Shalabieh’s World

EMERGENCY PROTEST AGAINST MASSACRES IN GAZA!

TIME: MONDAY 29th, 4PM

LET US SHOW OUR OUTRAGE TOGETHER!

PLEASE TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY

LOCATION: SHARE3 AL-THAQAFA, SHMESANI

(This protest has been approved by the Governor of Amman and is organised by concerned Jordanian citizens).

Contact:

Mary (079 55 22 702) (English/French)
Ruba (079 55 07 479) (Arabic)
Mohammad (079 9207 056 (Arabic/Spanish)

Note: We will be gathering at the Radisson SAS hotel at 11am tomorrow (Monday) to prepare posters and banners. We need help. Please join us. Please call numbers above for information.

اعتصام إحتجاجاً على المجازر في غزة

الوقت: غداً الإثنين 29/12 الساعة الرابعة مساءاً

المكان: شارع الثقافة – الشميساني

لنظهر غضبنا معا!

من فضلكم أخبروا أصدقائكم وأقاربكم

(يلاقي هذا الإحتجاج موافقة من محافظة عمان وينظم من قبل مواطنين أردنيين مهتمين)

للاتصال

ماري 0795522702 انجليزي/فرنسي
ربا 0795507479 عربي
محمد 0799207056 عربي/إسباني

ملاحظة: سنتجمع في فندق الراديسون ساس غداً (الإثنين) الساعة 11 صباحاً لتجهيز اليافطات. نحتاج للمساعدة. نرجوا أن تنضموا إلينا. للمزيد من المعلومات يرجى الاتصال في الأرقام أعلاه.

I feel impotent. I feel angry and frustrated. Gaza is being leveled people are being exterminated like they are vermin, rodents to be snuffed out easily and quickly. And we watch doing nothing. You can go out and demonstrate in front of government offices, embassies, unions. You can donate time, money, resources and blood. You can send thoughts, prayers and all of that. But it is all futile; The killing will not stop.

Aid is all good and necessary to support the Palestinians. The opening of borders for humanitarian cases is also good. Solidarity is good. Our anger and frustration is all good. But to me it is all a farce. All of this should never have to happen! There should be freedom of movement. There should be food, water, medicine, electricity and dignity. And there is no way we can give any of that to the people in Gaza.

Nothing justifies the killing of humans in this way. This genocide, this cleansing is an extermination of a peoples unwanted by the Israelis. It is horrific and the international community condemns these acts with one hand and with the other continues to support Israel with justifications, sympathy, money, and weapons.

I feel impotent because whatever I do here may help the situation but will not stop it and that is what needs to happen. I have been racking my brains since I heard and my anger and frustration levels have just been escalating. If I demonstrate will politicians or diplomats here be able to pressure Israel into stopping? If I donate blood will it erase the trauma and the pain inflicted in the psyches of the wounded and the maimed? If I send aid in any form or shape or size will it bring back the dead?

Who can make this stop? How can we make it stop? I am at a loss! As an individual sitting here in the comfort of my home, in the warmth of my office, behind a screen what can I do? Singularly or collectively not just to help ease the suffering but to stop this atrocity WHAT CAN I DO?

Yesterday I had the pleasure of chatting with one of our city’s great cab drivers. Seeing as how I’ve been riding cabs for 16 years I do have a soft spot for taxi drivers. And this story that I will retell is one of the reasons why I will not stop riding in taxis.

I was taking a short ride (too short if you ask me) from Abdoun to Jabal Amman in the early evening. I jump into the cab and after greeting the taxi driver I commented on how cold it is. His response and the conversation that followed took up from the weather to AIDS! Here is the short version of how the conversation went.

The cab drivers response to the weather was yes it even rained in X (X being a town or village I had never heard of and for the life of me can not remember its name now).

Me: Really where is X?
Him: You don’t know X?
Me: NO I don’t know X, where is it?
Him: You really don’t know X? It is 15 km out of Halabat.near Azraq.

Now I know where Halabat is and I was very curious as to how he knew precisely where this town that got rain is and how he found out. And so I asked him. He found out it had rained there because they said so on the radio. How he knows where it is that is where the story gets interesting.

He knows this little town because he had taken passengers there. When asked why his reply was “Because the woman wanted a divorce”. Oh boy did that make me even more curios! Why did a woman need to go to X to get a divorce? And so I asked and to make a long story short… there is a man that can meet your needs of divorce, pregnancy, marriage, health and all that residing in X. After a lot of questions and answers it seems this man was able to facilitate a divorce through potions and readings within one week and a pregnancy within three months by the ingestion of sheep pooh and potions and readings. The price of divorce if you were wondering is JD 135 and a baby JD 65.

I was fascinated by the whole conversation and I asked him if he really believed in all this to which his response was “how else can you explain it?” And he went on to discuss in more detail the divorce. From that conversation he told me that one of the reasons the woman wanted and obtained a divorce was that her husband had AIDS and she needed a divorce because he could pass it on to her just by breathing on her. At this point I stopped him and explained to him how AIDS can be transmitted. The cab ride ended with me telling him not to believe anything anyone tells him not even me. But to go and read, learn for himself.

I left that cab ride think it was too short. I wanted to move away from sorcery and misinformation to where we could have a discussion about how and why things happen logically and maybe even talk about the science behind the transmission of HIV. Point him in the direction of information that he can assess for himself.

I know that the whole discussion was initiated by him purposely by introducing the town X. He probably thought he could get a new client to go there and solicit help from the paranormal. He got more than he bargained for in the discussion. But if last night is any indication we still have a long way to go with and without a meter!

Its that time of the year when consumerism is at its best and we all go on these shopping frenzies all over the world. Whether it’s the holidays or the sales is up for debate, but I do know that there is a better way to spend your money than on that unwanted and unneeded pair of reindeer socks.

A friend of mine sent me an email a couple of days ago with a great idea (thanks AK). She has asked us all to give ourselves health insurance. Now you may think she works for a health insurance company or is trying to get something out of it but no, that is not the case. She has asked that we all buy a plan from The King Hussein Cancer Center (KHCC).

Some of you may be covered through your office health insurance plans or through a parent’s plan, a spouse’s or even your school and so may have no need for more health insurance. But this is a plan with a twist. Buying an insurance plan from the KHCC helps cover you in case of the need for cancer treatment. But that is not what is really cool about this health insurance. The money you pay towards your health insurance actually gets used to cover cancer patients’ medical costs. It helps those that are in need fight this unforgiving and indiscriminant disease.

The plans are affordable and go a long way in fighting the battle against cancer. So if you are out shopping, buying gifts, spending money think about buying yourself, or someone dear, a gift that keeps on giving.

Here are the options for insurance (valid for a year):

Age                              Paid Amount JD/Year                   Insurance Amount

1 day-34 years                        10 JD                                       10,000 JD

                                                23 JD                                       20,000 JD

35 years-49 years                   25 JD                                       10,000 JD

                                                58 JD                                       20,000 JD

50 years-64 years                   45 JD                                       10,000 JD

                                               104 JD                                     20,000 JD

65 years-Above                       70 JD                                       10,000 JD

                                                161 JD                                     20,000 JD       

All you need to do is fill out a form with your national number, date of birth and sign it. Six months after they receive the form the insurance will be activated. You have to pay the insurance amount in full (10-161 JD which ever insurance works for you).

For more information contact

King Hussein Cancer Foundation
P.O. Box 35102
Amman 11180 Jordan
Telephone: + 962 6 4617555
Facsimile: + 962 6 4618999
E-mail: info.foundation@KHCC.jo

I hope you never have to use this insurance but help those who do. Get your insurance now and be a giver to those who need it the most.