Angel and Demon

 source: twitter @bianconerifan

In Search of Fatima: a Palestinian story by Ghada Karmi

Anyone ever read this book? I read some reviews and I am interested, now I am looking for this book.

There can be no solution to the Arab-Israeli crisis until the pain of both sides is fully recognised. We are all sadly familiar with the shameful saga of genocide, persecution and atrocity that led to the creation of the Jewish state of Israel, but Palestinians have their own tragic history. In Search of Fatima is, I believe, the first account in English of the suffering endured by an ordinary Palestinian family, but Ghada Karmi's compelling and beautifully written narrative is more than a personal memoir. It enables the reader to understand and to empathise with the psychological dislocation of exile that continues to fuel the Palestinian cause.

Karmi left Jerusalem in April 1948 when she was nine, a month before the creation of the Jewish state. Her father was not an activist but an educationalist, and had no intention of leaving until the violence, culminating in the massacre of some 250 Arabs in the village of Deir Yasin, obliged the family to take refuge in London – never dreaming they would not be allowed to return. From a child's perspective, Karmi vividly describes such terrifying incidents as the bombing of the hotel near her home, the bewilderment of the exodus itself, and the heartbreaking separation from Fatima, her nurse, and her beloved dog Rex.

Inevitably, Karmi's account challenges the official Israeli version; but, ironically, her story echoes the Jewish experience of exile, and the problems of identity and assimilation. Her parents never truly recovered from the loss of their homeland, which they experienced not only as trauma, but also as shame. Her mother became "a Palestinian Miss Havisham", for whom the clock stopped in 1948. She transformed her north London semi into a traditional Arab home, tearing up carpets, substituting tiles, banning central heating, and refusing for 30 years to decorate, because she was convinced that they would soon be returning to Palestine.

Karmi herself spent years denying her origins, and cultivated a militantly British identity. When she married an Englishman, her mother's distress was as acute as that of any Jewish mother whose child has "married out". It was not until the Arab defeat of 1967 that Karmi was forced to reclaim her roots and become an activist – a decision which led to the collapse of her marriage. Her siblings have also led splintered lives, oscillating uneasily between Europe and the Middle East, unable to settle anywhere.

Despite its real pathos, the story never becomes maudlin. There is humour and robust self-criticism. The book is also remarkable in its lack of rancour. Karmi is naturally highly critical of Israeli policy, but there is no hint of anti-semitism, which, she shows clearly, was entirely alien to Arab culture. Her parents blamed the British for their plight rather than the Zionists and were bewildered by the engrained anti-semitism of British society. Because – bizarrely – the family settled in Golders Green, Karmi's closest childhood friends really were Jewish, and she pays tribute to the support she has received throughout from Jewish sympathisers.

Karmi's great achievement is to humanise the Palestinian predicament. Violent uprooting and exile have permanent psychological effects, which, as the Jewish people discovered, are not necessarily assuaged by the passage of time. We need counter-narratives like this, because we have recently learnt that it is not only parochial but also dangerous to ignore the pain and rights of others.

Source : http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/in-search-of-fatima-a-palestinian-story-by-ghada-karmi-610840.html

Life is An Adventure!

I like the way children see the world through their innocent eyes. World is their playground, sky is the limit and time is infinite. Every step is discovery, every single object is the latest invention. Life is an adventure!

The yellow and orange partners-in-crime_Phase 1:
performing the war dancing, get ready!

The yellow and orange partners-in-crime_Phase 2:
yellow: threaten the enemy with zombie-style attack

orange: trying to change into super-boy by squeezing his nose

The yellow and orange partners-in-crime_Phase 3:
compete in fishing, fighting over important resources (resources war)

The yellow and orange partners-in-crime_Phase 4:
yellow: getting bored and yawning, realizing there is no fish in the lake
orange: get ready to push the careless enemy into the lake

The yellow and orange partners-in-crime_Phase 5:
yellow: running away from the enemy's attack
orange: invisible mode:ON

The yellow and orange partners-in-crime_Phase 6:
yellow: hulk-mode: ON, trying to scare the enemy off 
orange: cool-mode:ON, trying to prove that he isn't scared

The yellow and orange partners-in-crime_Phase 7:
cooperate in fighting a common enemy (dark blue), who is bigger and more scary

The yellow and orange partners-in-crime_Phase 8: 
discussing about political coalition, military alliance and the next war strategy

The yellow and orange partners-in-crime_Phase 9:
negotiate and doing diplomacy: who gets what, when and how....

The yellow and orange partners-in-crime_Phase 10 (final):
finishing the diplomacy, peace agreement and everybody happy & satisfied in their own expression :-)

Hati Tulus...

mau yang halus mulus tapi ga' ada fulus, terpaksa doa khusus&usaha terus tanpa akal bulus, hanya modal hati tulus...

 

My First International Dream

My first encounter with international "things" came from a very strange foreign language spoken by my uncle, Amato Del Capo, and his friends. I remember the day clearly because I was like 7 or 8 years old, just entering elementary school. I don't exactly remember the words said by my uncle and his friends, but it sounded like "cappucino", "mamma mia", and other words pronounced similar to them.

Even though I don't understand a single word of these alien language, somehow I was attracted and fell in love (a little bit dramatized? it's ok to make this story more interesting :)) with this unique sound and language. I was trying to memorize, imitate and pronounce all the new words I could remember like a witch doing his spell. I also annoyed my uncle by aggressively asking him to teach me about that eccentric language.

A few years later I knew that it was Italian language and I taught my self an Italian by reading and learning from my uncle's book, "How to Learn Italian in 2 Weeks". Exactly after 2 weeks, I was able to speak Italian, had a self-conversation in Italian, memorize all the numbers from zero to fifteen in Italian and understand some basic words and grammar of Italian language. Not much of course, but for a little boy who born, live and grow up in a small town in Indonesia, being able to speak a little bit of foreign language like Italian (with my odd Javanese accent of course) is one hell of achievement. It's like you won an Oscar in your first ever appearance in movies :).

And ever since that, I never had any dreams or goals besides traveling around the world (especially to Italy), learning all the different and strange languages, feeling snow on your skin (because I live in Indonesia and it's tropical country) and knowing all foreign news and information.

That's why I like reading only international news in newspaper, being so excited in learning English language (the only foreign language in my school till high school), looking hours at world map and playing globe and so impressed about it, ask my Mom too often to cook Pizza, Spaghetti, Macaroni and other Italian food (by the way, she's the best Mom and chef in the world ever, she could cook her family from a traditional Javanese cakes, Italian spaghetti or Arabic Sami Bread with a quality of 5 star hotel restaurant!! I tell about her later in my next posting :)) and being a computer and internet freak since junior high because I realized this unique machine can be my media to learn unique languages and cultures simply because their all just the same for me, unique, different and interesting. Yes, those three adjectives are always in my imaginations and becoming spirit to achieve my dream, unique, different and interesting :)

~ to be continued...