Jerusalem <3

So - now that Gaza is no longer an option it looks like the only other rational thing to do is go to the West Bank! :)

I'm here another 10 days in Cairo and I've seen all the touristy things and seen the basics of Cairo and Egypt and they've been beautiful but its a new year, and its time for new ideas and I got a new game plan.

I'm going to try and hit up Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Bethlehem and somehow, alhumdulilah, I seem to know people in almost all of those areas so I'll have someone to show me around and inshAllah take me in maybe too if we can work it out like that.

West Bank, here I come!!

xoxox

Why We Fight.

Amnesty International and several other human rights organizations and groups from the international community released a report today on how the world has failed the people of Gaza by not acting more strongly to shatter this brutal occupation.

I cannot believe how timely the release of such a strong report is, especially with the Gaza Freedom March. I hope this will answer the "why" and "what for" questions when people ask why it is not time for action - great action, to end this inhumanity. This is why the Gaza Freedom March is critical because while the diplomats and the Prime Ministers have stopped paying attention - we haven't. The people of Gaza have not forgotten their loved ones who were so ruthlessly murdered in the name of 'defense', their suffering has not lessened by any degree whatsoever, and the culprits behind all of this brutality are not only not being held accountable, their crimes against humanity are completely ignored. What kind of world is this?! While they all may have forgotten, the people of Gaza, of Palestine, have not and neither have we.

We have not, we will not, and we will not be silent by any measure.

It is time for this occupation to end, it is time for the inhumanity to stop, it is time, it is time, it is time.

Read the report and the articles here:

Aid agencies have strongly criticised the international community for failing to help bring an end to Israel's blockade of Gaza.

The charities made the accusation in a report published just ahead of the anniversary of Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The aid agencies condemn not just Israel, but the world community.

In the words of Oxfam's director, Jeremy Hobbs, "world powers have failed and betrayed Gaza's ordinary citizens".

The charities call for more pressure to be exerted on Israel to end what they describe as its illegal collective punishment of Gazans.

Gazans despair over blockade Gaza voices: Life under blockade Guide: Gaza under blockade

Israel imposed a tightened blockade after the Islamist Hamas movement seized power two-and-a-half years ago.

That was bad enough, say the aid agencies.

Matters became that much worse after the destruction caused by the Israeli offensive in Gaza earlier this year.

The report points to an acute shortage, in particular, of building materials.

A spokesman for the Israeli prime minister told the BBC that Israel remains committed to humanitarian supplies of food, medicine and power.

But he said that sanctions will remain in place as long as Hamas is committed to destroying Israel and killing Israelis.

Getting ready.

Peace everyone,

My name is Sana Javed, and I'm going to graduate this Sunday from the University of Maryland with a degree in Government and Politics and Spanish Languages and Literature. I'm a member of the Muslim Students Association and Students for Justice in Palestine.

I am from the DMV- (D.C./MD/VA) and in one week I will be leaving for Egypt. On December 26th I will be joining over 1300 activists and other human beings of conscious for the Gaza Freedom March. This march is to demand an end to the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and to remember that exactly one year ago, Israel massacred 1400 Palestinians, where 900 of them were women and children.

I hope with this blog that I can describe and write the things I've seen, the people I've met, and relay what life under a brutal occupation is really like. I doubt this will be a fun blog with vacation like memories, but it will be real and honest and about the people living in the Gaza Strip.

Oh and the name of this blog, is in reference to what Palestinians use when they are gassed by Israeli soldiers. When gassed, they tie their keffiyeh on like a mask, and then cut onions and hold it up to their face to lessen the burning from the gas.

This one is for Gaza.

In struggle,
Sana.