I really wonder as some state that Israel and its resolutions to the regional peace are solutions to Middle East!!! Israel since its early days has been a misery to the Middle East and now since some of her supporting dictators as Mubarak are gone, she feels must do something, to play some kind of peaceful  shows to fix its situation in the new Middle East. They are preparing to call for peace negotiations but its late my friends. You’ve done the worst in the historic mind of Middle Eastern people. Are we puppets to make us dance as you like? No my friends!

It’s too late for change, too late!

He answered, “it’s the religion of freedom, as you enter (turn into) it, they cut head of your genital, and as you exit it, they cut head of yourself”!!!

Just as I opened my eyes, I was already tired of life.
I dont know what happened, but I grew old while I was young.
They told me I was a lefty, on the wrong path, a not a believer.
But when did you answer my questions?
From the day I opened my eyes, there was the war.
In fathers hand there was a gun instead of a pen.
The answer to each of my questions was a rock.
Let me tell the story for once. You and I both know the pain and the roots.
Let me think I am a human, for once.
Let me think I live in a normal [healthy] society, for once.
Let me forget that Ive been beaten in the head for 20 years; that I am worthless, dirt, left over.
Let me close my eyes and not see [witness] my sisters gaze, my mothers cry.
Let me close my eyes and say that I am fortunate; that I have a tomorrow and I look forward to it.

You laugh inside if you are pampered in abundance. But life for us is something else.
Its the moments which have passed in dreams. The red tears of eyes full of blood.
This is not life, this is convulsing, dying. Its like waking alive each morning, and dying every night.
Its like going after returned checks, dealing with poverty, with all that is unfortunate.
Its like holding your skirt over your head, loosing all the respect in your hood, wanting to die.
You must sell yourself, you need money. If they beat you in the head, you remain quite.
I told this to many but no one responded.

Around us: its always night, a scary night.
Around us: even death is sick,
around us: each person is riding many,
around us: its a collection of measure.

Around us whore is the name for the housewife with no other means for dinner.
Around us [men of] knowledge sit on the sidewalks, its real hard not to feel ashamed of yourself.
Where what it means to be a human is always under question, living like one is very hard.
There is a heavy load on your shoulder; frightening voices occupy your ears.
Murderers are studying at the universities, and students are in prison.
Around us Nationality is a broken tableau [piece of stone referring to the Persepolis, etc - broken]; identity is a door which has been closed for 14 centuries [Arab/Islamic invasion and what ensued].
In our hood men are half price; worth less than a dog. Here we are used to being beaten in the head [expression forced to obey].
God laughs, bares witness to this. Here if you are sad, they suggest suicide as the solution.
Here living is harder than life. Here living is harder than life.
Around us

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ckQPLV6csQ[/youtube]

A brief report by CNN

Protesters and a plain cloth member

Mubarak, bin Ali, this is the time for Seyed Ali

Another video

Updates from CrowdVoice.org:

It is reported that many people in Tehran have screamed “Allah Akbar” (or God is big) and “Down with dictator” to boost their protesting spirit for the next day (video1, video2).

Members of opposition party have supported the rally and also stated that “we do not need any permission from any authority for the rally this time”. Its a step forward.

Although the opposition leaders are under house arrest, their spokesperson has stated that they would attend the protest anyway.

At the other hand, Iran’s Sepah (The Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution) commander expressed that they won’t intervene the rally tomorrow and Police would have the authority to control the protesters. It seems a step back.

What would happen tomorrow in the streets of Iran still is not clear (I mean no one can foresight tomorrow). How many people would participate? Would it be a violent or non-violent? Are they going to be oppressed or would be victorious? And many other unanswered questions.

But one thing is clear: people are firm in their goals and seems know what they want this time.

Few days ago, Iranian Green Movement leaders called for a protest on February 14 in support of Tunisian and Egyptian people. It was the first call since the last year. Since I woke up today, I was following Iranian blogosphere to see how the virtual reactions to the call is. I believe after resignation of Mubarak, Iranian people have achieved self-confidence and see themselves closer to their demands. Egyptian revolution was reinforcement to Iranian non-violent movement.

Some guys created a page on facebook.com entitled “25 Bahman” (or February 14) and are inviting everyone to attend the protest. They are also discussing their goals and strategies to front the oppressing forces on the day. One interesting thing is the increasing rate of people who mark this page as “like”. As I am refreshing the page right now, the number of people is increasing about 150 persons per 15 minutes (41,817 right now)! Also the users of all Iranian cities have created their own page of February 14 and are spreading the time and location of the protest in their own cities (e.g. facebook pages for Isfahan, Rasht, Tabriz, Shiraz, Oroumieh, Kermanshah and Mashhad).

Internet since yesterday has been very slow and in some major cities is nearly down. Nonetheless the Iranian blogosphere is inflammatory. As I’m analyzing the internet users’ spirit on the facebook, websites and blogs, I think February 14 is going to be another milestone in history of Green Movement.

What is the origin of Hijab? (with an emphasis on garments like Chador, Burqa and Abaya)

As the one who started the debate, I like to write my opinion here. Persian Chador dates back to pre-Islamic era and is not necessarily developed after introduction of Islam to Iran. It also applies to Arabs. They had these kind of Hijabs before Islam.

Also there is a verse in Quran which shows that Hijab has existed before establishment of Islam:

I think Hijab developed as a phenomenon related to patriarchy. For example, I as a Middle Easter man, always wanted to avoid other men observe my wife’s attractive body. That’s because they may be motivated to go after her and make my situation vulnerable. So I have forced my wife to wear something which vanished her sexual attractiveness. And here Hijab comes.

I confess I do not know the answer. Now its your turn to express your opinion.

I also like authors and visitors of Muslimah Media Watch contribute on the discussion and help us find the answer. Everyone is welcomed.

AsiatoGaza is a movement that intends to break the illegal siege of Gaza in a peaceful manner. AsiatoGaza consists of non governmental organizations as well as people from various Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Kuwait, UAE  and various religions like Muslims, Christian, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists. In coordination with other activists all over the world, AsiatoGaza has arranged a caravan from India to Gaza with the participation of several Asian countries. This caravan will start in first week of December 2010 from India through Pakistan, Iran to Turkey and from Turkey toward Gaza.

Caravan's path

Caravan is currently in Iran (Isfahan to Tehran) and below is some photos that I took from one of caravan’s campaigns while I was in Tehran, yesterday.

Nestle, Israeli brand

Hirsi Ali is very critical of the position of women in Islamic societies and the punishments demanded by Islamic scholars for homosexuality and adultery. She considered herself a Muslim until 28 May 2002, when she became an atheist.^[74] In an interview with the Swiss magazine Das Magazin in September 2006, she said she lost her faith while sitting in an Italian restaurant in May 2002, drinking a glass of wine: “…I asked myself: Why should I burn in hell just because I’m drinking this? But what prompted me even more was the fact that the killers of 9/11 all believed in the same God I believed in.” Despite that, in the television program Rondom Tien of 12 September 2002 she called it “my religion”. She has described Islam as a “backward religion”, incompatible with democracy. In one segment on the Dutch current affairs program Nova, she challenged pupils of an Islamic primary school to choose between the Qur’an and the Dutch constitution.

In an interview in the London Evening Standard, Hirsi Ali characterizes Islam as “the new fascism”. “Just like Nazism started with Hitler’s vision, the Islamic vision is a caliphate — a society ruled by Sharia law — in which women who have sex before marriage are stoned to death, homosexuals are beaten, and “apostates like me are killed.” Sharia law is as inimical to liberal democracy as Nazism.” In this interview, she also made it clear that in her opinion it is not “a fringe group of radical Muslims who’ve hijacked Islam and that the majority of Muslims are moderate. [...] Violence is inherent in Islam — it’s a destructive, nihilistic cult of death. It legitimates murder.”

At the Sydney Writers’ Festival in June 2007, she balanced her arguments, saying “I am a Muslim” because she understood why Muslims were silent when the Qur’an was “invoked to behead captured aid workers, journalists and other Western wanderers,” as silence is “better than an argument with the author of the Holy Book who has given the command to behead infidels.” Hirsi Ali stated that she was also “not a Muslim” as she had lost the fear of the Qur’an and of Hell and lost respect for “its author” and messenger; and that she felt a “common humanity” with those she once “shunned”, such as Jews, Christians, atheists, gays, and sinners “of all stripes and colours.”

Yahweh is ashamed of occurrence of these crimes in his name everyday, my friends.