She is GOOD... Relatively Speaking!

Yesterday I went to refill some ink cartridges for the office printer. I go to the usual shop, but the usual guy is not there. Instead there is a nice lady, who seemed not too knowledgeable of the printers world! At least this is what I assumed! And so, I gave her the ink cartridges, she checked them out, and it turned out she is more knowledgeable than I thought! Some of the cartridges were expired, meaning they cannot be even refilled (that's a new info for me!). So I have to buy new ones. Only one cartridge can be refilled. And so after checking the pricing and so on, the bill would come out to $110! As I stood there thinking for a few moments, she jumps to my ear and says: "Listen, why pay this much to refill your printer, while actually today you can buy a brand new one for this price, with all the Christmas offers you know!" I looked at her with amazement!! "Of course, I will probably do that". She even told me who has the best offers for printers, and which brands are cheaper when it comes to refilling ink and so on. At the end she said: "Don't tell my boss though", with a nice smile, waving goodbye and wishing me a good day...

"She is GOOD"... This is what I said to myself, as I left the store, happy that I did not find the usual guy, who would have probably given me a bit of discount but let me pay for refilling those cartridges!! Maybe or maybe not!! But this is when I thought to myself, she is GOOD because she did a good deed, she gave me the advice that will save me money, and help me make the right decision, she said what is GOOD for the customer. But was she GOOD as an employee? as a sales person? Her last statement, asking me not to tell her boss, makes you think that she assumed this was a BAD advice, losing a transaction for her boss!! Indeed, probably her boss would get mad and tell her how lousy she is, and how BAD for the business she was!! On the other hand, at least from my stand, I know I would be more loyal to this shop, and when I buy the new printer and I am out of ink, I will not refill anywhere else except there, hopefully with that lady :)

This keeps us thinking, is GOOD so relative?? It cannot be just GOOD?! Is it always subjective? Well, the reality is, GOOD is relative, in every aspect of our lives...

When my daughter cries in front of me asking for chocolate instead of having lunch, I do sometimes give her chocolates (being a chocolate lover myself!), thinking that I did something GOOD, giving her the happiness and joy of eating chocolate. But in fact, this is bad, health wise and behavior wise!

When you give money to a young man begging at the metro entrance, you do so thinking you did a GOOD act, you helped the guy buy food or something. But some will argue that this is bad, because you encourage this young man not to work, and to beg for more! Even he might just buy bear with this money! That's BAD!

When you answer a late night call from a friend, who is in a crisis and needs to talk and let things out, you do so with GOOD intentions, genuinely trying to comfort your friend... But in the head of your partner, sleeping next to you maybe, this is BAD, and it can bring bad consequences and scenarios!!

When you break up with someone, or divorce even, you are looking for the GOOD side of it, moving on, starting over, new chances, new beginnings, but that's for you positive person... On the other side, what you did might look BAD, selfish, childish, stupid, irresponsible, crazy, etc... And they will remind you for the rest of your life how BAD you are!!

If we criticize our leaders about the bad things they are doing, or just voicing concerns and opinions that do not match their views, we want them to learn and know, hoping that they will do something GOOD... Yet some might look at it as something bad, and will accuse us with treason or stupidity!!

When you defend a cause so strongly and so genuinely, like I do defending the Palestinian cause, you genuinely believe you are doing GOOD... But again, for other Palestinians who believe in different ways or different philosophies, you are bad, you are harming the cause...

My best example of all, as Palestinians, if we talk to Jewish or Israeli groups who seek dialogue and peace and equality and justice, we are seeking something GOOD, we are connecting the GOOD aspects of humans together, trying to make a difference, a GOOD difference... Yet, some will just label it as "Speaking with the Enemy", no matter what context or what conditions, and will tell you straight to your face: You are BAD to the Palestinian cause!! This always humors me!! Yet, I remind myself, this is subjective, my GOOD, their BAD... Their GOOD might be my BAD!!

A last example, for the Pro-Israel Anti-Palestinians, we as Palestinians, no more matter who or where, we are BAD, we are the enemy!! Even if we try to make peace, or anything GOOD, you are still BAD because you are Palestinian!! Even if you were an Israeli, who supports Human Rights, something GOOD, and so you defend the Palestinians' rights to live in equality and justice, for the Pro-Israel Anti-Palestinians you are doing BAD things to the state of Israel, you are a BAD traitor to the Jewish religion!!

The list does not end... And if there is anything to learn from this life is that everything these days is RELATIVE and SUBJECTIVE, including the GOOD and the BAD!! Which makes you wonder all the time which GOOD should I do?!?

Will I be judged all the time?? Indeed you will... Should I stop doing GOOD things because it might be BAD for others? Nope... Do what you think is GOOD always...

It's a tough life with tough choices... Yet we are here to enjoy it and live it to the MAX...

Be GOOD folks... Relatively speaking ;)

BISS

Doomsday, The Mayan Calendar, and Palestinians

If you read this, it means that you survived one of the biggest pranks of our days, The Mayan Doomsday Prank!! So congratulations for continuing to live on this beautiful planet, Earth...

Now, I'm not hinting that all those who believed the world would end on the 21st of December 2012 according to the Mayan calendar, are stupid or anything. Everyone has the right to believe in whatever they want to believe. I myself didn't believe the world would end today, simply because the Mayans didn't say that!!! According to all the research done on the Mayans and their famous calendar, there is no mentioning that the Mayans believed the world will end at the end of their calendar. WE assumed it, WE speculated, WE interpreted, and WE decided on behalf of the Mayans that this is what they believed, that Doomsday is at the end of their calendar...

The problem is that the Mayans are not here, and there is no way to ask them directly, "what do you guys believe will happen?", if anything, or whether it was just the end of the their calendar, and it should restart after this date... Come to think of it, even at our days, we run out of numbers in so many things (the car odometer for example), and we do restart numbering. So don't assume a civilization thousands of years ago couldn't get into similar situations :)

Next, what do Palestinians have to do with the Mayans?? Well, it seems a lot of scholars, historians, and politicians these days, deal with the Palestinians as if they existed thousands of years ago, or didn't even exist ever in other extreme views. And in believing so, they are making theories and assumptions and speculations about this group of ancient people!!!

Palestinians, they were X, they come from Y, they looked like Z, their leaders were A, B, C, etc… All those assumptions about the Palestinians can be verified and checked if you ask the Palestinians, it is not that hard. No need to speculate and guess!! We are here all around the globe, just make the effort to connect with a Palestinian, and get all the information that you need…

Recently, here in Montreal, I have been heavily involved in dialogue events and initiatives, where Palestinians sit with Jews and Israelis and talk to each other openly and respectfully... It's no surprise that Palestinians know a lot about the Jews and Israelis in general, while the opposite is not true. I had to explain for instance thousands of times, how come I am Palestinian but have never been and cannot be in Palestine!! I had to explain thousands of times why I am classified as a refugee!!! I had to explain thousands of times that Palestinians are against the Occupation, not against Jews!!! I had to explain thousands of times that we are simply human beings seeking the right to live in dignity and equality and respect...

Unlike the Mayans who do not exist anymore, Palestinians exist today in almost every country around the globe. Go ask Palestinians, and I strongly encourage you to do so, in order to know, to learn, to understand, and feel with this group of people, the Palestinians... You will be surprised what you will discover...

We live on beyond the Mayan calendar, and we as Humans, including Palestinians, we should always strive for Peace, Equality, Respect, and Love...

PEACE folks...

BISS

Today Palestine Won... And Lost...

Today, a big part of Palestinians, as well as Palestinian supporters, were celebrating, celebrating something, celebrating a political win, a moral win, against world powers and the will of Israel and the USA... It was the first time that Palestinians accomplished such a win on the international arena... So people celebrated, applauded, cheered, went crazy on social media, fireworks, you name it... It was a victory for Palestinians and THE STATE OF PALESTINE...

But we live in a partisan world, we live in opposites, differences, disagreements... And that is natural for humans, and so it is natural and expected that this victory was not for everyone, specially for Israel and the US, who actually lost a great deal in this bid, and were cornered in front of the international world...

But besides Israel and the US, there are Palestinians who do not recognize this as a win, and some will go further to consider this defeat... And again, I can understand that and respect this view...

What I do not understand, and do not respect, is for those who consider this VICTORY to be false or defeat or even STUPID, specially the Palestinians, to go attack the other Palestinians, in whatever form...

We are a People who suffered so much for 65 years, and we rarely ever gained anything during those decades... And so we are always looking for this hope, for this feeling of joy and happiness and stability and security, and peace, peace at home... A lot of Palestinians are away from home, in exile, but some are still there, in Palestine, in their homes, but not in their STATE, till today... After today, they officially celebrate being in the STATE OF PALESTINE... and so they celebrate happily and joyfully... Congratulations for all Palestinians who have the privilege and honor to be in THE STATE PALESTINE right now...

As for me, I am one of those men with no land, living in exile, in the diaspora... and yet I celebrated today, I celebrated for those in THE STATE OF PALESTINE, and for everyone who supports them and us, and also for me... I know that I may never go back to my home town Al-Bassa to live there as a Palestinian. To be realistic, there is no town called Al-Bassa anymore, and although I love the memory of it, the name, the feeling of belonging to that town, the stories I hear all the time about it, still, I know me and a lot others who have their feet on the ground, like President Mahmoud Abbas, we know we will never go back to start from scratch, that is if there was a chance for it to happen... And so for us, it is a loss that we accept with sorrow, forced to accept the reality of the world we live in today, 2012...

But there is a bigger loser here: those Palestinians who still refuse to recognize the State of Israel, who refuse to accept that the world changed, who refuse to move on and plan ahead, who think if they wait 500 more years and wait for the next World War that maybe they will have the chance to get all of Palestine back... Or maybe they have other reasoning or strategy... Who knows... Human minds are capable of the impossible, right?

So those fellow Palestinians are one of the biggest losers maybe, although technically, the right of return and the borders are still not final... But I will also be realistic and assume that those Palestinians in the diaspora from villages that are now or were inside the State of Israel, I'll assume that they will eventually lose this right of return, and so they will lose their place of origin... I feel for you, I understand how it feels, and every other Palestinian in this world and every other Palestinian supporter understands that, and it is something to be discussed and addressed in the near future... Remember today was only about recognizing the State of Palestine as a Non Member Observer STATE, without solving or closing all those issues of the borders and right of return and so on... This is just the beginning of something new, the start of a diplomatic chapter in the Palestinian history, where we gained for the first time on the international level, the title and status of being a STATE. That's all...

Now, for this last group of fellow Palestinians, please, for heaven's sake, do not attack the other Palestinians, do not call them names, do not make fun of their joy, do not wipe off this joy and happiness they feel... We are all Palestinians... Hamas and Fatah, though opposed to each other until a few weeks ago, they were mostly united in celebrating this win, because we need this hope, we need this joy, we need this moral and symbolic victory... and so Palestine was ecstatic today, from Gaza to the West Bank, to Palestinians everywhere in the world, and to their supporters... Share this joy, understand that all those people are not stupid, understand that in this real life we live in today, this was a victory... Even if you do not consider it a victory, it was a victory for all your fellow Palestinians who celebrated it... Even if you do not want to share this joy and celebration, don't spoil it for them, don't call them names... It's a shame... It's a shame to call the Palestinians in Gaza, who were under attack and the treat of death a couple of weeks ago, and now they are celebrating joyfully, it's a shame to call them stupid... Really you should be ashamed of yourselves...

At the end, I say it again, I respect everyone's different stand and opinion, I understand and realize that we can have differences and disagreements, but please keep it civil, specially among us, PALESTINIANS... We need all the unity we can get folks... So make the effort, make your best... United we can change the world, one step at a time... Keep the faith, keep the hope...

From my side, I say congratulations to THE STATE OF PALESTINE and to the Palestinians who celebrated this world VICTORY... It is the start, the beginning of a new phase in this long hard road toward FULL STATEHOOD and PEACE and prosperity... Congrats Congrats Congrats...

Palestine: Peace at Home

It has been a packed couple of weeks for Palestinians across the globe, from the 63rd Nakba Anniversary and the launch of the 3rd Intifada, to the Obama Middle East speech and then the AIPAC speech, followed by Natenyahu's visit to the White House and then the AIPAC and Congress Speech, following with all the world reactions to all those events...

When it came to the Nakba and 3rd Intifada, it was Palestinians and friends taking the lead in deciding to go to the streets, PEACEFULLY, to tell the world that we are still here, REFUGEES, after 63 years, still waiting to go back home... Palestinians planned, coordinated, promoted, organized, and took action in PEACEFUL events around the globe... Sadly on May 15th 2011, those PEACEFUL UNARMED protests and demonstrations were met by gunfire, death, and blood... And the world watched silently, no condemnations, no remarks, no words at all... Even the media chose to ignore covering those PEACEFUL events around the world, and instead chose to highlight that Palestinians attacked the Israeli borders, and attacked the Israeli soldiers inside Palestine!! Why? Because when it comes to Israel, maybe every non-Israeli or non-Jewish human has no value, totally and cheaply dispensable... What a shame to see the world reach to this level of humanity...

Moving on, the world was waiting for another major event that concerns Palestinians: The Obama Middle East Speech. It was an event to respond to the Palestinian political movement towards gaining Palestinian Statehood in September when a UN vote will take place. It was also a preparation and an outline for the Peace process that President Obama was laying down ahead of Natenyahu’s visit to the US...

To be fair and square, President Obama did cross the normal lines that a US president would stay behind when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He boldly told Israel what the Palestinian borders should be, which is the 1967 lines “with agreed swappable land” to compensate for the illegal Israeli settlements inside the 1967 lines... Of course there in the speech was emphasis about the unshakable relationship between Israel and the US, as well as a soft wanring about the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, and above all, sidelining the major two points of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict: the future of Jerusalem, and the Right of Return for the Palestinian Refugees to their homes... Oh and let’s not forget his answer to the Palestinian move to declare a Palestinian State in September: NO WAY...

Although for most Palestinians, this was totally disappointing, it was even a more disappointing and outrageous for the Israeli’s that are not used to being told what to do!! All the attacks on President Obama after his speech, never mind those from Palestinians and Arabs, but those coming from Israeli’s and Jews were so fierce, that eventually Obama had to change and tweak a few words when he gave the AIPAC 2011 speech, gaining a few ovations and applauds here and there in his speech. Politically, as a US President running for re-election, this is what exactly had to be done... But as a Peace moderator, as an advocate for Justice and Equal Human Rights, this was far far from being right!!!

Non the less, the Israeli PM stood firm by his non-compromising attitude, bluntly rejecting Obama’s speech, sticking to his points: No Return to 1967 lines, no partitioning of Jerusalem, no Right of Return for Palestinians, no negotiations with Hamas... He was arrogantly slamming the door infront of any possible Peace negotiations, in a way, telling Palestinians to DROP DEAD as per one article recently published (MJ Rosenberg: Congress to Palestinians: Drop Dead http://huff.to/lgEp0g). And yet, the amount of ovations and support and and cheering that he received from the US Congress surpassed that given to a US figure!!! It was like a political showdown between the US President and the Israeli PM, pure politics and tactics...

It was pathetic, at least for me as a Palestinian, to see this reaction to a guy bluntly killing an hope for relaunching PeaceNegotiations. More pathetic was also the media coverage, which mostly headlined the only few positive yet tricky sentences of Natenyahu about his willingness to give up GENEROUSLY some land to Palestinians in return for Peace!!!

True these days it’s all about politics and money and power and connections, it’s all about playing it right, it’s all about allies and lobbies, it’s about winning your way and not about doing the RIGHT and JUST thing...

But for me as a Palestinian, a simple human being, I don’t care about Politics, I don’t care about Obama’s re-election, I don’t care about speeches and ovations and applauds, I don’t care about a UN recognition of Palestine... As a Palestinian, all I want is a place to call HOME, a place to live PEACEFULLY, a place to have my basic human rights, to live equal to others, to have the same rights as others, to be free to do what the law tells everyone to do...

All we are asking for is for the world to look at the Palestinian people as Humans, as people who are suffering, deprived of their dignity and human rights, deprived of their home...

Look at those people, read the laws, the international laws, the Human Rights laws, read history, and then take a stand, not a side, a stand to defend Israelis and Palestinians alike, to protect the right to exist for both Palestinians and Israelis, to secure PEACE and prosperity to both Israelis and Palestinians, to let both people live in a place they call HOME...

May we all find PEACE at HOME soon, always, and forever...

Love Hurts

There are so many kinds of love in this world, and lately I have been to the movie "Valentine's Day", and it really portrayed so many of them.

There is the romantic kind man, the genuine lover, who loves with no limits, no grudges, a love so pure... but he has fallen inlove with the wrong person...

There is the married man, happily married, a sexy wife, lovely kids, a nice family, but he wants more, so he fakes and lives another life with a mistress...

There is the little child, 5 grader, who is in love with his lovely teacher, the first pure childish crush... an impossible match...

There is this amazingly sexy sportsman, who dazzles all women just by his looks... but he is gay, and never had the courage to declare it... so he is living in the shadows, hiding his love to his partner...

And then there is this gorgeous lady who hates Valentine because she has been always unlucky in relationships, so she celebrates the I hate Valentine every year, only to fall in love just like that, unexpectedly, on Valentine's day...

And more, there is the mom, the US army soldier, who is flying more than 24hrs, just to spend one day with her love, with her son... one of the purest and strongest kinds of love, the motherly love...

There are more examples of love, only to prove that the list goes on and on, and it is all different, all unique, and it has the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, the joy and the hurt... It's all love...

One thing you will notice in this movie, and in all the other love movies, all the love stories, that love will always contain HURT, little hurt, a lot of hurt, devastating hurt, suicidal hurt, all sorts... Some is intentional, some is totally unintentional, some is hidden, some is accidental, some is sacrifice, and some is goodwill hurt... Just to mention a few...

So why can't we have a love that is hurt free?? Why can't love be like those amazing love stories we read or see or hear about?? Why can't we have this ideal romance?? My simple answer is because life has become so complicated and imperfect... Just like our foods, our air, our health, our education, our social systems, our health system, our politics, our laws, as well as our ethics, it is all imperfect, all polluted all stained by our mistakes and faults and defects... Love is imperfect, because our lives are imperfect... Why do we expect love to stay immune against all this... It just can't...

I am not giving you a negative look on love, and that all love hurts, and so it's better to stay away from love, and not to love at all... Absolutely not...

Love is great, love is amazing... Love is life... It's one of the most amazing things in life, it's so powerful, it's so big, it's almost the root of everything in life... We all need to love... Love our parents, love our family, love our country, love our religion, loveour hobbies, love our partners, love our work, love our kids, love love love... Love is all around us...

All I want you to consider is that love will always hurt... and we have to accept it that way, we have to love, knowing that some day we might get hurt, we must love, knowing it might not last forever, we will always love, knowing that the oddes are against us, we shall always love, knowing that love hurts...

Some forms of this hurt is called SWEET HURT or SWEET PAIN... it is part of the package... even the perfect love will contain hurt in the form of sweet hurt... those small little hurts... which are sweet :)

Have you ever noticed that the most successful romantic movies or novels always contain element of hurt, in one way or another?!?! The usual plot, boy meet girl, boy loves girl, girl loves boy, then drama, problems, complications, hurt and agony, and some miracle happens, and the couple are back together, and they live happily ever after... but it passed through a HURT phase, and probably will continue to contain hurt in the future...

Look around you, look at the mirror, look at your life, did you ever hurt someone you love?? Did you ever hurt someone but you did not mean to?? Did you ever hurt yourself, though for sure you love yourself?? Were you ever hurt because of love??

Our life is imperfect my dears... Yet we survive, we live, we are happy, we are joyful, we embrace life's pleasures, we joke and laugh, we eat and drink and dance and sing and go wild, we get married and raise families, we study, we work, we succeed, we grow, we socialize, we love and love and love... And we are happy, we are the happiest species on earth... And will continue to be this way... So little hurt will never stop us... Life goes on... Love goes on...

I have loved so much, so deeply, so devotedly, so strong, so crazy, so mad, I have loved in all sorts and kinds, but I managed to hurt almost everyone and everything I loved, and above all I have deeply hurt myself and my soul... Some say I was wrong, I was the guilty one, I was the sinner, and yes I was, I am, and maybe will always be... But I loved from the bottom of my heart, and I never ever meant any hurt... But I did, my love did hurt my beloved ones...

Sorry if I ever hurt you because of my love… I never meant to… I am truly sorry...

I love you all...

BISS