Jul8
Apr27
Feb11
Nuclear Weapons in The Middle East And The Threat of Israeli Dominance
SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER
Nuclear weapons have been rationalized and justified as being a deterrent to war. When the U.S. was the only nuclear state they used the nuclear bombs, not only once, but twice.
The proliferation of nuclear bombs created a balance of power, (between the U.S. & USSR) which made it suicidal to use nuclear weapons against a country that has nuclear arms. Israel, a nuclear state, is opposed to Iran even having the potential of a nuclear bomb capability as it would reduce the dominance of the Zionist regime in their absolute power in the Middle East.
Though I am extremely opposed to nuclear weapons and visualize the day when the world will be nuclear free, I applaud Iran’s efforts to obtain the bomb as a strategic balance of power against the bully on the block-Israel.
Sep22
Yusif’s view: Palestine at the U.N.
Salaam alaykum,
The tragedy of our age is not that we still have wars and violence, and it is not that we still discriminate against one another based on dogma, religion, nationality, color of skin, etc. Nay–the tragedy of our age is that we have forgotten who we are as Human Beings. We have fallen from grace and away from our divine nature. We have abandoned our place in the Garden of Eden in exchange for the “American Dream”, which is now more like the American Nightmare! As Americans in pursuit of our own happiness and prosperity, we have been party to obliterating a whole population of indigenous people, the 1st Nation of Native American people; we have been party to slavery; we have supported inequality between the sexes; and have denied basic human rights to million of our brothers and sisters in the U.S. and around the world. We have supported endless wars and gave the green light to corporate & individual greed and avarice.
As Americans, we give lip service to freedom and democracy, yet deny it to those we are killing and occupying overseas. We have epitomized HYPOCRISY.
This has never been more obvious than the U.S. reaction to Palestinian’s request for Statehood at the United Nations.
As one of the few remaining Nakba (Palestinian holocaust) survivors, I have given this a lot of thought and have written volumes on the subject. Much more has been written, pro & con, which can be found on the web. I am resisting the temptation to send you what I have written, in favor of drawing your attention to some basic fundamental Principles that I know Americans believe in: They are Equity, Equality and Human Rights! Read the rest of this entry
Jul21
One Nation “The Holy Land”
Date: Sat, Dec 18, 2010
Subject: A PROPOSED SOLUTION TO PALESTINE/ISRAEL
One Nation
“The Holy Land”
After recently spending two months touring the Middle East, and having spent New Year’s Eve in Gaza, and considering the many trips I have made back to Palestine (both Israel and the West Bank) I have come to the conclusion that there is only one solution to the Palestine conflict!
As Palestine is the cradle that spawned the three major religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) there can only be one solution: Palestine should not be dominated by any one of these religions, and should be open to ALL of them, and THE WORLD.
After a great deal of soul searching and thoughtful considerations I have come to the conclusion that HISTORIC PALESTINE should be open and available to ALL the people of the world and for that reason, I offer the following proposal.
Feb7
Why Not Egypt?
When the Power of Love overcomes the Love of Power There will be Peace
It’s no surprise that the descendants of the Pharaohs, in the land of the Nile, who built the Pyramids, should muster the strength and the courage to break the yoke of oppression, and demand their freedom!
Tahrir (Liberation) Square was aptly named for the demonstrations that will lead to Liberation and Freedom.
Why Egypt and why now? To answer this question, we need to look at the historical cause and effect that has built the foundation which resulted in what we see now in Cairo. Read the rest of this entry
Dec9
YUSIF’S 3rd REPORT FROM THE HOLY LAND
22 October 2010
I am within a few days from returning to the good old USA after 55 days in the Holy Land. My heart is full of Joy & Sadness—my mind is full of hundreds of memories with people & places in 7 countries and 3 continents—and–my soul cries out with passion for PEACE IN THE WORLD AND THE END OF WARS AND VIOLENCE!
I have so much I want to share, which will take me weeks, perhaps months to transmit to you—meantime—all my feelings are already spoken in the short, graphic and powerful poem written by Andrea Gibson. (in the following YouTube link below)
A dear friend, Suzy, a sensitive Jewish woman, who has been a mentor, a guide and a soul-mate from Ancient Time, sent me the following link, of a poem, which I want to share with all my American, Muslim, Christian and Jewish friends! As Suzy wrote, “This is an AMAZING poem by a dear friend of mine. She is very powerful and graphic with her words and what she portrays. It makes me cry every time I hear it. Remember that we are bringing an end to ATROCITIES in our hopes, in our positive and peaceful actions, in our choices to carry on and stay strong, focused on a time when this will be a tragic memory that taught us to achieve better…to love more…to forgive, offer compassion and nurture our way to enlightenment. All bright blessings to you.”
Dec9
YUSIF’S 4th REPORT FROM THE HOLY LAND
My memory of my first trip was crossing the Jordon River on horseback, as a child. My second memory of travel was on a ship on my 12th Birthday, crossing the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean (Aug. ’47), landing at Ellis Island, observing the Statue of Liberty and the New York City skyline.
This traumatic experience set me up with contradictions, i.e. my Left friends think I’m right and my Right friends think I’m wrong. My ethnic friends think I’m too American and my American friends think I’m too foreign. I’m a global citizen with a Universal Mind. I’m a man without a country—a gypsy who feels at home wherever I am. Read the rest of this entry
Sep14
YUSIF IN THE HOLY LAND (report #1)
The figs mature & ripen overnight. Each morning I go out to the fig tree and fill the bowl with sweet figs “ALLA-IMMO” an Arabic expression meaning “from the Mother” i.e. Fresh from the Mother tree”. The fig tree is barely 8 feet tall and one can easily reach the fruit from all branches that expand about 6 feet in diameter. The fig tree is in front of my Cousin’s house, which is on top of a high hill, overlooking the sprawling city of AMMAN, JORDAN. When pronounced with a double ‘MM’ it is the name of the city. When pronounced with a short ‘M’, AMAN, it means Faith.
Faith is an apt description of this modern and beautiful city of about 2 million, which is spread over 7 mountains. There is a major emphasis on religion here “ISLAM” and we arrived, on 9/3, during the Holy Month of “RAMADAN”. Ramadan, is based on a Lunar Month of total fasting, from sun rise to sunset and culminates in a 3 day holiday called EID, reminiscent of CHRISTMAS, in traffic jams, gift buying, family gathering, gaiety and celebration, though not based on the same reason.
My sister, Leila and I came on the last week of Ramadan and today, Friday, September 10, 2010 begins the Eid which ends Sunday at sunset. The routines of the city are changed during Ramadan and the city is virtually shut down during the Eid.
Most buildings in AMMAN, both residential and commercial are made of white stone with a few high rise buildings made of glass. There are some traffic jams, though nothing like other major cities of its size.
Our plans to take side trips to the surrounding countries of Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and the Holy Land were temporarily delayed by Ramadan, which meant, the first 10 days of our 55 day trip is spent with our Cousins in AMMAN.
Monday Sep. 13, begins our first sojourn to Lebanon, where we hope to spend about 5 days seeing the country of some of our ANCESTORS. My sister, Leila was 9 and I was 12 when we were displaced from our birth place in Haifa, Palestine, in August 1947. Though, I have been back to the Middle East several times, as well as a trip around the world, this is Leila’s first trip in 63 years. I promised to escort her and take her to visit Cousins, friends and relatives in various countries in the Middle East.
After Lebanon, we plan to go to Syria for about 5 days, then Egypt for a week or 10 days and return to our birth place in Haifa, with tours through Israel and the West Bank.
If time permits, and the money holds out, we plan to take a 4 day trip to ISTANBUL, TURKEY to visit a non-Arab country and see the remnants of the Ottoman Empire! As we travel and I find time and a computer, I will send a continuation of this report along with highlights of where we visited and some details about the sights and sounds of the area and the people.
Though, I wrote this report on Sept. 10, ’10- – – It’s not certain what day it will reach you, as there is both a difference in time zones as well as the time it takes me to type and transmit this message.
For now, I extend to you and yours, a Happy and Blessed Eid from the Ancient World of the Bible and the Koran!
Yusif
Apr20
Pictures of Cairo & Gaza
If you do not have a Google’s G-mail account you may not be able to see the pictures, so try this direct link:
Yusif Barakat's Blog 