This is something I just wrote

[naz haider]

This is something I just wrote. Please read it and let me know if it is good enough to get published. Jazak Allahu Khairun for your patience and time.

Palestine

I am not a hater. And I would like to believe that I can never be. Being someone who truly, deeply loves God; it comes naturally to me to love and respect all of God’s creations. But things have gone for a toss.
I am filled with hate, anger, despair and a thousands feeling that I cannot name. How can I not be so? After all that I read and see about Palestine! How can I smile when I know that a mother is losing her angel child, when a million dreams are being bombed and killed, where the mere existence is at question… it’s not just about a piece of land. It’s about life, it’s about each breath you take, each moment that you smile, each tear you shed. For someone in Palestine, every second lived is like a lifetime.
I am not questioning. I don’t want answers. There can be no reasoning for all this mayhem. All I want is a way out. I want the Palestinian children to see sunshine. Not because their house had been bombed and they have no roof over their head. But because sunshine makes them smile, it fills them with a warmth that only children can understand. I want the mothers to worry, to fret over their children. Not because they don’t know whether they will be alive from one moment to next, but because she doesn’t want them to miss classes and skip homework. I want the fathers to be eager to return home. Not because they fear that the house that once stood will probably be rubble, but because they want to spend an evening of smiles and laughter with their family.
I have been taught prayer is the weapon of a believer. I pray and I know millions do. We all pray for peace, for Palestine and all other war torn places. Is that making any difference? Is there any end to this craziness? I wonder how many eyes have shed tears for the people affected by violence, how many peace marches have been carried out, how many hours have been wasted on discussing the ‘Palestine issue’? What purpose does it serve except for the shutterbugs and the media to get their fill? Where is the awakening everyone’s aiming for?
Isn’t it time that we, each one of us, did something to put an end to all this. Let’s start with something very small as boycotting products whose manufacturers are funding Israel. This is not anything major or generous, but it is definitely a small step towards a huge cause.
- Nazneen Haider

 

[ahmed_indian]

:salam2:,

its a good article mashallah. but where are you planning to publish it?

if its for newspaper, we can give you some inputs. eg. a few sentences history of palestine, etc.

 

[naz haider]

:salam2:
Yes I am planning to get it published in my newspaper, which I work with.
It would be great if you could help me with quotes and brief me a bit about the history of this conflict. How, when and why it started and all.
May Allah bless you for your help.

 

[Frank_H_Smith]

As Salamu 'Alaykum,

I was not even aware that Jimmy Carter had written a book on Patestine. Here is an excerpt from that book:

A Jimmy Carter op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times
LA Times Op-ed, December 8, 2006

By Jimmy Carter

I SIGNED A CONTRACT with Simon &Schuster two years ago to write a book about the Middle East, based on my personal observations as the Carter Center monitored three elections in Palestine and on my consultations with Israeli political leaders and peace activists.

We covered every Palestinian community in 1996, 2005 and 2006, when Yasser Arafat and later Mahmoud Abbas were elected president and members of parliament were chosen. The elections were almost flawless, and turnout was very high — except in East Jerusalem, where, under severe Israeli restraints, only about 2% of registered voters managed to cast ballots.

The many controversial issues concerning Palestine and the path to peace for Israel are intensely debated among Israelis and throughout other nations — but not in the United States. For the last 30 years, I have witnessed and experienced the severe restraints on any free and balanced discussion of the facts. This reluctance to criticize any policies of the Israeli government is because of the extraordinary lobbying efforts of the American-Israel Political Action Committee and the absence of any significant contrary voices.

It would be almost politically suicidal for members of Congress to espouse a balanced position between Israel and Palestine, to suggest that Israel comply with international law or to speak in defense of justice or human rights for Palestinians. Very few would ever deign to visit the Palestinian cities of Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron, Gaza City or even Bethlehem and talk to the beleaguered residents. What is even more difficult to comprehend is why the editorial pages of the major newspapers and magazines in the United States exercise similar self-restraint, quite contrary to private assessments expressed quite forcefully by their correspondents in the Holy Land.

With some degree of reluctance and some uncertainty about the reception my book would receive, I used maps, text and documents to describe the situation accurately and to analyze the only possible path to peace: Israelis and Palestinians living side by side within their own internationally recognized boundaries. These options are consistent with key U.N. resolutions supported by the U.S. and Israel, official American policy since 1967, agreements consummated by Israeli leaders and their governments in 1978 and 1993 (for which they earned Nobel Peace Prizes), the Arab League's offer to recognize Israel in 2002 and the International Quartet's "Roadmap for Peace," which has been accepted by the PLO and largely rejected by Israel.

The book is devoted to circumstances and events in Palestine and not in Israel, where democracy prevails and citizens live together and are legally guaranteed equal status.

Although I have spent only a week or so on a book tour so far, it is already possible to judge public and media reaction. Sales are brisk, and I have had interesting interviews on TV, including "Larry King Live," "Hardball," "Meet the Press," "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer," the "Charlie Rose" show, C-SPAN and others. But I have seen few news stories in major newspapers about what I have written.

Book reviews in the mainstream media have been written mostly by representatives of Jewish organizations who would be unlikely to visit the occupied territories, and their primary criticism is that the book is anti-Israel. Two members of Congress have been publicly critical. Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for instance, issued a statement (before the book was published) saying that "he does not speak for the Democratic Party on Israel." Some reviews posted on Amazon.com call me "anti-Semitic," and others accuse the book of "lies" and "distortions." A former Carter Center fellow has taken issue with it, and Alan Dershowitz called the book's title "indecent."

Out in the real world, however, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. I've signed books in five stores, with more than 1,000 buyers at each site. I've had one negative remark — that I should be tried for treason — and one caller on C-SPAN said that I was an anti-Semite. My most troubling experience has been the rejection of my offers to speak, for free, about the book on university campuses with high Jewish enrollment and to answer questions from students and professors. I have been most encouraged by prominent Jewish citizens and members of Congress who have thanked me privately for presenting the facts and some new ideas.

The book describes the abominable oppression and persecution in the occupied Palestinian territories, with a rigid system of required passes and strict segregation between Palestine's citizens and Jewish settlers in the West Bank. An enormous imprisonment wall is now under construction, snaking through what is left of Palestine to encompass more and more land for Israeli settlers. In many ways, this is more oppressive than what blacks lived under in South Africa during apartheid. I have made it clear that the motivation is not racism but the desire of a minority of Israelis to confiscate and colonize choice sites in Palestine, and then to forcefully suppress any objections from the displaced citizens. Obviously, I condemn any acts of terrorism or violence against innocent civilians, and I present information about the terrible casualties on both sides.

The ultimate purpose of my book is to present facts about the Middle East that are largely unknown in America, to precipitate discussion and to help restart peace talks (now absent for six years) that can lead to permanent peace for Israel and its neighbors. Another hope is that Jews and other Americans who share this same goal might be motivated to express their views, even publicly, and perhaps in concert. I would be glad to help with that effort.
Last Updated December 11, 2006 3:51 AM

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and
do not necessarily reflect those of the World Prout Assembly.

The World Prout Assembly is a non-profit organization affiliated with
Proutist Universal Global Headquarters, Kolkata, India.

 

[ahmed_indian]

:salam2:
Yes I am planning to get it published in my newspaper, which I work with.
It would be great if you could help me with quotes and brief me a bit about the history of this conflict. How, when and why it started and all.
May Allah bless you for your help.

,

in which country you reside? because you may not be allowed to write the complete truth.

1. try to have an *eye-catching* title like "what if somebody snatched your home?". begining could be like: suppose you are sitting in your home comfortably reading newspaper. your wife is making tea for you. your children are playing in the garden. suddenly, a group of people comes and says to you to leave the home. and if you dont, you'll be thrown out and tortured. how will it feel? through what circumstances, a person have to go?

2. put it in paragraphs and try to tell maximum in first paragraph. ppl hardly read an article more than 2 minutes.

 

[ahmed_indian]

3. brief history: long time ago jews used to live in jerusalem. they were attacked once in 400 BC (i think so) and second time in 70 AD by Roman army. after Islam came, Jerusalem came under Islamic rule. the muslims supported jews when they were being oppressed in Europe. now those very palestinian muslims are being displaced from their homes to make home for jews who are coming there from all over the world.

 

[Aapa]

Assalaam walaikum.

I heard a lecture. I gained hope and courage. Our brothers and sisters in Palestine are the ones who need to make dua for us. They are the ones who are true to Allah subhana talla. With the recent devastation in Haiti who were among the first to send aid: The Peoples of Palestine.
How courages a people. How devout a population. And 66% of the population is under 16!! What souls for the Love of Allah.

Yes, we can boycott. We can write. We have Sister Harb on this forum. What a source of knowledge. Please PM her.

Yet, we must curb our hate. We must unify. We must make dua to help us from our clinging to the duyna. On the Day of Judgement we have to answer to why we did what we did. Insha'Allah your letter will inspire others to start marching towards fighting oppression.