"Move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. Walk in someone else's shoes or at least eat their food. Open your mind; get up off the couch; move." -Anthony Bourdain
I have 9 days of leave in about two weeks, and I'm trying to decide where to go. Does anyone have suggestions of fun, safe, relatively cheapish destinations in the Middle East or Europe? I'm going to do Turkey over a long weekend since it's so close, and have plans to do Jordan in late summer/early fall, but I have this practically free vacation time so I want to see somewhere I've never seen if possible.
Places I've been (and thus don't want to go again just yet):
Tunisia, Israel/Palestine, Netherlands (and Iraq, though that would hardly qualify as a vacation since I live here)
Man, looking at it on a map sure reminds me how little I've seen
I'm eyeballing France, Italy, Spain, Lebanon, Greece, Georgia... I briefly contemplated heading in the other direction toward India... and am definitely open to suggestions. Thoughts, anyone?
It's really interesting to watch the news in the US from an international perspective. First of all, the language we use totally shifts when we talk about something we identify with versus something we see as different. Our language shifts depending our perspective-- "Police" become "security forces". "Black community" becomes "thugs". "Uprising" becomes "riot".
You can trace our sympathies to the way we view our systems. In the Arab Spring, when people saw common people coming together against an unjust system, they were activists and heroes. When we see the same thing happening in the streets of Baltimore, based on the blind eye we turn toward our own systems of oppression, we don't see people rising up against a injustice. When protesters destroyed property in Tunisia, it was seen as the dismantling of a corrupt system. In Baltimore, we look for rioters; we look for looters. We begin to shift the conversation from the loss of life and the perpetual fear that exists within the black community by people in positions of power to the destruction of property. Property lost is indeed tragic. It costs people income lost in the time it takes to rebuild, which especially in low income areas can cut into very narrow margins of spending money. It might mean missed rents, possibly eviction, lost jobs. But a lost life is forever. A lost store is not. There is no insurance on a life. There is no social safety net for the dead.
Here's what I know. I lived in Palestine for three months, and the constant tension of living under the threat of Israeli troops, the tensing up and immediately avoiding eye contact, the way my heart beat faster when they entered the area, was real. It was visceral. It was unavoidable. Even as an American. Even knowing that I wasn't in danger of these Israeli forces. Even knowing I had done nothing wrong. I know that by the time I left there, I more than understood the desire to throw rocks. I didn't live there forever, and I always had an out in the form of an American passport. People who live with that kind of fear carry it with them forever. It literally changes which genes are switched on. We might not want to acknowledge it, but people of color, particularly those from low income areas, live with that kind of fear all the time. Constantly. Even knowing they've done nothing wrong. There is a reason that black boys run when they hear cops, even when they are innocent. Our system isn't built to support everyone equally. And that kind of fear isn't something that anyone should have to grow up with. It's unjust in Palestine and it's unjust in Syria and it's unjust in the United States.
It is absolutely shameful that anyone ever even needed to say that #BlackLivesMatter, and that saying it doesn't even begin to make it true for everyone. All lives do matter, and the reason that shift in rhetoric in this particular conversation is because our system doesn't devalue my life as a white woman or the life of a cop in the same way that the life of a black man is devalued. Even if that man is a petty thief, even if that man is behind on child support. It goes without saying that all lives matter. It should go without saying that Black lives matter. But it doesn't, so we need to say it until it becomes true. Black lives matter. Our system is unjust. Crime and poverty are systemic, but first steps in building trust have to come from the people who wield the power. The oppressed cannot be held to the same standards as the oppressor. We need to do better, and we can't do better when we don't want to have these conversations.
I find myself leaving tabs open on my computer relatively often, looking for an outlet for the thought provoking, the painful, the inspiring. And eventually I shut down my computer, and I forget about them. But that's not necessarily what I want to be doing with these things that I come across. I want to share them, or at least keep note of them somewhere. And since I have an office job, with very little to report on work-wise, I'll occasionally be sharing these things here, if only because I now have so many tabs open that I can't read what they are.
Just wanted to give a quick update in case people are watching the news and worrying. A car bomb went off in Erbil today, but we (and all of our staff) are okay. We'll be staying in the house for the rest of today and tomorrow and then will reassess movements after that, though it's quite calm in the city now.
Shop proprietor (in Arabic): That will be 2,000 dinar (about $1.60) Me: Okay, great, hang on just a second (rummage in my bag for cash) Me: You speak Arabic, not Kurdish. Where are you from? Shop guy: Syria (names region). What about you, Syrian as well? Me: No, I'm American actually Shop guy: ..... Iraqi? Me: Nope, American, I just learned Arabic. Shop guy: Are you Iraqi-American? Me: No, American-American. Shop guy: But you speak Arabic. Me: Yeah, I studied in school and lived in Palestine and Tunisia too, and here now, obviously. Shop guy: You... live here? Where is your family from? Me: America. Shop guy: Huh.. America...
According to this article, this little girl is a 4 year old Syrian refugee child. Upon seeing a photojournalist with a telephoto lens on her camera, she tightened her lips into a frown and raised both hands over her head in surrender-- at four years old, well versed in what to do when a weapon is being pointed at you.
Nobody can fix everything, and I certainly can't make things better for this kiddo, but the world has the capacity for incredible pain and depth of despair, and equal capacity for hope and peace. And kids like this, who have experienced nothing but war in their lifetimes, like the displaced I saw earlier this week participating in soccer and tug of war with their Kurdish neighbors for World Day of Sport for Peace and Development activities, who have been forced from their homes and have experienced more dark than anyone could even hope to imagine, deserve a shot at some hope for a better future. So I'll do what I can, whatever small part that might be.
A class of Arab students from the local IDP (internally displaced people) school came to participate in World Day of Sport for Peace and Development.
When I was in Palestine, I got to see the hip hop group DAM play. These guys are among the most influential rappers in the Arab world, and while their lyrics feel a bit clunky at times to me, they are still pretty amazing.
Check out their latest song (their first released with their newest addition to the group, Maysa Daw), which tackles misogyny and feminism in a really unique way. (English translations available by clicking the CC button in the bottom right).
If you're interested in reading more, check out this article on the band and the song.
