Category: 2024

We got the two Pep Rallies on the road with all the choreographed Razzmatazz! And, of course, I teared up as I always do when I heard our Anthem and “Land of the Free, Home of the Brave!” Both the RNC (Republican National Committee) and the DNC (Democratic National Committee) pulled a made-for-television-Hollywoodish Extravaganza! The People lapped it up! The Thousands of TV Hosts and Journalists attending fawned all over the place!

I watched and listened to the RNC program. It was well done. However, I heard the same old litanies that I have been listening to since 2020! Nothing New! Nothing Original! Nothing Exciting! Only Cowardly Yes-Men  Politicians and Speakers paying homage to Trump! And, as I watched and listened and looked around, I felt that I was merely an onlooker, not a participant. In fact, I felt that what I heard of Continuous Lies, Misinformation, Disinformation and Delusions was only a worrying warning of what a dangerous and ominous precipice this country is verging on! Having said that: Is Everything Trump Utters Wrong? No, it isn’t. In fact, I agree with some of the things that he says.

Then I watched and listened to the DNC program. It was very well done! I felt one with the diversity and positive energy of the People attending. I felt excited, uplifted, even – dare I say – hopeful! I also felt part of that forty-year-old history of the United States that I had been part of since immigrating to this country. There was a Kennedy grandchild – I lived on Kennedy Street in Beirut, Lebanon which was dedicated to JFK after he was assassinated when I wept with sadness and shock – and a grandchild of Carter who has promised to stay alive until he cast his vote for Kamala and Tim. There, too, was Bernie Sanders, my Hero and the Conscience of this country, and Heroine Elizabeth Warren continuing to fight for Equality and Justice. There were the Clintons and the Obamas (I voted twice for both of them) and I attended Baracks’ rally in Virginia when my sister-in-law got us two tickets. And there was Jesse Jackson who, like Martin Luther King Jr. before him, dared to mention Palestine and Palestinians when that was Taboo in the US! A fighter and a courageous Hero for so much that he has contributed! The Speakers, the Subjects and Issues they addressed were my Issues, were what I believed in, what I espoused, and how I aspired to have this Nation evolve into: Freedom, Equality, Inclusivity, Sensibility, Justice, Democracy, Fairness! What could be better? Oh, yes, I lapped it all up, teared up, cheered and felt that I was At Home! Moreover . . .

. . . yes, Moreover, I had never seen in Any US Party Convention that many Humans wearing their Kaffiyehs! Never, ever! I had never seen either Any Pro-Palestinian Protest Demonstrations allowed at Any Convention! Never, ever! I had never seen a Panel on Palestinian Human Rights as part of the Democratic Party Platform. Never, ever! I had also Never, ever seen or heard 36 Palestinian Party Delegates allowed to attend a Convention and mingle with the crowd! Never, ever! And I had Never, ever heard so many Americans – Black, White and all Others – express so much support for the Palestinian People! And, Never, Ever, Ever have I heard a Presidential Candidate include mention of Palestine and Palestinians with as much passion and empathy as Kamala Harris did in her acceptance speech, to thunderous applause may I say! So, Yes and to repeat myself: I felt excited, uplifted, even – dare I say – hopeful!

So, yes, AIPAC, the ADL and others have spent Millions upon Millions and succeeded in defeating Jamal Bowman and Cori Bush in their Congressional Campaigns. And, yes, they had succeeded in silencing so many other voices from speaking up for the Palestinians. And, yes, too, they had succeeded in skewing the Facts, Falsifying Information and Outright Lying about the Palestinian People as the Bigoted, Racist Cowards in the Media echoed their Lies, Deceit and Propaganda. And, yes, the Israeli Government targeted and massacred numerous Palestinian Journalists in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as preventing Foreign Media from being on the ground so as to report directly on the atrocities and genocide that were taking place. But, but . . . in this day and age they could not control the narrative as much as they used to. They simply Cannot!

However, and despite all the Positive Aspects there was no room for a Palestinian voice to be on the stage and to tell our story in person to the attendees. As Jon Stewart mocked: it was only four nights, eight hours a night, so there was no time for a Palestinian Speaker! Disappointing, Discriminatory and flies in the face of Everything that Kamala Harris proclaimed! So my Hopes were dashed – not for the first time! There are still less than Seventy More Days To Go. When the US says: “Ceasefire Now” Netanyahu thumbs his nose at Complicit Biden and Worthless Blinken! Will there be a Ceasefire, or Not? Will Netanyahu derail it again as he has been for the past ten months? There is a Rumor that Trump told him not to accept a Ceasefire until he wins the Election? That wouldn’t be surprising, would it? Will there be a Regional War? Meanwhile the genocide, the devastation, the starvation, the disease, the maiming, the orphaning, the trauma continue both in Gaza and the West Bank, and US Foreign Policy as stated by Kamala in her acceptance speech will not change!! Thousands upon thousands of Innocent Humans being Grotesquely and Vengefully Punished in this manner is Inhumane to say the least! There are so many issues that beckon to me, tempt me to vote for the Democratic Ticket. The proposals by Kamala, should they happen, will ease my life, my children’s and my grandchildren’s. But I am not in the market for selfish considerations. We are talking about millions of Palestinian Humans being Occupied, Subjugated and Genocided and I cannot betray them as well as my conscience because of appeasing words and enticing promises. So, yes, so far I am still painfully and reluctantly withholding my Vote for the Democratic Ticket! Perhaps they don’t need my vote in what promises to be a very close election? Perhaps!

. . . the more they stay the same? At this stage of my old life I feel that this is true on so many levels. However, I do not think that Humans have ever been subjected to such a barrage of information coming at us from everywhere and making us feel as if we have whiplash! And, yes, I’ve said previously that this is why so many Humans – especially those in my age group – have simply tuned off and focused on their own cocoons leaving this Turbulent Planet to sort itself out as it is bound to do at some point? Hope so? Perhaps?

Speaking of the barrage of information, my terrific daughter was laughing her head off as she related how while she was watching a show on television where one of the characters in that episode said: “Hey Siri remind me to . . . “ At which point the Siri on my daughter’s phone, which was lying next to the television, responded with: “How can I help you?” This is hilarious, and just further proof of how technology is overlapping with our gadgets and daily lives! I was chuckling as I told her that I am so glad that I have turned Siri off my phone! She is not allowed access, because an incident like this would freak me out, especially that I am a basket case already these miserable days! Of course, when I related this incident to my grandchildren they didn’t seem to be that amused. “You don’t think it’s funny?” I said. “Not really. It happens all the time!” Ah, yes! They, with their phones now part of their attire are totally blasé about all this!

Frankly I had no motivation to write today. I am so Fed Up with Everything and Everyone whether it is Gloomy Trump, or Joyful Kamala, because most of us Humans are neither here nor there! Anyway, what do I write about that Anyone reading my posts isn’t aware of? There does not seem to be any original news to impart, nor any new opinion, or explanation that can sway those who are entrenched in their convictions whatever those may be. Those who know Know, and those who don’t Don’t want to Know! It’s as simple as that.

Nevertheless, the Covid Virus that infected our World with a pathogen left us with a more Malicious aftermath: a Virus of Divisiveness, Bigotry, Cruelty and Vengeance that has probably been in the making prior to Covid, and one that is proving to be even Deadlier as we can witness in Gaza and the West Bank, in Sudan, in Burma, in Kenya, in Ukraine (and Anyone who thinks this will end well does not know Putin!), in Congo, in Venezuela et al. Incidentally, do you recall that indescript fellow Guaido, Maduro’s Opponent at one time and whom our own Meddling United States Government had prepped for President and failed to do so? Another failure of another Coup, and of our unending meddling in South America!

Perhaps the only Rays of Hope that I can see these past two weeks came from Bangladesh and England. In Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, a Moral Nobel Prize Recipient was elected as the new President of that country after Students galvanized their Nation and called for Equity, Justice and Freedom. It was quite an Inspirational Event whereby another Authoritarian Ruler was made to run away with her tail between her legs after shamefully causing the death of hundreds of youngsters! Of course, that’s not the end of the turmoil as Malicious Hands will now try to seize this opportunity in order to create chaos. Evil never stops its doings!

In England the Starmer Government took a very strong stand against the Far Right Fringe who were being encouraged by such worms as Nigel Farage and others. We saw an ugly display of Bigotry, Hate and Violence that drove most of the British Humans to Recoil and to support cracking down on the Radicals who were inflamed by what started as an on-line Lie! Sheeple! Yes, Authoritarianism can rear its Evil Head Anywhere and Everywhere even in so-called “Civilized” nations!

Going back to the onslaught of news and events coming at us from all sides, the Presidential Election in these United States is proving to be more dizzying than a Whirling Dervish! My own two cents worth of a reaction is that I don’t know how Tim will be as Vice President, or if Kamala will be our President, and I very much doubt that our Foreign Policy will change whomever is in charge. It has not during my over forty years in this country, and not since the two World Wars. It has not even been adjusted in any way except to become more virulent. The only difference between one Administration and Another has been the Packaging and Optics! So, no, I am not holding my breath for a Kamala/Walz Administration to change that. And, no, I have not yet decided whom I will vote for, because I am way beyond getting excited by manufactured hullabaloo! Meanwhile, irrelevant of his condition and my empathy for it, Biden is and will forevermore be Genocide Joe!

I listen to some of the things that the Ignorant out there say. Many simply repeat what Trump/Vance spouted, or what they heard on the Evil Murdoch’s Fox News. They have no concept of History, no capability of Analysis, no desire to listen to Another Point of View. They simply Cannot and Will Not be Anything but Echoes! There are also so many other Echoes who repeat the exact same things that they heard during the latest Democratic Party Rally. I am sure that this Election will be decided by those who are seriously thinking this through. Would they be enough to decide what’s the better path for this country and the World? I sure hope so!

Of course the appalling recent news were the reports issued by B’Tselem, as well as other sources, about the cruel, criminal and evil treatment that Palestinian prisoners are being subjected to in Israel, and the ongoing atrocities that are going on Daily in Gaza, as well as the West Bank. We, Palestinians, have been aware of that for far too long, yet our “Truth” on so many “Facts” has always been suspect, disparaged and ignored! The Israeli Government Machine of Lies, Deceit and Propaganda is on full throttle drowning out Reason, Justice and Legality! Human Rights, my ass!

And, Yes, The More Things Change . . . The More They Stay The Disgusting, Horrific, Tragic, War-mongering Same!