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Online Dating With A Twist – Got Sent A Terrorist From Gaza
Just my luck! I join this online dating forum, Hotdate.com and what do I get? Some terrorist moaning about Israel’s recent bombardment and mass killing spree in the Gaza Strip. Really, if I wanted that type of hot date I could’ve just logged onto Sky News. Did sound hot though.
Having just read Sameh A Habeeb’s op-ed in the Palestine Telegraph, We Will Change Our World, I was reminded again of how the Western world sees Palestinians merely as terrorists, so I hope he doesn’t mind my using that analogy as he should know that I’m only joking.
Before I begin, I’m going to conclude that this little encounter flies in the face of those that mock online activism as say, completely ‘virtual’ – these people will assume and suggest, ‘You think you have friends, you’ll never meet these people in real life.’ Yes, yes, but but….
On Wednesday of last week I joined members of the Bristol branch of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign on a journey to London. The PSC’s national hierarchy had called an Emergency Lobby of Parliament after Israel’s latest onslaught on the Gaza Strip and its beleaguered people. I found there were quite a few, 17 of us to fill a small mini-bus, keen to attend and express our disgust and outpour our concerns to our individual MP’s.
I was doubly keen to attend this lobby. Firstly, because I had seen my MP in November 2007 regarding the siege being imposed on Gaza, I was concerned that something akin to Lebanon 2006, where over 1,000 civilians had perished to the whims of Israel’s brutal military might, was about to befall its people. Basically, my worst fears had been realised and now was as good a time as any for an update, as the situation was now at its worst since 1967 in this part of Palestine. The second reason, his name is Sameh A Habeeb, my online friend of almost two years and a photojournalist from Gaza City, he had recently secured a visa to visit the UK and I had heard he maybe floating about the halls of Westminster, so it was vaguely possible that we might actually meet, for real.
We hadn’t been in Westminster half hour before I was talking to my MP, Ian Liddel-Grainger, Conservative and we were sifting through the demands of the PSC, trying to find a mutually acceptable course of action that had a realistic chance of fruition.
We had a written assurance from the UK’s Foreign Office as a result of our last meeting, that the UK arms supply to Israel amounted to little more than 0.1% of their annual total of weaponry imports, it seemed a futile call.
What with the European Parliamentary elections coming up, I mentioned the Appeal for the removal of Hamas from the EU terror list – this fell on deaf ears but to me sounds like a promising initiative considering the numbers of killed children by either side, Israel or Gaza, during 2008. One side kills 200 or more of the others children, the other kills none and I feel it is slightly paradoxical when you think who the EU of the two, designate as terrorist but that is just my humble opinion.
Besides the obvious call to pressure Israel to open the borders of Gaza to goods and people, after the recent postponement of the vote in the European Parliament in early December regarding the upgrading of the EU-Israel Trade Agreement, we both agreed that this was an area where our meeting might actually achieve something. He offered to write to the Foreign Secretary on my behalf calling on the UK government push for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement until Israel meets its obligations under international law.
While we were rounding off and me agreeing to keep him informed with updates from Gaza we are joined by one of this life’s heroes and old stalwart of the Left, Tony Benn, I was beginning to think I was having a good day, it got better!
I had a relatively early appointment compared to those I had travelled up with so I was left free to roam and mingle but first, where’s Sameh? I give him a call to find he’s outside and so it was in the queue to get into parliament where I first meet my old friend and fellow online campaigner against the cruel siege of Gaza. We had been working together on and off since he created and I joined the Yahoo and Facebook groups, both entitled Action4Palestine. It was an honour to hear him describe me as a ‘natural Gazan,’ as I thrust my belongings on the floor and proceeded to roll a cigarette, amongst his first words to me.
We spent the rest of the day talking to people from the various groups that had made the trip to the Lobby. Other groups on hand were Jews For Justice For Palestinians and the big-wigs, from the newly formed, Labour Friends of Palestine.
Unfortunately I had to return home that day whereas Sameh had to stay on for an evening meeting at the House of Commons where he was to address members of the above groups, the PSC and joined British MPs, representatives of Islamic and Christian institutions, labour and student unions as they called on the British government to take actual steps to lift the unjust Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip. It wasn’t long though before I saw Sameh and members of Bristol PSC again. To be continued…
Embedded Links:
http://blogs.news.sky.com/skynewscom/Post:1d2d11a3-913b-40db-b597-0...
http://www.paltelegraph.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=a...
http://www.antiimperialista.org/index.php?option=com_content&ta...
http://palestinian.ning.com/forum/topics/british-mps-demand-their
Having just read Sameh A Habeeb’s op-ed in the Palestine Telegraph, We Will Change Our World, I was reminded again of how the Western world sees Palestinians merely as terrorists, so I hope he doesn’t mind my using that analogy as he should know that I’m only joking.
Before I begin, I’m going to conclude that this little encounter flies in the face of those that mock online activism as say, completely ‘virtual’ – these people will assume and suggest, ‘You think you have friends, you’ll never meet these people in real life.’ Yes, yes, but but….
On Wednesday of last week I joined members of the Bristol branch of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign on a journey to London. The PSC’s national hierarchy had called an Emergency Lobby of Parliament after Israel’s latest onslaught on the Gaza Strip and its beleaguered people. I found there were quite a few, 17 of us to fill a small mini-bus, keen to attend and express our disgust and outpour our concerns to our individual MP’s.
I was doubly keen to attend this lobby. Firstly, because I had seen my MP in November 2007 regarding the siege being imposed on Gaza, I was concerned that something akin to Lebanon 2006, where over 1,000 civilians had perished to the whims of Israel’s brutal military might, was about to befall its people. Basically, my worst fears had been realised and now was as good a time as any for an update, as the situation was now at its worst since 1967 in this part of Palestine. The second reason, his name is Sameh A Habeeb, my online friend of almost two years and a photojournalist from Gaza City, he had recently secured a visa to visit the UK and I had heard he maybe floating about the halls of Westminster, so it was vaguely possible that we might actually meet, for real.
We hadn’t been in Westminster half hour before I was talking to my MP, Ian Liddel-Grainger, Conservative and we were sifting through the demands of the PSC, trying to find a mutually acceptable course of action that had a realistic chance of fruition.
We had a written assurance from the UK’s Foreign Office as a result of our last meeting, that the UK arms supply to Israel amounted to little more than 0.1% of their annual total of weaponry imports, it seemed a futile call.
What with the European Parliamentary elections coming up, I mentioned the Appeal for the removal of Hamas from the EU terror list – this fell on deaf ears but to me sounds like a promising initiative considering the numbers of killed children by either side, Israel or Gaza, during 2008. One side kills 200 or more of the others children, the other kills none and I feel it is slightly paradoxical when you think who the EU of the two, designate as terrorist but that is just my humble opinion.
Besides the obvious call to pressure Israel to open the borders of Gaza to goods and people, after the recent postponement of the vote in the European Parliament in early December regarding the upgrading of the EU-Israel Trade Agreement, we both agreed that this was an area where our meeting might actually achieve something. He offered to write to the Foreign Secretary on my behalf calling on the UK government push for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement until Israel meets its obligations under international law.
While we were rounding off and me agreeing to keep him informed with updates from Gaza we are joined by one of this life’s heroes and old stalwart of the Left, Tony Benn, I was beginning to think I was having a good day, it got better!
I had a relatively early appointment compared to those I had travelled up with so I was left free to roam and mingle but first, where’s Sameh? I give him a call to find he’s outside and so it was in the queue to get into parliament where I first meet my old friend and fellow online campaigner against the cruel siege of Gaza. We had been working together on and off since he created and I joined the Yahoo and Facebook groups, both entitled Action4Palestine. It was an honour to hear him describe me as a ‘natural Gazan,’ as I thrust my belongings on the floor and proceeded to roll a cigarette, amongst his first words to me.
We spent the rest of the day talking to people from the various groups that had made the trip to the Lobby. Other groups on hand were Jews For Justice For Palestinians and the big-wigs, from the newly formed, Labour Friends of Palestine.
Unfortunately I had to return home that day whereas Sameh had to stay on for an evening meeting at the House of Commons where he was to address members of the above groups, the PSC and joined British MPs, representatives of Islamic and Christian institutions, labour and student unions as they called on the British government to take actual steps to lift the unjust Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip. It wasn’t long though before I saw Sameh and members of Bristol PSC again. To be continued…
Embedded Links:
http://blogs.news.sky.com/skynewscom/Post:1d2d11a3-913b-40db-b597-0...
http://www.paltelegraph.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=a...
http://www.antiimperialista.org/index.php?option=com_content&ta...
http://palestinian.ning.com/forum/topics/british-mps-demand-their
Tags: bristolpsc, gaza, lobbyofparliament, london, samehahabeeb, westminster
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Comment by Arlo Silvers on March 18, 2009 at 3:06am -
Also available @
http://www.paltelegraph.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=252:online-dating-with-a-twist-a-terrorist-from-gaza&catid=85:diaries&Itemid=283 Oh what fun we're having at the PT!
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