Currently Playing: Outlandish-I Only Ask Of God.
I only ask of God,
He won’t let me be indifferent to the suffering,
That the very dried up death doesn’t find me,
Empty and without having given my everything.
Accept all things political at this moment, because I am trying to sort out the various voices pounding in my head, and I think I’ll start here, although it won’t do much good and the voices will continue anyway.
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I received this recently from my aunt who’s living in America:
Israel’s act of ‘defence’ is nothing more than an act of ‘defiance’. Contravening countless Geneva and UN Conventions, puppeteering the United States, ravaging and raping lands, commiting mass massacre and genocide, stamping their mark of arrogance and superiority—there is no such thing as a just world anymore, if there ever was one. Whatever I say here, if you have cared enough since Israel’s latest act of terrorism, then I have nothing to say that you haven’t read or heard yet. I can’t even continue-this occupies my every waking thought and to plough on to try and tell you how I feel just won’t be enough. I will be weakened by sorrow and angered by revulsion even more so, by the helplessness and apathy of the Muslim world. We have our hands tied behind our backs willingly and I tire of empty condemnations. Comdemnations are only uttered to show a nation’s stand on an issue and that is where it stops. Our sufferings stop the moment we turn that newspaper page, or switch channels or turn off the radio. The Palestinians and the Lebanese have no such luck.
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The links below come from Syazwina, a sister studying in Melbourne, whose acquaintance I am glad to have made. Her extensive readings on issues I feel strongly about has provided me an extra source of information, Alhamdulillah. I can’t say I enjoy reading more uncovered Truth because it kills a little more inside, but Ignorance at this stage, is hardly bliss.
I dare you to watch this and tell me you didn’t feel a single thing.
I dare you to read this and tell me you didn’t feel a single thing.
Go on.
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So they put on Road to Guantanamo on campus last Wednesday night in conjunction with the Grand Opening of AiFest. I thought I’d give it a miss and scout for the DVD later since I had Presentation Skills and Critical Thinking at exactly the same time, but Alhamdulillah, I was proven wrong on two accounts. I finished Skills just in time to sneak into the Main Audi, and I don’t have to scout for it after all-Amnesty International provides copies if you’re interested.
I didn’t sleep well that night, and the physical remnants of how much this docu-movie had reduced me to can still be seen right now, so please…just don’t ask me why I have swollen eyes. Its not like I want to show it.
Road to Guantanamo will break you if you understand the sanctity and sacredness of human rights and dignity.
Road to Guantanamo will break you if you realise that you can completely relate to what Ruhel, Asif, Syafiq and the other Guantanamo prisoners went through or are going through, and yet at the same time, realise that you can’t at all as well.
Mostly, Road to Guantanamo will break you if you observe the pride of Muslims, even as illegally-detained captives, and the strength of their faith in Allah. You will break if you compare it to a place where people are free to pray and to perform ‘ibadah, and yet take their liberty for granted and misuse it for personal pleasure. You will break if you look at Malaysia today.
I am no traitor to my country, but in all honesty, I felt the poignancy and significance of my faith and identity a lot more when I was in the UK then when I am here in Malaysia. The spirit was very much alive and strong. I’d feel even more deficient as a Muslim if I wasn’t in IIU with all its forums and talks regarding issues plaguing the Muslim world, which is why despite its shortcomings, I am thankful to be a student there. That is why I get so bloody annoyed when people sarcastically call it ‘the Holy Ground’ and mock it every chance they get. Whatever. If it wasn’t your choice to study there, then spare me the cynicism and leave.
What is it that we Malaysians lack that we can’t have that kind of fervour and enthusiasm to be independant, Islamic intellectuals? Why is it that our Muslim students overseas are more acutely aware of their faith, and learn to love Islam more in a place so-called ‘less Islamic’?
I’ll reserve this topic for some other time, but watch Road to Guantanamo, and see if you can see what viewpoint I’m coming from.
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For the beautiful children of Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Kashmir…for those who have died at the hands of treacherous murderers and for those who still live to suffer…I found a newspaper clip in my drawer today:
The Children
by William Soutar.
Upon the street they lie
Beside the broken stone:
The blood of children stares from the broken stone.
Death came out of the sky
In the bright afternoon:
Darkness slanted over the bright afternoon.
Again the sky is clear
But upon the earth a stain:
The earth is darkened with a darkening stain:
A wound which everywhere
Corrupts the hearts of men:
The blood of children corrupts the heart of men.
Silence is in the air:
The stars move to their places:
Silent and serene the stars move to their places:
But from the earth the children stare
With blind and fearful faces:
And our charity is in the children’s faces.
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Taken from Syriana:
"Corruption? Corruption is government intrusion into market efficiencies in the form of regulations. That’s Milton Friedman. He got a goddamn Nobel Prize. We have laws against it precisely so we can get away with it. Corruption is our protection. Corruption keeps us safe and warm. Corruption is why you and I are prancing around in here instead of fighting over scraps of meat out in the streets. Corruption is why we win." -Danny Dalton.
Hello real world. I don’t like you.
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I’m sorry. I think I owe about 20 calls/smses or so to some friends of mine but I’ve been forgoing using my phone because I wouldn’t be doing justice to you if I answered the phone or responded when my heart’s not in it. I’ll rejoin reality soon enough (although in truth, its impossible to put my existence on hold no matter how badly I want to anyway).
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Addendum:
Man. I’ve forgotten how simply invigorating it can be to speed through the highway with Snow Patrol blasting the stereos and for a moment…just not think. It sure as hell drowns those voices out long enough.
Enough said here.
