Why would I know anything about wars? I only saw a few missiles here and there.
I got some foolish emails from some people today. They complain to me that I should use my rebelliousness for the better of my Palestinian people and not talk about anything else. Hmm, those people come to my site searching for “arab girl”, “arab porn”, “arab f*** girl”, “hijab F*** girl”, “Muslim F*** girl,” etc, and they land on some unrelated post. They search through my site using my search bar that I so happily see what people search for, and they don’t get what they want. I think to my self, “hypocrites?” I don’t think that is a strong enough word to describe such Arabs.
Other people email me asking, “well, you never seen a war before. You have no idea how these people are feeling, and you are just sitting there comfortably in Canada.” True, I never been in a full fledged Israeli war. I was not born in Palestine to see anything. I was not in Lebanon in 1982. I was not in Lebanon in 2006, but I had a ticket booked for August of that year and the war started in July. I never seen the monstrosity of a true war. I apologize. I do not understand it completely. I apologize for me caring about other human beings, which happen to be the people that share the same ethnicity as me.
In 1990, the Gulf war started. I was in Riyadh, KSA still. I was 9 years old and school closed for over 2 months maybe. My family lived on the edge of the city near military bases and royalty areas. We were well equipped for a chemo or biological war. Each one of us had a gas mask and we all lived in fear. We would hear sirens go off every night. You know what sucks the most about a war? Night time and seeing missiles above your head colliding with each other to form a huge explosion. At least there was a retaliation of some sort. A fair war you could say.
Well, one night, I was out in the balcony playing. The sirens didn’t even go off, and all I saw was many missiles and explosions in the sky. My mom had to rush to the balcony to find me and hide me. I was frozen. My face turned blue and mom carried me inside because I couldn’t walk. Some life for a 9 year old eh?
I may not know or experienced a true war. But for children to see missiles above their head, and you wondering why they don’t run away or hide so quickly, is due to the fact that kids are scared to death and freeze. They can’t move and wonder to them selves, “Dear God! Why are adults so stupid, insensitive and not care about us!”
I know many people that were in Kuwait during the Gulf war and probably had worse experiences. I know many people from Lebanon and Palestine who had a lot worse. I went to Lebanon right after the war in 1991. The country was just recovering from a 15 year civil war. It was not fun to see all those ruins. War is not fun. Destruction and killing of other human beings is not fun to see or hear about.
Now you wonder why I am bitter and don’t give a SHIT about Arab countries or Israel or any organization. They are all stupid and think violence is the answer. We are still alive! Us children that saw wars! We saw it and we are sick of it. That’s why we left and finally found a place where people are NOT stupid and NOT fighting for power or religious control. WE left because WE had to! Many Arabs come here because they have to! We ran around from country to country to find another place to live. We wanted to live and stay away from shitty political rules, religious fanatics, and stupid organizations!
Is that ok with you? Do you mind me being in Canada now?
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Hats off
excellent post
Firas
You are absolutely right. I experienced domestic unrest, tanks on street in Warsaw in 1981 when I was 15 yo. I know how you feel, when the next day anything may happen.
Blog on, and bring more hope to the world.
Tom
Good rant!
You didn’t make it clear what readers were complaining about though…
Being a (rather rebellious) Palestinian living in Canada too, I totally agree with you.
Don’t let those people bother you!
@majdal
All that and it wasn’t clear? I wrote out the entire questions they asked and it wasn’t clear. Ok.. :S
Great post darling..U know people need to think before they speak I guess..it’s not a great thing to be living through war..the majority of people that do tend to be suffering from Post dramatic stress disorder…
Certainly true. There are these types of ppl who just seem to annoy ppl. their main job seems annoyance. but what the heck, just part of the game. ditch them and lets get to our work.
btw, i too get such silly visitors landing on my site. as you’ve also suggested too. lol
You don’t have to see the horrors of war to know you don’t want it to happen. Although, I’m sure once you experience something close, you know even more so. I am thankful to never have felt the fear, and I wish everyone had the same opportunity as me to live day to day worrying more about being mugged than whether white phosphorus, a missile or a bomb will be falling on you soon. Or, a tank will be just around the corner with a trigger happy solider inside. Every human, every child, deserves to live in a world without war.
Certainly, just we can’t but just imagine the child psychology during these wars and just image a child who has gone through all this and how the child will grow up and what will become in the future. Why don’t the elder people think like that.
Hi Mona, have you read Benazir Bhutto’s book? She provides a ton of excellent counter-points to people’s generally ignorant thinking irt the middle east. You might be interested to check it out
Once again – superb post!
I was in Dubai during the first Gulf war, and although we didnt see any war within UAE, there were many threats of chemical attacks, and we had to seal windows and doors, stock up on food and water. We saw tanks on the street and we saw heavier artillery in strategic locations. As a kid who was always running around outside, being closed in and not understanding what and why things were happening is very difficult to comprehend at that age.
You don’t HAVE to be in a war to know or be concerned about people who are involved in it. If you are on the periphery of it, you are as good as in it.
ur a dumb bitch…reason u r so angry all the time is coz u didnt get laid or married, yes its true, deny it all u want…yea n if u so fkn religious what u doin on facebook n listenin music etc….oh yea this is ur website so ban me, tat will b ur typical response
@ron
What does Facebook and music have to do with it? Are you on crack? Your not even Arab or Muslim. Are you writing this to prove that I will ban you? Or you want me to ban you? Or are you jealous of me? I don’t understand why people like you that hate go on ppl’s sites and show how foolish you are. Aren’t you ashamed to be sending hate comments from University of McGill? Jeez. You are seriously stupid. You should be ashamed of your self and the intelligence that you seem to lack. Spread your idiocity on the net. You must be proud.
I’m glad you didn’t see a real war. I hope you never do.
I never saw a real war either, and I’m glad.
I thought that the above things should go without saying, but I guess not.
I don’t think that having things blow up around someone makes them a smarter person nor a better thinker. I also didn’t think that being locked in a cage and tortured for years would teach anyone about how to run a large country, but what do I know?
I wish people would take the time to read more testimonies from people on both sides (Israeli & Palestinian). I’m afraid, though, this world will never be at peace, at least in my lifetime.
You’re gutsy to post some of the nastier comments you receive. I probably wouldn’t.
@Rita
Even IDIOTS!
I learned to have a lot of patience with dealing with people.
@ron
Are u seriously on crack? First of all learn how to spell…or place sentences together. You probably don’t even know how to speak proper English.
If you had something against her blog then why the eff are u lurking on it?
Seems like an educated person like you needs to step outside of your comfort zone and do something useful- build a bridge and sleep under it maybe?
How is she a dumb bitch? You are just jealous because you would never be able to measure up to the soles of her feet…better yet, her shoes.
You are logically fucked up in your mind…she has every right to be mad..do you want to know why? It’s because of people like you who are good for nothing, and expect everything to be handed down to you..and also it is people like you who are causing all these problems in the world- hence being closed minded..it’s such a shame that your parents are wasting their money on your schooling..it seems like you didn’t learn anything and education on your behalf is just a waste..
Laid or married? Buddy…if you are having issues with your own personal life deal with them..don’t take out your frustration on people you don’t even know…again that shows how stupid you really are.
These days the majority of dumb F***S act and think like you..do you think a girl like Mona- highly educated, smart, pretty, and etc would ever want to settle down with a guy like you…you must be smoking some cheap crap then….
Dude, why the hell are you putting facebook and religion in the same sentence? Honestly, i beginning to think that you were born on Jupiter. Is there any place in the Quran that says that it is haram to be on facebook, or better yet reference to the usage of facebook??? NO….and btw there is nothing wrong with social networking, we don’t live in a deserted Island, or village..we live in North America you dumb ass. And btw, it’s her website..as you “proclaim” it be, given that fact…she has every right to say and write what she feels..and if you don’t like it go find a hobby…how about read for a change; expand your closed minded thoughts? She wouldn’t be missing out on anything..it would just make her life and the filtration of comments on this blog a bit more easier.
I really don’t get the point of this post …damn ,I thought I’m smart
I think mixing your personal feelings towards your blog “customers” with other serious historic and current matters is irrational ,to say the least.
You really didn’t have to write all that crap just to justify why you’re living in Canada
..I mean ,just say you have no fucking country to live in..and that’s not Hamas’ fault by the way 
Just tell them that ,after War World 2 ,the European Jews started to illegally immigrate from Europe to Palestine Claiming that they left few thousand years ago, and God the almighty gave them this land and they kicked you out..and u know the rest of the story.
The last paragraph was the most disturbing ..If ur trying just to shock people I must confess you’ve seceded
If I understood correctly, you point was :
1. War is bad ……well ,no kidding!
2.If some one invades your land, you should just leave and say fuck it,its stupid to fight over it……Well, try telling that to European people who fought and resisted Nazi Germany(same people you described as “are NOT stupid and NOT fighting for power or religious control” ),and gave millions of lives in those wars of “freedom” (5-7 million in WW 1 and over 50 million in WW2).
The point is, aside from the BS talk about peace and love, you(Palestinians and Israelis ) ARE at war,and its not because of “stupidity , power or religious control” as you said..you want your country back and they want to grab as much land as they can, and make you kneel in the process.So, if u had to flee and find a safe refuge in Canada, thats absolutely your right, but its a shame to describe those who stayed behind and decided to resist occupation and gave their lives in process, as STUPID..wallah 3aib.
Peace
i don’t blame you for seeing things this way, you have all the right to live your life in normal conditions as all Human beings .
wishing you all the best
@Nana
I honestly feel that you seriously have a problem with my real thoughts. Where you originally from? Are you even Arab? Cuz you seem like the outsider who wants to shut up anyone who has a true voice. If you have a problem with me briefly describing my past and why I am here, then you got a serious problem accepting others. I think if I were you, I would shut the hell up and let people say whatever opinion they want.
I really wonder what a number of readers aim to achieve by reading this blog – lemme explain.
A blog in an essence is a collection of thoughts, or views or opinions. Be it commercial or pastime, why do people need to “get” the meaning of a post? A person’s views and opinions are just that – views and opinions. Nothing which is written on a blog is law, or “requires” to follow any protocol. So why on earth do people need to come out and slate someones views? Why do people need to come out and insult, or belittle?
If your motive isn’t to make a logical and sensible point (logic may vary from different perspectives), then why comment with random crap and hatered?
I suspect that no matter what these people are told, they are more than likely not going to change. It’s a huge shame that the world is full of idiots… possibly jealous that they can’t ever achieve any level of sense!
My father fought in Vietnam, and have two tours. As a child I did not understand the whole concept of War, just knew he may not come back and he did. I have served in the U.S. Navy, I have seen test missiles but never seen war. People will have their views of it, what I notice that perspective change, and depends on where you are at, I guess. I think we need to reach our evolution and bring World Peace. When people of any nationality dies in an act of war it bothers me. There are ones who do not want peace and Bush seems like one of those people.
@Nana
You must be on crack too…honestly..u people have no shame don’t u????? People like you start something but you never finish it..read..inform yourself about what has been going on in this world…and then open your mouth and talk….
@Cookie Monster
Couldn’t have said it better
@adrian
I hope Bush burns in hell for putting this world into chaos.
Actually i wonder, Why should anyone know anything about wars?
Wars are an evil shared between 2 or more sides,, and other sides enjoy talking and reporting about it. I personally donot enjoy neither being on a side of both sides of a war, nor talking and reporting a war!!!
@mona Although it shouldn’t matter, but yes ??? ???? ???? ?? ??…a7leflek bel talaa2 ?
my dear mona…u keep missing the point.
Let me first be clear : wallahi al 3atheem I have nothing against you personally, your past or any personal matter related to you.
However, bedoon mojamalaat, I really think the statements you made in the last paragraph are extremely offensive and disrespectful to those who gave their lives for liberty and freedom ,by reducing the whole issue to “fight for power and religious control” !!
Please re-read this statement few times and think about it: “Thats why we left and finally found a place where people are NOT stupid and NOT fighting for power or religious control” .
This is crossing the line…and please allow us to strongly disagree with you on serious issues(not your personal life)
@cookiemonster While I respect what you said ,but try go to a Jewish blog and tell them the holocaust was lie or exaggeration ..and tell them its just an opinion.
@jade whats with you and crack? are you a recovered junkie ?
but seriously, I dont understand why this strong reaction and name calling?.As I said to mona, the disagreement was over some serious issue in a time of war. What did I start and not finished? I have no idea what you’re talking about..it looks like you’re the one on crack 
.Finally ,I really do read and try to inform myself ,so do me a favor and suggest some good reading material instead of just being a smart ass.
oh btw, its called “post traumatic stress”, traumatic not dramatic .
…still though, thanks for the advice to read and inform myself LOL
@Nana
Ok Nana. I think you made your self clear. However, I will not agree with you because you are absolutely not making a detailed enough reason of why you disagree with me. Like I said, what I write is strongly my opinion, and you should have obviously realized that I don’t like Arab countries or religious fanatics. If people just want to do something from the heart for the name of their people, then they are the people I love! If they only justify everything on religion and fight over religion, or over money?? which has happened in the past, then I don’t want to even recognize these people.
Each person has their view points on life. However Nana, if you think you arguing with me over this will change my mind or convince me otherwise, then you are definetly wrong. I have very stern opinions. My suggestion from now on is for you to not argue over what I say. You can give me your opinion, but don’t think in a million years that you will convince me. I am me, and you are you. That’s my philosophy in life.
I appreciate your view points and opinions
but you also should appreciate your Palestinian sisters and brothers who chose not to leave their homeland, which is also your homeland. Not all of them doing that for what you call “power and religious control”.
You said that you had to leave, it’s your opinion. everybody have to choose, right. should all Palestinians leave the land which belongs to them?
And not all of them religious fanatics or what you call stupid organizations. They just fight for their right.
Dear Mona,
first of all, I found your site while I was searching on Google (I wanted to find out how you say “I know” in arabic and I came across your blog).:)
I am hungarian, christian but I don’t really practice my religion, just wanted to clear this up so you will know I have no reason to say nice things about muslims or to defend christians or anything like that.
Still your post above made me quite…let’s say “irritated”. I can totally understand you having a bad experience and wanting to get a better life, which EVERYONE deserves. You have the biggest right to say wars are bad, which they are obviously, bcs innocent ppl die in them and they are mostly fought bcs of money, oil, power….etc.
What I cannot understand is -no matter if black or white, european or asian- prejudice.
I have to say I had quite a huge prejudice about every muslim before. But it came from lack of information and the bad picture media shows to european countries. Then I had the chance to visit islamic countries such as Turkey where the people treated me like part of the family, and never disrespected me bcs of where I come from. Then again I see how my own parents react when they see someone who is muslim, different from them. I respect my parents and think they brought me up very well, but in certain things…they are too “old-thinking”. Some arabic people in my country cannot get jobs or buy a car, bcs the moment ppl see them, they ignore them and want to run away, bcs they think all are “terrorists”. And believe me, if they would see you, they would think the same which would obviously make you feel very uncomfortable, since you are against wars yourself. (Just wanted to show with this that sometimes what you give is what you get…if you want ppl to judge your from your own actions and not by the nation you originate from, you cannot judge them without getting to know them one by one also)
I had a chance to meet very nice people from Dubai and Saudi Arabia, who studied in my country…This has taught me a lot in the last 5 years. I have learnt to always give a chance to EVERYONE and not let my previous bad experiences take control of me. I am a bit more careful than I was before, but still I try to give all of the people a chance. I have been in Germany many times, and I never thought of hating anyone just bcs Hitler was german (or austrian) too. I have russian friends, although Stalin was russian…and I could go on with the list.
I have american friends although generally I don’t agree with the consumer lifestyle of America and the impact they have on the world today…still I will not call everyone an asshole or think all of them are like Bush (I just use this example bcs someone before me wrote it in a comment).
No country or people are better than the other ones. There are bad and good people everywhere. In Izrael, In Palestine, In Canada, in England…
You have your views of course, I don’t tell you to change them…I just want to offer you another type of opinion, which is totally different from yours but because of that, very interesting for you to consider maybe later in your life.
I think it will not do you good if you will live your life with such anger and mistrust inside you. Although it is hard to do, try to forgive and forget. The other side is not as rosy either as you might think. As I said before, there is good but also bad everywhere.
And please don’t attack me if you reply to my comment like you did for previous posters who disagreed with you. I really wanted to share my opinion without any argumenting. Please respect this. Thank you.