Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Noor's first protest!

I know I have to post more (newer) pictures of Noor...most of my days and nights are consumed with either nursing or attempting to sleep (or in some cases, both at the same time!) and yet somehow I have found myself committing to a variety of talks, interviews, and articles when I should be on "maternity leave" (right!).

Last weekend my family and I participated in a small vigil/protest to end the siege on Gaza. Noor attended too-though she slept through it! Yousuf insisted on placing a sign on her car seat.



13 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Open Gaza?
But I saw Gaza was free, celebrations ensued, victory declared. If Egypt is putting a siege on Gaza, maybe you should protest Egypt, not Israel.
Hamas declared it is an enemy of Israel. Egypt is certainly not enemy to Gaza, I can't imagine Arabs would starve Arabs.

1:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why you don´t take care of your Gaza and leave Israel in peace?
If with tje closed borders Israel is suffering with the Kassams everyday just imagine if we open the borders to you.
After Israel left Gaza that only thing we got from you were the 4.000 Kassams in Sderot.
That´s your demonstration of peace.
You just should consider any other way to keep peace or live-along instead of just "open the borders".
Like it was that simple.

Health for you and the kids,

1:35 PM  
Blogger fjb said...

Yousuf is already taking on the role of big brother seriously, I see.

I can't imagine what it must be like to be in Gaza with the weather so miserable and cold. I can't for the life of me understand how anyone can justify or excuse the collective punishment of the masses for the sins of the few. Having been raised as so many others were to never forget the atrocities that took place in Europe during WW2, I see haunting similarities in what's happening in Gaza. It sickens me to know that Israel has sunken to such depths and is no better than Nazi Germany. Mind you, those who support them are no better, including my own government evidently, by it's refusal to condemn their actions.

8:08 PM  
Blogger John Mullis said...

Don't listen to them 'Laila and keep up the fight. Gaza is the heart of any move toward Palestinian statehood, what ever form that might take.

I am praying daily for justice for your people and for a complete breakdown of all the walls that divide us: physical, cultural and religious.

Christian, Muslim or Jew, we are ALL sons of Abraham.

PS who are the others adults in the photo?

4:44 AM  
Blogger Marcel Dubois said...

Wow Laila i'm so sad that you have such idiotic readers.

Apparently everything is the Palestinians fault and apparently closing the borders is the best thing you can do to stop Hamas.

I mean, they do continue to fire missiles, and the population doesn't turn against Hamas at all. And the civilians are punished for things they're not guilty of ...

What were your idiotic points again hamastash and anonymous ?

Hamas declared it is an enemy of Israel. Egypt is certainly not enemy to Gaza, I can't imagine Arabs would starve Arabs.

Wow. Idiotic and racist. It's like, you can't imagine white people, hurting other white people! Cause they're the same !!!

Next time you want to trash such a fine journalist, try to get informed a little bit. The Egyptian government is an enemy to Hamas. The only reason they let the people buy stuff for a day is the Palestinians' cause is important to the people of Egypt. Its government can't risk looking too stacked against Palestinians.

After Israel left Gaza that only thing we got from you were the 4.000 Kassams in Sderot.
That´s your demonstration of peace.


I like how the Hamas and the Palestinian civilians are one and the same here. More of the same racist crap i suppose.

Yes, after Israel left Gaza ...and built a wall that encroached on Palestinian territory, and continued settlements and assassinations. The Hamas is such an enduring and patient organisation, it was just going to suck it up and do nothing about it. There was really no way to predict that an extremist organisation would react in such a horrible way.

And so because it did, you have to starve innocent people until they go against those extremists. I mean, it never worked before, it didn't work in Lebanon with Hezbollah, but surely this time, contrary to ALL THE OTHER TIMES IN HISTORY it will work. I guess.

5:35 AM  
Blogger Laila said...

John and Anthea:

The woman in the thobe and headscarf is my mother :)

The others are members of the Durham chapter of ICAHD, and local activists speaking out against the siege.

5:49 AM  
Blogger Nakia said...

OK, it's official, Yousuf rocks. Tell him he's awesome, and give him a big boy hug from me. Noor is adorable, and I'm sure she'll be participating more actively in the future, but her cuteness is working for the cause. Give my salaams to your Mum.
More seriously: lately, I've been getting emails from organizations seeking financial support for Gaza. It would be good if there were some way to know what would actually help in this situation.

5:59 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Way to go Noor ..starting the fight at an early age :) Heba

1:10 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Salam!

Thank you for the valuable talk that you gave our Focus class last night! Inshallah, I hope your entire family is doing well and I am looking forward to keeping up with this blog.

11:10 PM  
Blogger WinterScribe said...

you have beautiful politically involved children =)

2:41 AM  
Blogger JohnB said...

A wall was built to hold people in, food and supplies cut off. Random incursions resulted in death and deportation. The people inside the wall rose up and fought back. The builders of the wall described them as "dangerous" and "a menace." Eventually, massed military might defeated the imprisoned.

If it was wrong to do this to the Warsaw Ghetto, why is it right for the children of those poor people to do the same to "the Arabs?"

Salaam to you and your family, Laila!

John

1:45 PM  
Blogger jarvenpa said...

Good for you and your family, Laila. My own kids came to peace protests and other ones from babyhood too; they have turned out to be very nice people.

10:22 PM  
Blogger Miss Froy said...

It amazes me what short memories people have..it really wasn't that long ago that public enemy No1 AKA Hamas held a cease fire for well over a year and a half. During this time Israel carried on with it's policy of extra-judicial assassinations and the murders of scores of civilians- all of which were largely ignored by our media.

5:17 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home