Drama America!

I’m sick and tired of all the American drama. Don’t get me wrong I used to be one of america’s fans, loving everything American from movies to songs to books and I still do. But the thing I started noticing lately is that the United States is a selfish country. They only think for themselves and do whatever is best for them.

I’m a muslim. A very proud one. And this whole drama the Americans make about muslims just made me realize how close minded and ignorant they are. Of course after 9/11 is a terrible thing that was done and the people responsible for it are heartless and close minded. Normal reaction: Americans were scared and traumatized. Having bombs dropping in your neighborhood or city is not an everyday life incident, but that doesn’t give them the right to be so damn dramatic about it.

If they do just a little bit of research they can see how Palestinians are still being slaughtered by Israel military everyday for more than 50 years now. You know what scratch that –not because the Palestinian dilemma is not important but because Americans can’t seem to understand or sympathize with it- . Just look to other bomb attacks that were claimed by Al Qaeda in other countries during the past years; 5/16 in Morocco, Casablanca; two attacks in Mauritania over the last two years; 7/7 in London and other attacks in many other countries. Everyone is terribly terrified, everyone has lost someone and everyone wants to move on.

A long time ago there were Jews and black people suffering from discrimination and intolerance and not until later that the world in general and the Americans in particular understood that they’re normal people, with normal needs and feelings, and with humany brains. And now it’s the Muslims turn to suffer from the same thing.

Those people keep forgetting that Muslims are firstly human beings; they have rights and dignity. Religion is a choice, is a way of living and not a plan to destroy the world. And Islam like all other religions seeks love and peace in the world.

I read an article a while ago named “American Muslims ask, will we ever belong?” From the name you can understand what’s it about. It broke my heart when I saw the title, because in this whole dilemma we forget about the people themselves and their sufferings. Yes they are muslims but they are Americans first. They were born there, it’s their country and their home too. Imagine yourself being mocked and discriminated against in your own country for something that you didn’t do or for some beliefs that you have the right to have. It’s like being a homeless stranger in your own home.

I’m not generalizing here, I know there are a lot of Americans that support Islam and Muslims and I’m glad that they try to give a voice to this issue and speak the truth of it.

One of my favorite filmmakers and authors is Michael Moore. I’ve seen many of his documentaries: Sicko, Bowling for columbine and others, and read a lot of his articles. He is one of the people who support Muslims and deal with them as humans and not as dangerous entities. I highly respect this man for his constant honesty and straightforwardness in all issues that he tackled along the years.

Another great Muslims supporter, is Nicholas D. Kristof, he wrote some articles about the matter and made it clear that the Muslims community like any other community in the world has good and bad people and we shouldn’t judge the whole just because a few did some mistakes. Nicholas lived in many countries and traveled to nearly all continents and saw how life is outside the United States which made him realize that the world has other dimensions then the ones you see in Fox or CNN.

Ignorance and the fear of the unknown are the main motivation for Americans to act the way they act. What if they back off a little bit and search about those muslims and try to know them as normal people and not judge that woman just because she’s wearing a scarf on her head or that man just because he has a longer beard than they are familiar with. Trying to see things beyond appearances and lead the behavior to be civilized and modern.

If you’re very curious you can always ask that man or woman on the street why they’re wearing that or saying this but don’t act quickly and hurt them by saying they’re savages or terrorists just because you’re ignorant.

Spotlight author: Laila Lalami

Laila Lalami is a Moroccan writer. She was born and raised in Morocco and had her B.A. in Linguistics at Université Mohammed-V in Rabat in 1991. After that she had a scholarship and decided to complete her M.A. in University College London in linguistics.


Afterwards, she worked briefly as a journalist in Morocco but decided to go to the United States to the University of Southern California to have a PhD.


Her work as an essayist and a critic has appeared in The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, The Nation, The New York Times, The Washington Post and elsewhere. She was short-listed for the Caine Prize for African Writing (the “African Booker”) in 2006 and for the National Book Critics’ Circle Nona Balakian Award in 2009.




Her debut collection of short stories, Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits, was published in the fall of 2005 and has since been translated into six languages. Her first novel, Secret Son, was published in the spring of 2009. She is currently Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of California Riverside.



This writer is close to my heart because she is a Moroccan, obviously, which means that English is her third language. But she worked hard to be the person she is now and to achieve her goals, or at least some of them. I’m proud of her work and can’t wait to read her last book.

The birthing house by Christopher Ransom

This is the new supernatural thriller from St. Martin's Press, 'The Birthing House' by Christopher Ransom.

As the Publishers weekly said "A blend of supernatural horror and psychological thriller, Ransom’s impressive debut chronicles a couple’s descent into madness after they purchase a 140-year-old Victorian house in rural Wisconsin . . . this addictively readable ghost story will keep readers up all night, with the lights on, of course."

I read the first two chapters and i found it intresting and very well written.

Click here to read the two first chapters.

Free song: "Came to me"

The prince of the islamic pop releases a new song named "Came to me". The song was dedicated to Sami's fans for the holy month Ramadan.

He produced four versions each in a language; English, Arabic, Turkish and Farsi, as he always does. He was also generous enough to give the song for free!!
I liked the lyrics of the song and the music is a mix between traditional and modern.

You can download the song in MP3 here

Enjoy!

as a matter of 'fantasy' by my friend Alaa

a red sky and a white sun
happy death, a one-day year
sweet salt, a tortoise run
peaceful sleep, cold tears
could it happen
as a matter of fantasy
yes

a white short dress, an umbrella
black bed sheets, pure tolerance
a young old man, a pretty gorilla
free slaves, lovely ignorance
could it happen
as a matter of fantasy
yes

love and only love
things make the heart shake
true stuff that seem fake
though, i believe they could happen

could it happen?
as a matter of fa...
as a matter of fact
.......
....
..
yes

Alaa

Palestine will be free by Maher Zain

It is my first time seeing a music video about Palestine in anime form. when it first started i was quite surprised but after few seconds i actually liked it.
It is also my first time listening to a song by Maher Zain, and this is a song from his new album "Thank you Allah".

I thought it was a good choice that his first MV was about Palestine. With everything that is still happening there it was just convinient.
The lyrics are written from the point of view of a child, the range of the palestinian population that suffers the most. He speaks about their daily struggle, about the violation of human rights and about their faith and believe that Palestine will be free.

The animation wasn't bad, it made me think of Space jam, where Michael Jordan was in the anime area with Bugs Bunny and the other guys. Maher was in the animated scene and somehow, even so the quality of it wasn't a hollywood style kind of thing, it looked good with the smoke and the effects. The drawing is good too, i liked how it gave the scenes a grunge look that described perfectly the tragedy as it is.

The music video tackled a very important subject for all muslims, and the issue was demonstrated in a very moving way.

And Palestine will be free inshallah.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

The book: The time traveler's wife

The author: Audrey Niffenegger

Pages: 373

A dazzling novel in the most untraditional fashion, this is the remarkable story of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who travels involuntarily through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Henry and Clare's passionate love affair endures across a sea of time and captures the two lovers in an impossibly romantic trap, and it is Audrey Niffenegger's cinematic storytelling that makes the novel's unconventional chronology so vibrantly triumphant. An enchanting debut and a spellbinding tale of fate and belief in the bonds of love, The Time Traveler's Wife is destined to captivate readers for years to come.

Review from shelfari.com

The time traveler's wife is a marvelous story showing how love can survive time and space. Faith plays a big role in the events since Clair couldn't resist a normal life without it. She waits for him everytime he disappears, everytime she wakes up to find the empty side of the bed beside her empty with only his clothes and smell. She struggles and fights but their love wins, their love survives.
It's a very touching story with very moving events some of them overwhelming with joy and some of them are heartbraking.
The story is written in a simple but very good way. It was told from the point of view of both Clare and Henry the thing that gave the events a deep and emotional side.
I very much liked the book and i can't wait to watch the movie. Enjoy the trailor!