as well as military action to force an Israeli retreat from its refusal to permit ships from bringing aid to the Israeli- occupied territory. The Turks are mad as hell about the Israeli refusal to apologize for the deaths of nine Turkish citizens during the IDF assault on the Mavi Marmara in 2010. They also are angered by the UN report which characterized the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza as legal and justifiable based on the Israeli right of self-defense. Ironically, the report was intended to be a vehicle to assist Israel and Turkey in mending their strained relations, but instead has become the immediate cause of a serious diplomatic breach.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/09/turkey-talking-tough-to-tel-aviv.html
Palestinian Reactions to UN Report
Palestinian Authority criticises UN flotilla report
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories — The Palestinian Authority on Saturday condemned a UN report into a deadly Israeli raid on a Turkish-led aid flotilla as a political document not based on international law. "This report is terrible and negative. It's a purely political report, it's not legal," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said of the report on the May 2010 raid which killed nine Turkish activists. "It's a political report that is not based on international law, but on the contrary, it violates international law, because the Gaza Strip is still under Israeli occupation," he told AFP.
link to Google News
UN flotilla report provokes angry reactions in Gaza
Gaza resident Jamal Zarra told Ma'an that no people in the world were besieged like the unarmed population of the Gaza Strip. "How can the blockade be legal while we don't have medicines in hospitals, and our movement is restricted?" He said international law had become subordinate to the permanent member states of the UN Security Council, while the rest of the world was "helpless." Meanwhile, Popular Committee against the Siege spokesman Ali Nazli asked if international law "would allow besieging and starving 1.7 million people in Gaza, depriving them of medicine and humanitarian needs?" He urged the international community to pressure Israel to end the occupation and to hold Tel Aviv accountable for its aggression on the coastal enclave.
link to www.maannews.net
Radwan: Palmer report 'biased and illegitimate'
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Senior Hamas leader Ismail Radwan said Sunday that a UN report on Israel's deadly raid of a Gaza-bound aid boat was illegitimate and biased to Israel. The report, released Friday, was written by a panel headed by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer. It found that Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip was legal, but that Israel used "excessive and unreasonable force" when its commandos raided the ship and killed nine Turkish civilians on board.
link to www.maannews.net
Racism / Discrimination
'State's discrimination between terror victims unacceptable'
Arab family of east Jerusalem man killed by Yaakov Teitel petitions State to grant family of Jewish teen injured in incident terror victims' benefits.
link to www.ynetnews.com
Wikileaks Palestine/Israel
WikiLeaks: Israel irked by West Bank protests
Minutes from 2010 meeting between Israeli, US officials reveal IDF commanders frustrated with non-violent Palestinian protests; claim Israel 'not good at dealing with Gandhi'
link to www.ynetnews.com
Israel favoured brute force against West Bank protesters
NEW DELHI: "We don't do Gandhi very well." The political-military chief of Israel's ministry of defence, Amos Gilad, had told US interlocutors in February, 2010, that the Israeli forces would be compelled to take more strong-arm methods against protesters in the West Bank.
link to Times of India
WikiLeaks: Avigdor Lieberman
Unlike Beilin, Lieberman was described as a staunch Jewish nationalist who does not trust Israel's Arab neighbors as well as many of Israel's Arab citizens. The former ambassador also commented on Lieberman's legal situation, saying that the Yisrael Beiteinu chairman used the legal proceedings against him to boost his political career by portraying himself as a victim who is being targeted by political opponents.
link to www.ynetnews.com
Wikileaks drip drip drip
All the wikileaks cables have been released and are now accessible. Whether others prove to be as horrific as the massacre of women and children in Iraq brought to our attention this week, or as drearily predictable as PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY SECURITY OFFICIALS ON COORDINATION WITH ISRAEL remains to be seen.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/09/wikileaks-drip-drip-drip.html
Press Freedom
Gaza journalists rally for release of Al Jazeera reporter
Dozens of Palestinian journalists held a non-violent protest Saturday in Gaza City outside the offices of the United Nations. They called on UN officials to pressure Israel to release their colleague, reporter Samer Allawi, who has been held in Israeli detention since August 10.
link to www.imemc.org
Israeli, Palestinian reporters urge Israel to uphold journalists’ rights
The Israeli-Palestinian Journalists' Forum has called on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to uphold the rights of journalists reporting in the region. "The Palestinian Authority is currently working toward the recognition of a Palestinian state by the United Nations. This is a matter of interest to the region and the world, but moreover, to every person living in Israel and the Palestinian Territories," the press group said. "That is why journalists working for Palestinian and Israeli media must be allowed to do their work without restriction," the letter added.
link to Haaretz
Statehood Bid
U.S. Appeals to Palestinians to Stall U.N. Vote on Statehood
The Obama administration has initiated a last-ditch diplomatic campaign to avert a confrontation over a plan by Palestinians to seek recognition as a state from the United Nations.
link to www.nytimes.com
U.S. tries to stall Palestinian statehood bid: report (Reuters)
Reuters - Washington has launched an effort to avoid a clash stemming from plans by Palestinians to seek recognition as a state at the United Nations, The New York Times reported on Saturday, citing senior U.S. officials and foreign diplomats.
link to Yahoo News
France Warns Against Palestinian UN Bid
French Foreign Minister, Alain Juppe, warned the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank of heading to the United Nations this month, and claimed that “heading to the UN to seek international recognition of statehood, could lead to a serious diplomatic crises”.
link to www.imemc.org
Tony Blair's key role in Mideast talks
Former British PM plays central but largely unheralded role in reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, perhaps helping to avert Palestinian push for full UN membership.
link to www.ynetnews.com
Other news
Iranian president affirms support for resistance in a call with Mishaal
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad has affirmed in a telephone call with Hamas political bureau chairman Khaled Mishaal that Tehran would continue to support the Palestinian people.
link to Palestinian Information Center
Turkey to sign strategic alliance with Egypt
Ankara-Cairo relations receive boost as crisis with Israel worsens: Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan slated to visit Cairo and possibly Gaza soon to sign strategic cooperation agreement with Egypt. Meanwhile, recently expelled Israeli ambassador Gaby Levy says there's no chance he will return to Ankara.
link to www.ynetnews.com
Barrier erected to secure Israeli embassy in Cairo
A barrier was erected in Cairo’s University Bridge area designed to protect the Israeli embassy against massive protests demanding the embassy’s removal.
link to Palestinian Information Center
Report: Gadhafi offered Israel Shalit, peace for NATO halt
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- An Israeli and Austrian politician claiming to be at the center of negotiations with Moammar Gadhafi have gone public to the press, a week after the former strongman's compound was captured by rebels. The defeated Libyan leader had offered a peace agreement with Israel, and to secure the release of captured Israeli solider Gilad Shalit, if NATO raids on Libya were halted, they said.
link to www.maannews.net
Lebanon jails ex-general for leaking info to Israel
Military court sentences Fayez Karam to two years in prison for providing Israel with 'political information' on Hezbollah, Christian party.
link to www.ynetnews.com
Analysis/Op-ed
Israel objects to Palestinian statehood to avoid war crimes investigations / John Glaser
Antiwar 2 Sept -- A secret State Department diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks has revealed that one of the primary reasons behind Israeli objections to Palestinian statehood is that lack of statehood keeps Palestinian territories outside the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which prosecutes war crimes ... The dialogue is unusually blunt, since Israel’s public objections to Palestinian statehood at the United Nations, to be voted upon this month, have been mundane and political in nature.
link to news.antiwar.com
Book Review: The Forgotten Palestinians / Khalil Nakhleh
Palestine Chron. 2 Sept -- (The Forgotten Palestinians: A History of the Palestinians in Israel. Ilan Pappe. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2011) No doubt, hundreds if not thousands of articles, reports and books have been written about the Palestinians in Israel, “the forgotten Palestinians”, in Arabic, English and Hebrew, during the last sixty some years. To my knowledge, this is the first time a major, mainstream, US academic university press publishes a comprehensive and sympathetic narrative of the Palestinians in Israel, with a focus on their evolving Palestinianhood, by a well respected anti-Zionist, Israeli Jewish historian.
link to palestinechronicle.com
U.S. Right Wing and GOP Presidential Candidates Spreading Paranoid Anti-Muslim Hysteria as Part of Take-Over Strategy, Max Blumenthal
The sudden rise of Islamophobia in the United States is alarming while the movement that advances anti-Muslim resentment seems bizarre and filled with eccentric, even dangerous characters. But when viewed in the context of a new, groundbreaking research document by the Center for American Progress and an obscure, decades-old political memorandum by a long-forgotten former Supreme Court Justice, the Islamophobic crusade raging across the country appears perfectly in line with longstanding goals and methods of conservative organizing, and is aimed at much more than demonizing Muslims.
link to Alternet
Frank Gaffney Thinks ‘We Need A New House Anti-American Committee’ For Islam, Ali Gharib
One of the featured “experts” in the new CAP “Fear, Inc.” report on Islamophobia, Frank Gaffney, appeared on a religious right program and called for renewed McCarthyism against not just American-Muslims but also those who support them or don’t do enough to stymie what Gaffney considers their pernicious influence.
link to thinkprogress.org
The All-Time 10 Worst Military Contracting Boondoggles
Welfare for warlords: The world's most expensive road: Rent-a-ripoff: The Kabul bank bust: and more.
link to motherjones.com
CIA or CKA – Central Killing Agency?
The Washington Post published a long article outlining new profile of the Central Intelligence Agency. By analyzing numerous examples from all parts of the world, the paper concludes that instead of collecting intelligence data, now the CIA is mostly engaged in finding and killing suspects without trial.
link to english.ruvr.ru
NYT on WikiLeaks: Move Along, No Atrocity to See Here
Today's Times includes a story about the WikiLeaks Iraq cable, under the somewhat strange headline "Cable Implicates Americans in Deaths of Iraqi Civilians." Still very little in the rest of the press-- nothing on television, according to a search of the Nexis database).
link to www.fair.org
Time Magazine and the Fake Hezbollah Interview, Asad AbuKhalil
The fake interview by Nicholas Blanford of a supposed Hezbollah member allegedly implicated in Hariri's killing was a journalistic scandal and a clear intelligence ploy. The interview published in Time Magazine presumably intended to bring the accused out—electronically speaking—in order to locate him. The story reveals a lot about the way in which the Western press operates. This is not the first time that coverage of the Middle East has been associated with scandals and propaganda. Western media have served as government tools since the US war on Iraq in 1990.
link to Al-Akhbar English
World News
More detainees join Bahrain hunger strike
Protest aimed at ongoing trials from the crackdown on demonstrations by the Gulf nation's Shia majority.
http://english.aljazeera.net//video/middleeast/2011/09/201193161643416929.html
Yemeni capital braced for fresh protests
Security forces limit access to Sanaa amid calls for intensified demonstrations to shake Saleh's grip on power.
link to english.aljazeera.net
Syria soldiers 'killed in ambush'
Six Syrian soldiers and three civilians die as gunmen ambush a bus in central Syria, state media reports, while the bloody crackdown on anti-regime protests continues.
link to www.bbc.co.uk
Fresh deaths reported across Syria
Activists say at least 13 people killed as the Red Cross chief visits Damascus to demand access to prisons.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/09/20119483720229354.html
`Anti-`Alawite bigotry, As'ad Abukhalil
I have written this before: I am not surprised to read and hear anti-`Alawite bigotry from Hariri/Saudi media. Those are Wahhabi outlets, in the final analysis. But the other day I heard the correspondent of BBC News in Lebanon gives a platform to a guy (he was introduced as Syrian refugee but his accent seemed Lebanese, although it is possible he was Abraham Foxman) who vomited anti-`Alawite bigotry. It is the season. If a Palestinian ever expresses his/her views against Israel in a way that referred to his/her enemies as "Jews", he is instantly rebuked in the media and calls for his/her arrest are heard (although Israel presents itself to the world as the state of all Jews for propaganda purposes). But then again: why is that surprising? The Saudi/Hariri tools in the Syrian opposition are fanatical extremists.
link to angryarab.blogspot.com
New Lancet study says 12,000 Iraqis dead from suicide bombings
No one has taken much notice of the report. But as the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 approaches, it's an important reminder of the failure of Al Qaeda and of the scars that will shape Iraq for decades.
link to Christian Science Monitor
More Afghan soldiers deserting the army
Between January and June, 24,590 soldiers walked off the job, compared with 11,423 who left in the same period last year, according to NATO statistics.
link to Washington Post
US Kills 30 People In Yemen
Thirty "suspected al-Qaeda militants" were killed Thursday in US airstrikes in southern Yemen, broadcaster Al-Arabiya reported quoting Yemeni military officials.
link to Monsters and Critics
CIA shifts focus to killing targets
Behind a nondescript door at CIA headquarters, the agency has assembled a new counterterrorism unit whose job is to find al-Qaeda targets in Yemen.
link to Washington Post
MI5 former chief decries 'war on terror'
Lady Eliza Manningham-Buller uses BBC lecture to criticise 'unhelpful' term, attack Iraq invasion and suggest al-Qaida talks.
link to www.guardian.co.uk
Supreme Court declines to clarify rights of Guantanamo Bay detainees
Although delivered in broad strokes and powerful language, the ruling left the details of how to provide hearings for the detainees up to the (not entirely grateful) judges of the D.C. Circuit. The bottom line is that while Guantanamo’s population has declined from around 270 at the time of the decision to 172 today because of decisions of the executive branch, not a single release has come as the direct result of a judicial order. A string of rulings has gone against the detainees. For instance, the circuit court decided that because of the unusual nature of the hearings, the government may rely on hearsay evidence that would not be allowed in federal court. It has said that a preponderance of evidence, the lowest standard, is enough to make the case for continued detention.
link to Washington Post
Wikileaks
Gaddafi, Britain and US: A secret, special and very cosy relationship
Britain helped to capture one of the leading opponents of the Gaddafi regime before he was sent back to be tortured in Libya, according to a secret document discovered by The Independent on Sunday in the offices of Moussa Koussa, then Muammar Gaddafi's spymaster.
link to www.independent.co.uk
Qaddafi was a CIA Asset, Juan Cole
Human Rights Watch found documents in Libya after the fall of Muammar Qaddafi that it passed on to the Wall Street Journal, which is analyzing them. The WSJ reported today that the documents show that Qaddafi developed so warm a relationship with George W. Bush that Bush sent people he had kidnapped (“rendition”) to Libya to be “questioned” by Libya’s goons, and almost certainly to be tortured. The formal paperwork asked Libya to observe human rights, but Bush’s office also sent over a list of specific questions it wanted the Libyan interrogators to ask. Qaddafi also gave permission to the CIA from 2004 to establish a formal presence in the country.
link to Juan Cole
Kadhafi’s son got doctoral thesis help from Tony Blair: report
Two of Moamer Kadhafi's sons were invited to the headquarters of the SAS special forces unit as former prime minister Tony Blair tried to build ties with the Libyan regime, The Sunday Times reported. In the latest revelations from intelligence documents obtained by media and rights groups in Tripoli, the paper said Blair had also helped another of Kadhafi's sons, Seif al-Islam, with his doctoral thesis.
link to www.rawstory.com
US, Australia 'schemed against the last IAEA chief'
THE US and Australia schemed unsuccessfully in 2005 to block Mohamed ElBaradei's election to a third term as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a newly leaked US diplomatic cable shows.
link to www.heraldsun.com.au
www.TheHeadlines.org
I love Shadia Mansour: her voice, her look – the power of her cultural pride.
This is a cool new video for a classic and famed song.
Taxi:
Shadia Mansour is incredible. I have several of her songs. Anyone who is interested, type her name in YouTube where there are several studio and live performances from her.
These are my favorite songs:
Assallamu ‘Alekum ["Peace be Upon You," a general greeting. Duh.]
El Kofeyye Arabeyye ["The Arab Keffiya"]
Kollon 3endon Dababaat ["They All Have Tanks" - next line is "All we have are stones."]
She’s also on the remix of “Long Live Palestine” by Lowkey that was discussed here at MW a few months ago.
Thanks Haytham – yeah I have all her youtubes saved and I listen to them regularly.
One of my personal favorites of Shadia’s:
link to youtube.com
Also check out M1 on Lowkey’s new track.
You have to repect Dead Prez for using his ability to reach the masses for a good cause and to show solidarity with the a neglected and suffering nation.
Real Jew:
The song features M-1 of Dead Prez. Dead Prez is his group.
Hip-hop is my guilty pleasure.
Thanks for the clarification Haytham.
dope
uhuru – horreyah – amandla in 2011 & beyond
check out persian rapstress Salome rocking the mike hard: link to youtube.com
Hey muzz thank’s for bringing up the fab Salome. Here’s her tribute to Gaza:
link to youtube.com
I love her music, her spirit.
There is a little context missing on the background of this song. I read an article about Shadia and saw her discuss the song at a live show (on youtube). What sparked the idea to write this song was she saw that an Israeli company had started making keffiyahs in the color of the Israeli flag with “long live Israel” printed on the top [no I'm not kidding].
This pissed her off because she rightly saw it as an Israeli co-opting the keffiyah and she wrote this song.
A note regarding the lyrics in English:
I just started comparing the Arabic lyrics to the English translation and it’s not a match. There are several mistakes (and I only went through most of the first verse so far). This is the worst part:
“The gear we rock, they want it; our culture, they want it
Our dignity, they want it; everything that’s ours, they want it
Half your country, half your home; why, why? No, I tell em
Stealin’ something that ain’t theirs, I can’t allow it They imitatin us in what we wear, wear; from this land enough, what else do you want?
About Jerusalem, Jerusalem, would they be worried, how can you humans?
Before y’all ever rocked a kuffiyeh, we here to remind em who we are”
As far as I can tell, the bolded parts above are wrong [I know it's most of it]. Here’s my (better, not perfect) translation:
“The keffiyah* , they want it; our culture, they want it
Our dignity, they want it; everything that’s ours, they want it
Should we shut up? Should we allow them [to take what they want]?; why, why? No, I tell em
Stealin’ something that ain’t theirs, that’s none of their business
They imitatin us in what we wear, wear; all this land isn’t enough for them**” they’re greedy*** About Jerusalem, Jerusalem, know how [or "learn how"] {I can’t understand the rest of this part} Before you [Zionists] put on a keffiyeh, we came to remind you who we are and remind them this is our hatta**** [keffiyeh]
*She says simply “hatta” here, which is just another name for keffiyah. I don’t know why whoever translated felt the need to add the words “the gear we rock,” since it’s not in the song.
**The context of what she says here is basically all the land that Israel has now is not enough, so they keep gobbling more and more and she then calls them greedy.
***The part where she says “you’re (or they’re) greedy!” here is not even translated in the original.
****What she says here doesn’t translate properly to English. It’s something along the lines of “show you [Zionists] this is our hatta, your father be damned [and it's actually closer to "show you this is our hatta whether your goddamn father likes it or not"].
Haytham and everyone else,
Very sorry, I didn’t read the lyric translation before posting. I got them from this website:
link to hiphopdiplomacy.org
Mea culpa. I will check things more closely before posting in the future.
I was so happy to see Dead Prez in this video and so happy to see REAL African-American hip-hop artists embrace the Palestinian struggle.
This song was my introduction to Dead Prez ( link to youtube.com) and I remember stopping dead in my tracks listening to every word and wondering why the hell Arabs didn’t rap this first.
And Inanna wanted more so here’s another new one, this time Lowkey is rapping featuring M1 again (freaking awesome!) and Black the Ripper, it’s called Obamanation and Ali Abunimeh is mentioned in it. Oh and Glenn Beck is in the intro :D link to youtube.com
Thanks Sehamo.
Palestine on our minds and in our hearts forever.
Thanks Seham! One of the reasons I signed up to Mondoweiss was to be able to say thank you to you for all your hard work with these daily news posts. So thank you.
More translations fixes for those who don’t speak Arabic:
This line:
About Jerusalem, Jerusalem, would they be worried, how can you humans?
should be:
About Jerusalem, Jerusalem, know how, be humane (or show some humanity)
that’s how I would translate: Itkoonu bashar.
And I loved the shout-out to Bilad as-Sham.
A very special and rare gem performance by Shadia Mansour singing with jewish composer Yair Dalal:
link to youtube.com
Actually, that’s “Obama Nation 2.” I didn’t know it had been released yet, I’ve only heard a rough mix of it.
Here’s the original, “Obama Nation,” from 2009 I think:
link to youtube.com
it just came out yesterday morning haytham. i follow lowkey on twitter and RT’d his tweet like thousands of others. it spread like wildfire.
Thanks Inanna, I went on a brief hiatus after the Egyptian revo but am happy to be back on a more consistent basis.
I think this part is important to correct:
“Listen, I’m Shadia Mansour, and the gear I’m rockin is my identity”
Here she’s actually playing on the Mahmoud Darwish poem, Identity Card where he writes (the very beginning):
Record!
I am an Arab
And my identity card is number fifty thousand
So she says “Record!/I’m Shadia Mansour/My hatta’s my identity card”
Exactly where my brain went when I heard that Haytham.
Good points Haytham,
I also don’t like the translation of 3alli to throw up or throw it up. A better translation would be ‘raise’ the kuffiyeh, since throwing up is more closely connected to vomiting!
Thanks for the video Seham – keep them coming!
Inanna:
I think you’re right on this. She uses irfa’ooha and 3alli (sorry, I don’t know official transliteration) which I think are more appropriately (as you said) “raise it up, lift it up,” and remind me more of raising a flag, which is the image I think she is trying to conjure up (“the keffiyah, the original passport/identification”), as opposed the “throwing up” of a gang rag or a gang sign (which is what is inevitably conjured up by that phrase). The guy who translated this tried to make it “gangsta” by inserting context and entire lines that are not there.
The person purporting to have translated this calls himself “Big Moor.” If you wish to take this as an insight into his Arabic skills, I wouldn’t begrudge that. Maybe he’ll show up on MW and explain why he felt the need to publish lyrics that were so very wrong.
I want to look at the rest of the song but I don’t have time right now
I would say that his Arabic translation skills are not good. A decent translator at least has an understanding of the sense of how words are used in both languages, I fell like this translator looked them up in the dictionary without knowing the use of some of those words. A great translator has a sense of understanding of the culture and the allusions that are made – for example – sajjil, Ana Shadia Mansour – Record, I am Shadia Mansour – the link to Mahmoud Darwiche should be known by anyone with a basic understanding of the culture and should’ve been sensitive it how Darwiche’s poem was translated. The translation of the rest of the song is slightly off as well – but then, let’s face it, translating Arabic to English is tough. I’m stumped by translating something like ‘ghas min 3an abuhun’ – there’s no adequate translation I can think of that would do justice to the defiance and connotations of that phrase and how ubiquitous it is in the spoken language! I’ll try to find some time to do a bit of translating if anyone is interested but I must admit that sometimes the Palestinian accent (which I live) can be a bit confusing.
i’m interested Inanna.
Inanna:
I agree with your post. That he didn’t know Identity Card by Mahmoud Darwish or that he wasn’t able to pick up on her play on it was immediately suspicious to me, but as a Palestinian of course Darwish has entered my subconscious, so probably much more important/noticeable to me. Anyway, “Big Moor” (“Ouassim Addoula”) could be anyone and maybe never heard of Darwish (sadly).
I know! This is how I translated it, above, because I wanted to properly convey her sentiment:
For you annie:
I didn’t translate it ‘street’ or ‘gangster’ because Shadia uses everyday Arabic you would use with your family and friends and intersperses it with sentences, words that are standard Arabic that should be understood by all those taught to read and write Arabic. You can also see that the translator above got a few crucial things wrong – like in the last lines, where Shadia is comparing herself to the kuffiyeh. But I wouldn’t say that this is a ‘good’ translation, it’s just ‘better’ than the one above.
“Good morning cousins, welcome, you honor us,
What would you like us to offer you,, Arab blood or tears from our eyes? “
I think that’s how they expected us to welcome them,
That’s why they got embarrassed when they realized their mistake,
That’s why we wore the keffiyeh, the white and black,
And now these dogs are wearing it for fashion,
No matter how they redesign it, no matter how they change its colour,
the kuffiysh is Arab and will remain Arab.
Our kuffiyeh, they want it, our culture, they want it,
Our dignity they want it, Everything that’s ours, they want it.
We shut up for them, we allow(excuse) them, (1)
Why, why, it suits them, Stealing something that’s none of your business,
They imitate us, what we wear, all this land, enough of this (2), they’re greedy,
About Jerusalem, the Holy City, know how, be humane,
Before you ever wore a kuffiyeh, we’re here to remind you this is our keffiyeh, against the will of your damn fathers (3).
Chorus:
That’s why we wore the keffiyeh, because it’s patriotic, the kuffiyeh is Arab, That’s why we wore the kuffiyeh, it’s our essential identity, the kuffiyeh is Arab. Come on, raise the kuffiyeh, raise it up for me, the kuffiyeh is Arab
Raise it up Bilad as-Sham (Greater Syria or the Levant), the kuffiyeh is Arab and it will remain Arab.
There’s none yet like the Arab people, Show me another nation in the world more influential,
It’s clear, we are the cradle of civilisation, Our history and culture testify/bear witness to our existence,
That’s why I wore the Palestinian ‘tob’, From Haifa, Jenin, Jabar al-Nar to Ramallah,
Let me see the kuffiyeh, the white and red, Let me raise it up to the sky,
(next 3 lines unclear – Palestinian accent is confusing me)
Record! I am Shadia Mansour and this is my kuffiyeh (4)
From the day I was born, raising consciousness was my responsibility
Because I was raised between destruction, between evil, between religions between aliens (interlopers) (5) between the poor. I’ve seen life from both sides.
I’m like the kuffiyeh, Wherever you wear me, wherever you toss me away, I remain true to my origins, Palestinian.
Chorus
Notes:
(1) These lines are interesting because they are a play on words. They can mean ‘We shut up for them, we allow them’ but the she says them splits what is a single word in Arabic into two words which means Half the country, half the land. So I think she is trying to convey both meanings.
(2) The Arabic for ‘Enough of this’ is ‘bikaffi al ghinnij’, which means literally means ‘that’s enough spoiling of them’. In other words, we allowed them (the Israelis) to get away with too much, they’re taken too much away from us.
(3) The Arabic is ‘ghas min 3an abukun’ which is tough to translate. I’ve translated it above but Haytham’s translations are also acceptable.
(4) I’ve translated ‘sajjal’ as ‘record’ since that is the way that Darwish’s poem is translated and, in Arabic, to listen and to record are two different words, which the translator above should have known!
(5) the Arabic dakheel means aliens or interlopers – she’s referring to the invasion of the zionists of Palestine
Inanna:
Fantastic translation! You cleared up some parts I couldn’t understand.
Two things I would add (not corrections, just observations):
In the very first line, when she says “cousins” (sons of my uncles) she has to be utilizing the specific usage of that phrase that Arabs use to refer to Jews. It’s neither demeaning nor honoring, it’s just a term of reference. I know you know this, but I didn’t know if annie or other MWers would recognize it.
The other thing I noticed is in that part that you were unable to translate because of the Palestinian accent, she seems to be playing with the words and using a lisp, almost like native Spanish speakers. The first thing I thought of when I heard it was the old kids’ tongue twisters “hadd’al mish-mish mish min mish-mishna” or “khaht harir ala haht im khalil.”
If I remember I’ll play it for my dad next weekend and I bet he’ll know what it is she’s saying.
Thanks again.
Thanks Haytham
I know that section has something to to with ‘my tongue shakes’ and ‘war’ but yes, there was a lisping, repetitive thing I couldn’t get. I’d love to know what it is.
Just one more note for the non-Arabic speakers, ‘tob’ or ‘thob’ is the Palestinian embroidered dress that Shadia is wearing and she points to it when she’s singing so I wanted to make it clear it was about a specific piece of traditional clothing. Which is really beautiful and reminds me a little of the ‘abaya’ that was worn in Lebanon.
Inanna:
Yes, I agree about the thob! I was so excited when I saw she was wearing it and how she grabbed it with the tip of her fingers as she rapped about it.
Her style and mannerisms are so cool. She reminds me of my sister (in the US) and my cousins in Israel. They’re adorable. I think it’s the Palestinian accent/style and how smooth and natural she seems.
Inanna, what does the 3 sound like?
I know you didn’t address your question to me but the 3 is a sound that doesn’t exist in English and I have yet to hear a non-native Arabic speaker make the sound properly. I don’t know how you would describe it. Do you know the arabic word for “eye?” The beginning of that word is 3: 3′aan (which is also how you say the name of the letter 3 colloquially, ironically). Heard the expression “noure al’ 3′aan” or “noor al 3′ann?” ["Light of my eye"]
Have you ever heard native Arabic speakers say the word “Arab” in English but it sounds a little funny at the beginning, like there’s an extra vowel? that’s the 3 (3′aan) sound 3′arab.
Sorry I can’t explain it better.
ok, thanks. yes i believe i have heard shadia mansour say the word arabic in that trac we were discussing. and then shortly afterwards she says a word that sounds something like the word ‘disinfectant’. then in this before she touches her eye at the beginning of this video she says arab. it is about the only word i do understand because it sounds the same (almost) in english unless i am hearing another word. thanks for answering me. it is a beautiful sounding language.
annie:
When she points to her eyes it’s the line when she’s saying, did you expect us to serve you our blood or the tears from our eyes (paraphrasing).
The word she says right before she points to her eye (the screen is dissolving from one shot to the next in a split second–from the narrow street she’s walking to the open area) is “Arab,” or “Arabic” — “3′araby”
Seham, where can one purchase this artists album? Its great to be exposed by YouTube, but she needs to make some dough
And props to Dead Prez M-1 for getting on this track. Dead Prez have realeased some real consious rap.
Some real mainstram Rappers need to get on this. Underground hip hop has spoke on this issue before. Talib Kweli has a few bars about Gaza, but what I would really like to see is Jay-z make a song about this. He has so much star power, and influence in hip-hop and pop culture that it would not affect his career. He would just act like a pimp and brush his shoulders off if he was critisized. Overnight he would make the Palestinian struggle ‘cool’ to be apart of.
mainstream rap is materialistic and obviously way too commercial.
if you want rap that is more conscious of social movements, you don’t look to MTV or BET
Lowkey discussing why Jay-Z is kind of a joke:
“You have to question why the person who is being pushed out there as the ‘greatest rapper of all time,’–of all time now– is sitting in the White House.”
link to youtube.com
I actually like Jay-Z’s music even though some of his lyrics are beyond idiotic.
if you ever have an opportunity to hear lowkey speak i highly recommend. i was lucky enough to meet him and hang out with him a little when he was on tour with norm finklestein. at the time i wasn’t very familiar w/his music but he gave me a cd and now i’m hooked. it’s the only cd i have in my car for over a year. i find singing along w/lowkey relieves the stress of traffic so we sing together whenever i drive now unless someone is riding with me. my neighbors always know when i’m arriving home. i wish i knew the arabic parts of long live palestine . here’s a good video of him and shadia.
annie:
I posted a translation of part of Long Live Palestine [Part 2] on MW a few months ago. If you want, tell me which song (LLP 1 or 2, or both) you’re interested in, which verses (all the Arabic verses?) [bc some of it is in French and some in Hebrew--even though I'm sure you can tell Arabic from French I thought I would mention it ;)] and I will try my best to translate it for you.
I speak and understand (Palestinian, Syrian, Lebanese) colloquial Arabic pretty well. I have trouble with Egyptian but I can muddle through since I lived there for awhile. [I went to an English private school but obviously I interacted with Egyptians in Arabic]. I don’t think I can understand the Arabs from the Gulf (Saudi, Kuwait etc.) almost at all. I can’t read or write anymore bc I didn’t use it for years and I always had trouble with classical Arabic so that doesn’t help my ability with written Arabic (obviously).
My dad used to teach intro and advanced (graduate level) Arabic language courses, so I always get hear how ashamed he is that I haven’t even the most basic reading/writing ability anymore (though he doesn’t bring it up as much as he used to–he’s too busy with the grandkids, my kids–to bother with me).
i’d be interested in a repost of the translated arabic lyrics to Long Live Palestine [Part 2].
we’ll be using lowkeys & shadias music in a BDS aktion next week to counter a zionist cultural propaganda tour over here in eurabia.
it would be cool if i understood more of the lyrics of LLP part 2.
oh excellent. yes it is the 2nd (long version) track 17 right after ‘i believe’. i’m sure i have the cd cover around here somewhere but i don’t know the name of the cd..
i know this sounds really silly but, aside from the translation i’d also like to be able to read the way it sounds, so i can learn it. i will try to find the same version on you tube. and no what’s being said when because some of it is so amazing/rushing.
I can’t help you with the transliteration because I don’t know how to do it. I tried as best as I could. Because of the vocal levels compared to music levels (some of the Arab MCs mumbled here and there) I couldn’t make out some of it.
Intro:
(Lowkey, using voice mod: Not every Zionist is Jewish,
and not every Jew is a Zionist.)
(Hook)
This is for Palestine, Ramallah, West Bank, Gaza,
It’s about time we globalized the intifada,
listen close I’ve got six words for Obama,
long live Palestine,
long live Gaza.
Palestine, Ramallah, West Bank, Gaza,
it’s about time we globalized the intifada,
listen close I’ve got six words for Obama,
long live Palestine, long live Gaza.
(Lowkey)
The government supports, the people of the UK didn’t,
Zionism is not compatible with Judaism
the hijacked faith, the state is misrepresenting,
Israel equals misplacement and ethnic cleansing.
I know I’m on a list, for being more verbal,
curse every Zionist since Theodor Herzl,
Balfour was not a wise man,shame on Rothschild,
between them the monster they created has gone wild.
(Tamer Naffar (aka TN) of DAM)
We are people who were besieged by the enemy
Betrayed by our own brothers
You won’t feel heroic unless…?…stones, stones
Your withdrawal from Iraq which you invaded like locusts
Left only destruction,
No punishment,
How many were silenced?
How many mothers left devastated?
My freedom begins when the one who took it from me pays the price.
Mr. Judge, open your eyes, open your ears,
How much evidence do you need to hear screamed
bang your gavel
Give me my freedom
and tie up [handcuff] his hands
(The Narcicyst)
Tears to laughter
our children don’t fear disaster
living near the master
clear the fastest
hear the casket [drop]
we rap when we die
from boombastic thai*
?????
summer days in the thunder blaze
they “merk” [slang for murder] your dreams
like Theodor Herzl screams,
in the UN in ’48 , third Intifada,
for mothers, daughters,
sons martyred and empty fathers’ life
(Eslam Jawwad of DAM)
The right of return, and that’s it [i.e.,we won't settle for less]
A whole people got imprisoned
Bullets falling like rain
Rain falling hard
[I can't understand this bar--he's using the bird as a metaphor for Palestinians and cage as occupation, but I can't pin it down better than that]
Take the bird out of its cage, let him fly
Fly, fly 3′ami [Literally: Fly, fly, uncle]
Go, you’re my blood, my life, my heart
You take my sins away
I’m waiting for my Savior (Mahdi), for Issa (Jesus)
The only hope I have left is the Lord
(Hich-Kas) – This is in Persian, I think. This is a translation from the internet, and I can’t vouch for it.
Even though all they do on TV is lie
I was watching the news
you can see the tears of mothers falling on earth
the kids are sweet
show them that they take the hands of kids who just learnt how to talk and..load it…shoot
this is what I saw on the news
[Hook]
(Reveal)
Israel is a terrorist state
the evidence is quite obvious
war criminals using lethal weapons like white phosphorus
burns your flesh to the bone
and if you happen to live
you’ll be left infected with cancer, you’ll curse the fact that you did
(so) forgive me if I wish to say fate on those Israelis
responsible for killing all those innocent little babies
I studied the Torah and learnt by their own admission
Israel’s actions are not kosher in their own religion
(Mahmoud Jreiri of DAM)
I look around me
There’s no life
They took my land from under my feet
And gave me only suffering
We used to carry the Torreyeh (a farming tool)
And God provided
Now we carry a rifle
And on God we depend
Massacre
Slaughter
Everyone has seen it on the screens
Not just today –Not just West Bank –Not just Gaza.
Look at history,
Look at Christ
People have been crucified in Palestine for more than 60 years
(Hasan Salaam)
The Devil’s got an unholy plan for the Holy Land
so I hold my Quran
??? in the other hand
damn
no oasis just bloodstained sand
Settlements settin’ up to eliminate child, woman and man
no such thing as the Middle East
brother they deceiving you
no matter where you stand there’s always something to the east of you
so whether it’s the Mossad or the FBI policing you
it’s all one struggle till the final breath is leavin’ you
(Shadia Mansour)
(Shadia singing/chanting: WE MUST LEARN HOW TO ACT)
Arab people our unity is our skeleton
We have to learn how to think
We need to learn how to deliver a message without shutting doors in our own faces
I wouldn’t have known what’s good for me
If I hadn’t seen what’s good for others
Take my words as experience [advice], not an insult
(Shadia singing/chanting:WE MUST CHOP OFF THE HEAD OF THE BEAST)
So it loses its way and its true nature is revealed
(Hook)
thank you very much! i think from boombastic thai* is “bombastic ties” , meaning our deadly associations. at least that’s how i always sang it. yeah, the part i like best is Eslam Jawwad of dam and shadia. thank you very much.
Thanks Haytham for taking the time to translate all the above. Very cool and enlightening, especially for the random readers out there in cyberspace.
Haytham, thank you soooo much for translating this. I appreciate it and again apologize for the messed up translation I posted yesterday!
annie:
I was thinking, why is he talking about thai stick in this song??
I understand Narcysist fine on his own cd, it’s just this song I had trouble. Like I said before, I think it’s partly the mic level.
I like Mahmoud Jreiri’s part because the first bar evokes the desolation and desperation that I imagine in Gaza (even though he’s a Palestinian-Israeli, not a Gazan). It’s different in Arabic, haunted is how I would describe it. He’s like a man who woke up, and saw the world ended while he was asleep.
Taxi, Seham: You’re very welcome. I just hope I did the Arabic parts justice. It was hard because (I’m repeating myself again) the male Palestinian MCs were mumbling, compared to Shadia, for example. I had to listen to Eslam Jawwad’s part like 30 times! Good thing I like it…
Typo in Reveal’s verse. Correction:
(Reveal)
Israel is a terrorist state
the evidence is quite obvious
war criminals using lethal weapons like white phosphorus
burns your flesh to the bone
and if you happen to live
you’ll be left infected with cancer, you’ll curse the fact that you did
(so) forgive me if I wish the same fate on those Israelis
responsible for killing all those innocent little babies
I studied the Torah and learnt by their own admission
Israel’s actions are not kosher in their own religion
Seham:
Maybe someday I’ll translate Shadia’s song, Keffiyah. That one is harder because she uses some classical Arabic and I have a lot of trouble with that.
It’s always frustrating because I operate under the “assumption” that I’m fluent in Arabic but yet I can’t understand Arabic language news, Arabic poetry/prose or Arab leaders’ speeches, etc. because they only use classical Arabic. I understand every 10th word or something…
yes, i like Mahmoud Jreiri’s part too. i like it even more now that i know what he’s saying. i also really like singing this part
no such thing as the Middle East
brother they deceiving you
no matter where you stand there’s always something to the east of you
so whether it’s the Mossad or the FBI policing you
it’s all one struggle till the final breath is leavin’ you
there’s something about the anger that comes thru in his voice. with Eslam Jawwad’s voice it’s the conviction that comes thru at the time, it steps it up a notch. there’s a build up in the song and he kind of let’s go and then hich kas the part after where they have the rifle pullback sound like ‘hitch hitch’, perfect.
i never get sick of this cd. thanks again.
shukran Haytham
much appreciated
thank you hatham, although i have already memorized the parts in english but some of it perhaps i got wrong. i think he calls them illegal weapons tho, “war criminals using illegal weapons like white phosphorus”. also i’ve been singing “if i wish to say fail on those israelis” yer not ‘sposed t be killin those innocent lil babies.” all this time! oh well, close enough.
as an aside, if anyone happens to know the 2 name lowkey calls out after steve biko in ‘i believe’ i would really like to know.
annie:
No, you’re right, it’s illegal weapons. I cut and paste the non-Arabic lyrics from a lyrics website and just skimmed them and made minor corrections, hence the typos in those sections. I don’t think I made any mistakes in the Arabic parts (I may be wrong in some places, I just mean I didn’t make any typos).
I don’t have I Believe, so I don’t know about that one.
afrobeat badass Fela Kuti
I.T.T. (International Thief Thief)
Thanks for the video. It also led me to some other interesting and more mainstream videos that dare to touch the subject of Palestine:
link to youtube.com
link to youtube.com
link to youtube.com
What attitude these banat have !
Ma sha allah