Hanguk Habibi

From Middle East Online:

Sixty years on, UNRWA still helping 4.6 million Palestinian refugees - victims of Israel.
First Published 2009-09-25

UNITED NATIONS - The international community Thursday paid tribute to the UN relief organization UNRWA marking 60 years since it was founded to help Palestinians caught up in the Middle East conflict.

"I wish there was no need for UNRWA. I wish there was no anniversary to mark and I wish that there were not 4.6 million Palestinian refugees in need of humanitarian aid," said Jordan's Queen Rania, who is also Palestinian.

"But, you and I know, the reality is very different. Theirs is a life interrupted... a life half lived," she told a ceremony marking the body's anniversary.

The creation of Israel in 1948 led to the expulsion of 760,000 Palestinians from the land, a third of whom now live in camps dotted around the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Jordan.

"UNRWA's presence reminds the Palestinian people that they are not alone; that in their darkest hours, an international aid agency stands by their side, added the Jordanian queen.

"So, I want to record my deep gratitude to the tireless staff at UNRWA, people who have, and continue to endure indescribable hardship and danger, and risk their lives to help Palestinian refugees every day."

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas also hailed UNRWA's six decades of work in the Palestinian territories and urged the international community to step up for support for the UN-funded organization.

"The humanitarian assistance provided by UNRWA to the Palestine refugees throughout the region has proven to be indispensable for the welfare of the refugees as well as for the stability of the region as a whole, including and especially during periods of conflict, crisis and upheaval," he said.

Queen Rania also warned that the agency was on the brink of collapse through lack of funds.

"If we let UNRWA collapse, it will be the youngest that bear the greatest weight," she warned.

"If we let UNRWA collapse, we risk fueling frustrations, losing focus for peace talks and destabilizing our region further. There is so much at stake. All of us depend on UNRWA."

Katherine Mansfield (1888 - 1923) is a famous New Zealand author.

I'm treating you as a friend asking you to share my present minuses in the hope that I can ask you to share my future pluses.

Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinion of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.

Make it a rule of life never to regret and never to look back. Regret is an appalling waste of energy; you can't build on it; it's only good for wallowing in.

Scrubbing away the glitter, sweat, and make-up, one has time to replay and analyse the evening's events. Conclusion? *Shock, horror* I am satisfied, even happy.

Tonight I performed, and taught a short workshop (Oriental dance) at a salsa party. The audience was perfect: smiling, laughing, clapping, cheering, and loving every minute. It was a nice change from having to endure stoney faced analysers, glarers, and "OMG! I can't look at that..." hiders (who can be ignored, but it's nice to not have to do that). If only every audience were as receptive and appreciative as tonight's! (I guess the fact that they were dance enthusiasts helped. Plus they were probably a bit tanked by the time I performed. haha)

Let's hope for many more nights like tonight! :D

As seen in Associated Content:

Belly Dance Veils, Unveiled

August 17, 2009 by Lorraine Bier


Of all the belly dance props, the dance veil would seem like the least complicated item. As usual in the belly dance world, it gets complicated when you look a little closer. Here is a little information about the background of belly dance veils and some considerations for selecting and using them.

First off, the history is probably not what you'd expect. There is good evidence for the long use of handkerchiefs in folk dances around the Mediterranian, and dancing with fringed scarves or the trains from head-dresses, but the 'good old-fashioned belly dance veil', several yards of sheer flat fabric, was not used in the dance until the 1940's. A Russian ballarina named Ivanova, hired by King Farouk of Egypt to teach his daughters, suggested using one to Samia Gamal to improve her arm carriage.

These days, belly dancing with a length of sheer fabric is pretty much standard practice around the world. Chiffon fabric, to match the skirt, has a nice weight and lift and is not expensive. However, feather weight silks billow wonderfully while the silk's sheen catches the light, so silk veils are prized, although they're more expensive. Veils may be dyed, embroidered, edged in beads or sequins, or otherwise embellished to add sparkle and interest.

Generally, a veil is a rectangular piece of fabric at least three yards long and about 50 inches wide. Semi-circular veils are used, too. Here are some things to consider when choosing a veil.

Samia must have liked it, because she carried it into her movies. Hollywood and the western world picked up the romantic image of the chiffon veil and considered it a standard piece of dance equipment. However, in the Middle East, veils are usually only used during an entrance and then quickly discarded. They are not referred to as a 'veil' (that's a piece of clothing required for modesty) but as 'fabric'. Consequently, the act of unwrapping the dance veil from around the body to then dance with it is not considered in good taste - too much like stripping.

Your veil must extend at LEAST three inches past both hands when you hold your arms out (note the veil is not held at the corners and is not held taut, but allowed to drape a bit in the back.) How much more free cloth ends you have depends on the look you want and the weight of the fabric. Some dancers want closer to two feet of extension to use for flipping and swirling, but the more you have, the harder it can be to dance with. Dancing with four feet of heavier fabric can be quite a workout, and the veil may not float as it should.

The width of the veil depends again on the type of fabric and the dancer's height. Lightest weight fabrics need more width to give them the weight required to control them. However, too wide a veil on a shorter dancer will have the wrong proportions and make her look like she's wrestling with a bed sheet!

Even for a simple prop like a veil, there are things you must consider when dancing with one. They can be a fire hazard if dancing near candles. Ceiling fans are treacherous! Of course, the ceiling has to be high enough so that it won't get caught. Dancing with one outdoors can be iffy during windy or gusty days- the veil won't be where you expect it to be. I've seen several dancers step on a discarded veil and slide or fall hard; watch where yours lands! They can get caught on the prongs of jewelry or in hair clips- expect to have one cover your face at least once in your veil dancing career. However, they add color, movement, and excitement to a dance, they can double as a cover-up, and every dancer needs one or a dozen or more!

For additional information visit:  http://www.shira.net/about/veilhistory.htm

What should be a leisurely stroll through Cairo's streets, for some women has become more like a gauntlet run.

Last year Egypt's Centre for Women's Rights conducted a survey which revealed that 93 per cent of Egyptian women have endured harassment of some sort at least once.

Campaigners say the male-dominated society leaves women feeling vulnerable and unprotected by traditional forces like the police.

Al Jazeera's Amr el-Khaky met one group in Cairo, Egypt's capital, who are taking the fight into their own hands: they are taking lessons in karate.

Mona Eltahawy, an Egyptian writer and activist, told Al Jazeera that almost every woman she knows has been sexually harassed or groped.

"It is no exaggeration to say this is an epidemic," she said.

"This is much more than sexual frustration.

"This is about power, about humiliation, about the way women have been portrayed, not just in the media but also through religious sermons.

" The respect that Islam gives to women ... is missing from a lot of religious discourse in Egypt.

"There are no laws in the Egyptian statute to prevent this from happening. This is what women's activists are fighting for."

No, this isn't a post about commuting by foot in the city.

It's currently 9:35am. I have been rudely woken - for the third day in a row - by Korean workmen drilling through the concrete/pavement outside my bedroom window. It's probably the 4th time that this has happened this year. I live on the second floor so the noise is VERY audible. There are even vibrations running through the building! Needless to say, since I have had about 3 hours sleep, I am less than impressed. The question pressing at my lips: "Why can't Koreans ever fucking do anything right?" Brand me racist if you like, but think about it. How many times you been fucked around - at the bank, immigration, government office, and elsewhere? Koreans in general have NFI what they're doing. HELLO? This is your JOB?! I don't understand this lack of general knowledge. Even Koreans complain about it...

I think one of the biggest problems is, they really don't give a shit about their job. They hate what they do, and their miserable existence. They shuffle through each day, dreaming of the day when they can leave Korea. [Am I wrong?] They are jealous of foreigners, with their [supposedly] perfect life. Foreigners are blanketly branded leeches, here in Korea to suck profit, only to have the freedom of going back to their wonderful country whenever they want. [The fact is that Korea is probably the most difficult country for a foreigner to live in Eastern Asia. Also, just as not all Koreans are totally incompetent, not all foreigners residing in Korea are social outcasts, attacking the purity of Korean bloodlines 'cause they can't get laid back home, here to make money then drink it away every weekend. No, not all foreigners are like that. But that in itself is worthy of another blog on another day. :) ]

As for the digging occurring less than five metres from where I am sitting, I don't know wth is going on there, but you can't tell me that the damn pipes are so inferior in quality that they need replacing four times in one year! Mind you, this being Itaewon, and generally lacking in services due to the high foreigner population [did you know that caller ID is not available in Itaewon? wtf?], I wouldn't be surprised if this "attitude" resulted in even lower levels of workmanship than usual. It could also be a case of just giving workers something to do. I was once told by someone that in the past, workers were contracted to build buildings only to demolish them on completion. Wtf? Crazy Korea.

Either which way, these ponderings don't help my current dilemma - slept deprivation. *yawn* Ciao, people.