North Carolina Fears Sharia Law

It has come to the attention of the world that North Carolina is putting in all the efforts possible in order to ensure that Sharia Law would not be upheld in their state. While the United States of America boasts a reputation for being the land of the free and home of the brave, the latter part of that statement is very loosely applied these days. One can understand the underlying fear many Americans may have when they hear of this religion of which the only thing they can associate it with is terrorist bombers and threats, the fact that they felt the need to actually go out of their way to make sure sharia law would not be applied is pushing things a little.

As a bystander, the initial reaction is to stop and try to figure out exactly where this threat of Islamic law is coming from. Who are these big men in beards and white flowing dresses that are coming to take over the country and stone your women? Even before considering this point, it would be important for each and every one of these people to do a little bit of research (EEP!!) on sharia law to fully understand the extent of it. This would also help in destroying any predisposed notions they have that Islam actually encourages terrorist and infidel hunts. Talk about making people feel alienated, why would Muslims want to impose sharia law in the US?

In discussing this issue, we come to realize that as much as we like to think that these cities that our parents or ourselves immigrated to are home, they really aren’t. Although we are welcomed here and treated fairly and many people from the motherland wonder day and night whether our winters resemble what they saw in the movie Serendipity, it’s issues like this one that emphasize the point that sometimes, we aren’t exactly welcome. This is not to say that I encourage the application of sharia law across the world, this law is meant to be applied on Muslims in order for us to have a proper way of life based on our religious beliefs.

Imagine living in a city where people fear you simply because of the stupidity of the outlier in the bunch; one idiot blows himself up and leaves millions of people to clean up his mess while hoping he burns in the pits of Lucifer’s lair. I’ve said this once and I’ll say it again; Muslim’s public relations really needs a facelift and this is the biggest challenge of living life on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. We’re always on our toes watching what we say and how we say it out of concern that some comment or joke we make may be taken out of context and blown out of proportion. Some may think that I’m blowing things out of the proportion but the fact of the matter remains that when anyone reads that republicans are attempting to ban sharia law, we all just want to shut our mouths and stay as low key as humanly possible because no one really knows what the next bright idea they come up with will be.

While many of us know that this law will not amount to very much given the fact that the “Supremacy Clause” in the US stipulates that the law of the land is the one that will be applied in the country and will supersede any other law in the courts, it saddens many of us when we feel that our presence has created some form of a threat to the local people. We do in fact come in peace and merely wish to lead normal lives, pay our dues and even give back to the country that has given our families so much already. Many of us have even assimilated ourselves to this culture and have surrendered many habits that relate back to the motherland although we still keep our superstitions and our ability to overpower a conversation with our supersonic voice options and strong political opinions.

Division & Destruction

It has been known throughout time that a people, divided, will fall. Strength has always been and always will be in numbers and this theory seems to be something that many egyptians have forgotten in the wake of the recent events that took place. It is normal to have a vast array of opinions, even healthy and encouraged, but the fact of the matter remains that if a people can't reach a common ground on their demands, we will never achieve the success we so badly want and deserve. As we get caught up trying to figure out who is pro what and against who, the world continues to go around and around and governments take it upon themselves to make decisions while their people are too distracted to realize whether they even agree to these decisions. 

While we fight so hard to try to convince our families and friends of our opinions and categorize our surroundings into the niches we created, our lives as egyptians are being decided for us. It hurts to see that we cannot come together like we once did two years ago, united all under one common goal. Today, we are all quoting Bush's famous comment before going off and being the saving grace for the iraqi people: "you're either with us or against us". Who is us? Who is them? Who am I against? Who decided all these things and why are we falling into the same trap that many people before us have fallen into?  

In response to the recent events in Egypt, we have drawn a very thick red line between us and them and have thus forced the wheel to start spinning towards our demise. We are destroying ourselves. Whether it's a division on an opinion about the military, the Muslim Brotherhood or even whether you're egyptian enough to be discussing this, we are gearing ourselves to fall into a bottomless pit of destruction. Consider this fair warning: do not let this happen for the sake of Egypt.  

So the next time you are sitting with friends and are hashing out your political affiliations and opinions keep in mind that at that exact moment, decisions are being made that will affect your life whether you agree with them or not. This not to say that we shouldn't discuss the issues, but instead of arguing amongst ourselves and making that dividing line between us and them thicker and thicker, embrace one another, embrace the difference and remember that the passion you all feel is because we all have one common goal: a better and brighter future for Egypt. 

تحيا مصر وتحيا الحرية - Long live Egypt and long live freedom. 

Light at the end of the palestinian tunnel?

For years this conflict has taken over our history books and evening conversations with friends. With no real solution in site, many would enjoy simply hashing out the facts that they knew in order to try and see if maybe just maybe they would be able to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The history that stems back so far that most of us were not born at the time is biased and depends on the historian and the facts that lead to the modern day conflict follow suit. Essentially, there’s a few theories about what happened: the Palestinians were thrown out of their houses, the Palestinians gave their houses away willingly, the Israelis needed a place of their own after being persecuted in Europe and this land was the obvious choice based on scriptures, no one was there, the list is endless when it comes to theories and versions of what happened when the conflict began.

Now while violence is still taking place on Israeli/Palestinian land, diplomats from across the world are attempting to figure out what they could possibly do in order to fix the situation and find a common grown for both people to live peacefully. World leaders such as a very memorable Hugo Chavez took to the podium and proceeded to claim that he would cut ties with Israel because of the genocide it’s committing, with even less diplomacy left at his disposal he, on another occasion, accused George Bush of being the devil. Years later, the United Nations recognized Palestine as a “non-member state”, a huge leap in the Palestinian cause. The conflict that spanned through the ages has split the international realm in two and has left both sides with little to no options for peace.

Except recently.

The US secretary of state John Kerry has taken it upon himself to change the world and find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He has made it his personal mission to create an atmosphere where negotiations will take place peacefully until both sides reach some sort of agreement. The meeting that will be held in Washington, and sponsored by the United States, is hoped to be the cornerstone for the end of this historical conflict. Although the world is very skeptical as to what will produce out of these talks, the idea of been there done that comes to mind. Peace talks were organized between both parties many times and they all ended in the same manner, but maybe this time it’ll be different.

Kerry is putting in every effort in order to ensure that these talks will go smoothly and put an end of the conflict, him along with Israeli Prime Minister and President Mahmoud Abbas are hopeful that this will be a new beginning for both their people. The pressure on these talks is high; if they don’t go as planned the options that both Israelis and the Palestinians will face are bleak and will most likely lead to more violence in the area and a lost of hope of ever coming together to reach an agreement. If these talks fail, it may well be a complete disaster for both sides.

The situation is not that simple, if it was a question of borders the solution would have been simple but aside from borders and land swapping the real issue is the questions of Jerusalem. Where will Jerusalem go and who will preside over it? This conundrum is the biggest obstacle with both Israelis and Palestinians drawing their roots back to the ancient city and seeing it as the capital of their respective countries. With Israel refusing to split the city, this will be a huge roadblock in the peace talks and we can only wait and see how Kerry will manoeuver around this very sensitive issue. Finally there’s the fate of 4.9 million Palestinian refugees from the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem and the diaspora who will remain homeless unless we go back to the pre-1948 borderlines.

This predicament is complicated in every sense of the word; no one has a clear idea of the history, the present or the future of the piece of land claimed by two peoples. The rest of the world which is wedged nicely in the middle of the problem are also at a loss, choosing sides would mean pointing the finger in the other direction with a series of accusations that would make your head spin which is why many choose to remain on the sidelines and hope that the situation will just solve itself. The beacon of hope we now have lies in John Kerry who is determined to put an end to the conflict and come to an agreement with both parties no matter how skeptical we all are about his abilities to do so. With the UN recognition and Netanyahu wanting to finish his last term with a bang, however, there is a little light of hope that they may well just come to terms with the issue and not just shake hands at the end of these talks but also sign agreements together. All we can do now is wait, watch and hope.