Summer has come and passed... the world's still in chaos
Kojian, don’t hate. I’m back from hiding. Well, it’s been a loaded summer as usual. What’s new in Yerevan, right? Since my last posting, I’ve just been simply working and greeting visitors. My sister is now in town with her husband and 4 friends and finally I have had a chance to share this experience with someone in the family so that they understand the things I talk about when I call or email home. That’s a nice change of pace.
Otherwise, I’m melting. Yerevan has reached a scorching 47°C (about 116°F) this week and has averaged out to 42°C (108°F) according to my sources. Though I lack AC at home, I’ve been blessed with a Western standard AC office. ☺
There seems to be a “goodbye” party for people left and right these days. Lots of volunteers are leaving this month, lots of people in general are leaving. My interns start leaving tonight. However, where the void of new and old friends grows, Homenetmen apparently fills in. All 800 of them scattered throughout the city over the last couple days again, boy do they make their presence known. I had a lovely evening with a few of them from Toronto last night until 4am. I leave for Karabagh tomorrow where some have apparently branched off to book out Shushi Hotel leaving us to rough it in Nairi Hotel in Stepanaker… okay, not really roughing it, but I was really looking forward to Shushi Hotel.
On other fronts, I finally had a chance to catch a clip from the ANCA telethon at:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yeMZfeq3ZS4&search=telethon
But just as incredible to watch is what one individual had the chance to say what was on so many of our minds. Watch George Calloway speak the truth about the Isreal invasion of Lebanon:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9071731896689197790
And last but not least, this chilling clip woke me up the other day as I started my day in my cozy office without being bombed…
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article5407.shtml
Now, you all knew I couldn't post without a comment on this one... Terrorist plot foiled in London, eh? What perfect timing for the US/UK/Isreal to have such a situation come about when Isreal steps up their invasion of Lebanon. Listen, I was in Boston during September 11, I remember the first attempt, I understand the need to go after terrorism (though those who meet that definition these days seem skewed), but isn't this questionable to anyone else? My understanding is the plot was to blow up three aircrafts in the middle of their trip to the US over the Atlantic, which one reporter claimed to be so horrific. My question is this... does that sound right to you? It isn't mass destruction. It doesn't achieve anything other than killing people on 3 planes. That aside, they aren't even talking about the actual plot, rather than using this whole thing to talk about Al Qaeda and that they spread into Pakistan. Oh yeah, and just in case you forgot, all Muslims and Arabs are terrorists, so I guess it's really not such a bad thing for Isreal to bomb the ever living crap out of Lebanon, is it? They're all the same, right? Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, Islam... I'm sorry, the situation is getting so disgusting it's unbearable. A friend left for the US the other day with her money and feminine products in a clear plastic bag to take on a plane because you aren't allowed any carry-ons anymore. Look what we have come to!!!! If we stopped terrorizing the world, maybe they would stop being such a threat. Seriously I've had enough. I only hope the masses are able to see the truth through all the BS.
Otherwise, I’m melting. Yerevan has reached a scorching 47°C (about 116°F) this week and has averaged out to 42°C (108°F) according to my sources. Though I lack AC at home, I’ve been blessed with a Western standard AC office. ☺
There seems to be a “goodbye” party for people left and right these days. Lots of volunteers are leaving this month, lots of people in general are leaving. My interns start leaving tonight. However, where the void of new and old friends grows, Homenetmen apparently fills in. All 800 of them scattered throughout the city over the last couple days again, boy do they make their presence known. I had a lovely evening with a few of them from Toronto last night until 4am. I leave for Karabagh tomorrow where some have apparently branched off to book out Shushi Hotel leaving us to rough it in Nairi Hotel in Stepanaker… okay, not really roughing it, but I was really looking forward to Shushi Hotel.
On other fronts, I finally had a chance to catch a clip from the ANCA telethon at:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yeMZfeq3ZS4&search=telethon
But just as incredible to watch is what one individual had the chance to say what was on so many of our minds. Watch George Calloway speak the truth about the Isreal invasion of Lebanon:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9071731896689197790
And last but not least, this chilling clip woke me up the other day as I started my day in my cozy office without being bombed…
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article5407.shtml
Now, you all knew I couldn't post without a comment on this one... Terrorist plot foiled in London, eh? What perfect timing for the US/UK/Isreal to have such a situation come about when Isreal steps up their invasion of Lebanon. Listen, I was in Boston during September 11, I remember the first attempt, I understand the need to go after terrorism (though those who meet that definition these days seem skewed), but isn't this questionable to anyone else? My understanding is the plot was to blow up three aircrafts in the middle of their trip to the US over the Atlantic, which one reporter claimed to be so horrific. My question is this... does that sound right to you? It isn't mass destruction. It doesn't achieve anything other than killing people on 3 planes. That aside, they aren't even talking about the actual plot, rather than using this whole thing to talk about Al Qaeda and that they spread into Pakistan. Oh yeah, and just in case you forgot, all Muslims and Arabs are terrorists, so I guess it's really not such a bad thing for Isreal to bomb the ever living crap out of Lebanon, is it? They're all the same, right? Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, Islam... I'm sorry, the situation is getting so disgusting it's unbearable. A friend left for the US the other day with her money and feminine products in a clear plastic bag to take on a plane because you aren't allowed any carry-ons anymore. Look what we have come to!!!! If we stopped terrorizing the world, maybe they would stop being such a threat. Seriously I've had enough. I only hope the masses are able to see the truth through all the BS.
posted by Arsineh at 4:57 PM
6 Comments:
Thanks for this post, Arsineh. You're expressing the same perplexity that plenty of people have, and maybe do not dare to communicate. About George Galloway, I still can't believe that someone had the guts to make those points on a Western media outlet.
There are some similarities between Armenians and Jews. Both have historical victimizers. Jews have some currently active ones, while ours are historical and currently either dormant or no longer even there (as victimizers at least, nobody attacks us physically now). We, for lack perhaps of power and opportunity, perhaps of the necessary innate cultural inclination, don't and haven't reverse-victimized our tormentors. If they were still tormenting us today and we had the ability (which we don't), or if we'd had it in 1915 (which we didn't) maybe we'd have answered the violence with a violence of our own. I imagine the urge must have arisen. Just speculation, we'll never know.
A Syrian arab woman's perspective on some of the cultural tensions between non-muslims and islam:
http://switch5.castup.net/frames/20041020_MemriTV_Popup/video_480x360.asp?ai=214&ar=1050wmv&ak=null
David, Armenians were being hunted down in the 1990s in Azerbaijan, so it is not exactly right to say our victimizers are historical, either dormant or not there. Last year they even destroyed our khachkars. So I disagree.
I also disagree that Jews are being victimized. I think if they stopped settling the west bank, stopped terrorizing and abusing the Palestinians, and basically just behaved in a civilized way, there would be no base, no recruits to attack Israel. Israel is knowingly creating this situation, knowingly extending the conflict in order to try to appear the victims, and consolidate their territorial expansion. Palestinians are not stupid, and are not blowing themselves up because they're stupid. It's because they're oppressed in a bad way... in a way the press in the west does not talk about.
Skylark if you thought that was gutsy take a look at this.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1616578_1,00.html
It's an excerpts from Galloway's appearance at the US Senate Hearing on Iraq last year, where he was accused of coercion with Saddam's Government.
It's pretty long but well worth the read. I remember watching the whole thing on TV and my jaw was on the floor, you could almost hear the wincing of the senators when Galloway touched on points that were a bit too close to home. They couldn't believe that anyone had the gall to actually stand up to them rather than cower into a corner like most of their other witnesses.
The man is unbelievable !
Michael said,
If you wear the shoes of a Palestinian teenager in Gaza or an Iraqi in Baghdad, your aspirations for a future of peace and prosperity would seem non existant.
Having to return to a home with no water or electricity, jobless parents and older siblings, facing yet another subsistance, not to say starvation forced diet, due to privations of the blockades and war situations, I dare say I would also become a fanatical martyr, in order to suppress my daily desperation of helplessness.
Can we blame them and call them terrorists?
They semm to be the product of the Western policies since WW1 and WW2.
The whole problem is the way the maps were drawn. They were drawn by Imperialist (British, French, Austrians, Russians, Americans, Dutch and etc) very recently without any concern of nations and people living on their lands. Look at the map of Africa, Balkans, Caucasus, Indonesia, Mid East and in a whola probably 90% of the world
That's the reason for all the wars as it was teh reason in the wars in Europe 500 years ago. Now look at the Europe how tiny it is.
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