Inner Revolutions | Pray But Keep Rowing the Boat - English
Aisha El-Mekki’s mother didn’t believe in ‘sparing the rod’. She also had a deep respect for teachers, nuns and other authority figures; a respect that never trickled down to her youngest...
Aisha El-Mekki’s mother didn’t believe in ‘sparing the rod’. She also had a deep respect for teachers, nuns and other authority figures; a respect that never trickled down to her youngest daughter. Discipline was real in the El-Mekki household, so from an early age she and her older sister formed an alliance. They promised not to tell on each other. Sometimes El-Mekki even took a beating for her sister. When she was in first grade, the two were sent away to a private, all-white boarding school. In third grade, El-Mekki was expelled.
“As a child, if I got backed into a wall, I would refuse to do whatever you wanted me to do because you were trying to force me.”
Upon returning to her home in Philadelphia, El-Mekki’s mother – who worked until five everyday – enrolled her daughter in the neighborhood school. It was around this time that El-Mekki met her best friend, Shakora. The two began spending afternoons together, deepening their friendship and getting into trouble.
“One time I was on a bus. It was a Friday afternoon. The bus driver said my pass had expired; that I had to get a transfer…so he gave me a transfer while waiting for the next bus and the next bus was late. We waited for a while. There was a crowd of people by the time the bus came. [The next bus driver] said that my pass had expired and that I needed to get off the bus. Well I didn’t have any more money, so I said, ‘I paid my fare and I will ride.’ This man decided that he was going to send a message. So he stopped a police car and told them that I refused to pay. The police emptied the bus and told the driver to drive to the police station with just me on it….so he drives this empty bus to the police station and they arrested me. And this just infuriated me. My mother had to be called and of course she was just livid….she had to end up getting a lawyer, and had to go court, miss time from work…and eventually it was resolved but I mean they charged me. I had a record. It was ridiculous. That was my first incident with what I consider police brutality…and how they can escalate a situation unnecessarily.”
Three years later, El Mekki graduated from an all-girls Catholic high school. It was at this point that she began to question the Trinity. She didn’t want to leave the church; she believed she would go to hell if she did. Still, the questions remained. So she kept her eyes open. After college, El-Mekki decided she wanted to become a social worker. She learned about a group called the Black Panther Party that was organizing programs for the needy.
“When I heard about these people feeding children – and I worked on the midnight shift – I said, ‘you know what? I’m gonna go up there’. And there were tables and tables of children being fed cereal and toast, and I was really amazed. People were doing this out of the bottom of their hearts. They weren’t getting paid for it. But they wanted to make sure the children were getting a decent breakfast.”
El-Mekki joined the group. At the same time, her religious search continued.
“I had an aunt that was Muslim. I used to visit her. She was not aggressive, she was not pushy, she was not trying to convert me. Anytime I had a question, she would answer. Her husband was very nice. And I liked the way her family was so calm. It was so peaceful. And so I would go visit her often. During that time I was in the Black Panther Party, and she didn’t disapprove. Everybody else in my family said, ‘Here she goes again, doing something off the beaten path.’ But not aunt Mariam. One time when we knew that there was going to be a police raid, and we were trying to get the children out because I didn’t want the children to be there. And she just told me to bring them to her house. You know? And I just admired her. I just said wow, if her religion supports revolutionary acts like that, then I want to hear more about it. So she would always be listening to Shaheed Malcolm’s albums. She owned every word he ever said. And she’d often have his records on when I’d go over there. And she gave me his book to read because I was always asking questions about him. And that was like the answer to my prayer. You know? The part where he said that our religion doesn’t teach us to be aggressive, but if you lay a hand on me, then I can send you to the cemetery. And I said, ‘I can do that. That is the religion that I need.’ You know, that allows me to defend myself. That doesn’t encourage me to just constantly turn the other cheek. Nobody else is turning the other cheek. They’re turning the other side of their hand. And so i decided you know what, that’s when I decided Islam was for me because it allowed me to be religious and at the same time, be revolutionary.”
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Aisha El-Mekki’s mother didn’t believe in ‘sparing the rod’. She also had a deep respect for teachers, nuns and other authority figures; a respect that never trickled down to her youngest daughter. Discipline was real in the El-Mekki household, so from an early age she and her older sister formed an alliance. They promised not to tell on each other. Sometimes El-Mekki even took a beating for her sister. When she was in first grade, the two were sent away to a private, all-white boarding school. In third grade, El-Mekki was expelled.
“As a child, if I got backed into a wall, I would refuse to do whatever you wanted me to do because you were trying to force me.”
Upon returning to her home in Philadelphia, El-Mekki’s mother – who worked until five everyday – enrolled her daughter in the neighborhood school. It was around this time that El-Mekki met her best friend, Shakora. The two began spending afternoons together, deepening their friendship and getting into trouble.
“One time I was on a bus. It was a Friday afternoon. The bus driver said my pass had expired; that I had to get a transfer…so he gave me a transfer while waiting for the next bus and the next bus was late. We waited for a while. There was a crowd of people by the time the bus came. [The next bus driver] said that my pass had expired and that I needed to get off the bus. Well I didn’t have any more money, so I said, ‘I paid my fare and I will ride.’ This man decided that he was going to send a message. So he stopped a police car and told them that I refused to pay. The police emptied the bus and told the driver to drive to the police station with just me on it….so he drives this empty bus to the police station and they arrested me. And this just infuriated me. My mother had to be called and of course she was just livid….she had to end up getting a lawyer, and had to go court, miss time from work…and eventually it was resolved but I mean they charged me. I had a record. It was ridiculous. That was my first incident with what I consider police brutality…and how they can escalate a situation unnecessarily.”
Three years later, El Mekki graduated from an all-girls Catholic high school. It was at this point that she began to question the Trinity. She didn’t want to leave the church; she believed she would go to hell if she did. Still, the questions remained. So she kept her eyes open. After college, El-Mekki decided she wanted to become a social worker. She learned about a group called the Black Panther Party that was organizing programs for the needy.
“When I heard about these people feeding children – and I worked on the midnight shift – I said, ‘you know what? I’m gonna go up there’. And there were tables and tables of children being fed cereal and toast, and I was really amazed. People were doing this out of the bottom of their hearts. They weren’t getting paid for it. But they wanted to make sure the children were getting a decent breakfast.”
El-Mekki joined the group. At the same time, her religious search continued.
“I had an aunt that was Muslim. I used to visit her. She was not aggressive, she was not pushy, she was not trying to convert me. Anytime I had a question, she would answer. Her husband was very nice. And I liked the way her family was so calm. It was so peaceful. And so I would go visit her often. During that time I was in the Black Panther Party, and she didn’t disapprove. Everybody else in my family said, ‘Here she goes again, doing something off the beaten path.’ But not aunt Mariam. One time when we knew that there was going to be a police raid, and we were trying to get the children out because I didn’t want the children to be there. And she just told me to bring them to her house. You know? And I just admired her. I just said wow, if her religion supports revolutionary acts like that, then I want to hear more about it. So she would always be listening to Shaheed Malcolm’s albums. She owned every word he ever said. And she’d often have his records on when I’d go over there. And she gave me his book to read because I was always asking questions about him. And that was like the answer to my prayer. You know? The part where he said that our religion doesn’t teach us to be aggressive, but if you lay a hand on me, then I can send you to the cemetery. And I said, ‘I can do that. That is the religion that I need.’ You know, that allows me to defend myself. That doesn’t encourage me to just constantly turn the other cheek. Nobody else is turning the other cheek. They’re turning the other side of their hand. And so i decided you know what, that’s when I decided Islam was for me because it allowed me to be religious and at the same time, be revolutionary.”
innerrevolutions.net
Gaza-Israel Massacres More than 300 Palestinians-800 Wounded Part 5-English
In a statement on Sunday, Iran called for restraint and an immediate halt of the large-scale Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
Israel attacked the impoverished strip on Saturday, leaving 800 people...
In a statement on Sunday, Iran called for restraint and an immediate halt of the large-scale Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
Israel attacked the impoverished strip on Saturday, leaving 800 people in a critical state. The Saturday attacks are widely believed to be one of the worst in the 60-year history of the Israeli occupation.
"The international community is duty bound to defend Gaza civilians in the face of Israel's genocide and crimes against humanity," the Foreign Ministry statement reads according to press tv.
"Tel Aviv's bombardment of the Gaza Strip is yet another brazen example of Israel's terrorist mindset and its gross violation of human rights," it adds.
The statement condemns the barrage of Israeli attacks on civilian non-military targets as being in stark defiance of the Geneva Convention and UN resolutions.
Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that no protected person may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed, hence collective punishment and all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.
The Saturday onslaught came after a six-month truce between Israel and the democratically-elected Palestinian government of Hamas expired on December 19 - and after repeated violations by Tel Aviv.
The Arab world reacted in shock to the Israeli incursion into Gaza and stepped up calls for retaliation against Israel.
"Today everybody has to stand by the side of the Palestinian people and stop this blind military action," said Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
Russia and France have also decried the large-scale operations, demanding that Israel immediately halt its attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, however, snubbed international appeals for an end to the attacks and asserted that operations against Gaza will go on for "as long as necessary".
"There is a time for cease-fires and a time to fight, and now is the time to fight," said Barak, adding that the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) and security forces have been masterminding the Gaza invasion "for months".
In a televised speech on Sunday, Barak confirmed that Tel Aviv may even send ground troops into Gaza to help in carrying out fresh attacks on the coastal strip.
The UN Security Council held emergency consultations Saturday night and early Sunday to outline a resolution, by which Israel would be obliged to halt its military operations "without delay".
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Description:
In a statement on Sunday, Iran called for restraint and an immediate halt of the large-scale Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
Israel attacked the impoverished strip on Saturday, leaving 800 people in a critical state. The Saturday attacks are widely believed to be one of the worst in the 60-year history of the Israeli occupation.
"The international community is duty bound to defend Gaza civilians in the face of Israel's genocide and crimes against humanity," the Foreign Ministry statement reads according to press tv.
"Tel Aviv's bombardment of the Gaza Strip is yet another brazen example of Israel's terrorist mindset and its gross violation of human rights," it adds.
The statement condemns the barrage of Israeli attacks on civilian non-military targets as being in stark defiance of the Geneva Convention and UN resolutions.
Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that no protected person may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed, hence collective punishment and all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.
The Saturday onslaught came after a six-month truce between Israel and the democratically-elected Palestinian government of Hamas expired on December 19 - and after repeated violations by Tel Aviv.
The Arab world reacted in shock to the Israeli incursion into Gaza and stepped up calls for retaliation against Israel.
"Today everybody has to stand by the side of the Palestinian people and stop this blind military action," said Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
Russia and France have also decried the large-scale operations, demanding that Israel immediately halt its attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, however, snubbed international appeals for an end to the attacks and asserted that operations against Gaza will go on for "as long as necessary".
"There is a time for cease-fires and a time to fight, and now is the time to fight," said Barak, adding that the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) and security forces have been masterminding the Gaza invasion "for months".
In a televised speech on Sunday, Barak confirmed that Tel Aviv may even send ground troops into Gaza to help in carrying out fresh attacks on the coastal strip.
The UN Security Council held emergency consultations Saturday night and early Sunday to outline a resolution, by which Israel would be obliged to halt its military operations "without delay".
[08 Feb 2014] Libya PM appeals to nation to avoid violence to settle parliament standoff - English
In Libya, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has called on Libyans to resort to peaceful means to settle a standoff over their interim parliament.
Thousands of Libyans took to the streets of the capital...
In Libya, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has called on Libyans to resort to peaceful means to settle a standoff over their interim parliament.
Thousands of Libyans took to the streets of the capital Tripoli on Friday to protest GNC\'s mandate extension which expired on Friday. A large portion of Libya\'s population is critical of GNC for its inability to prevent the country from sliding into chaos. There are growing fears that rival armed groups would engage in clashes. GNC was elected in 20-12 after the ouster of former ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
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In Libya, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has called on Libyans to resort to peaceful means to settle a standoff over their interim parliament.
Thousands of Libyans took to the streets of the capital Tripoli on Friday to protest GNC\'s mandate extension which expired on Friday. A large portion of Libya\'s population is critical of GNC for its inability to prevent the country from sliding into chaos. There are growing fears that rival armed groups would engage in clashes. GNC was elected in 20-12 after the ouster of former ruler Muammar Gaddafi.