Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Radio interview with
Two "Project Hope" Volunteers from Britain
Tune to
Global Perspectives Radio Show
Prepared and Presented by
Saed J. Abu-Hijleh
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
2:00 pm Jerusalem (Palestine) time (or 11 pm GMT)
and re-aired at 7:00 pm Palestine time (4 pm GMT)
You can listen the show live on the internet by visiting Voice of An-Najah Radio on www.najah.edu/fm and click on the live Broadcast icon.
You can also listen to the show by downloading it from the same website (www.najah.edu/fm) in the Recorded Material (Global Perspectives section).

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Rock Stars!

By Saed J. Abu-Hijleh

We are rocks my dear and stars are still far
that is why we long for
the light
to enter every cell
so we can tell
the truth

We are stars my dear and soon we'll become rocks
like withering candles
time will come
when the flame
stops

But I have hope
that this voice
this very voice
of mine and yours
shall never fade away
and shall vibrate
at a steady rate
in every place
a mantra of love
that permeates
all of creation...

To my friend Jennifer with love, in response to a comment she made: "Really nice--makes us all look like rock stars!". I miss you JiJi :-)

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

My Fast Bike !

"My Fast Bike" poem that I read during the visit of members of Follow the Women Organization to Nablus and An-Najah National University as part of the (Pedal for Peace) on May 13, 2008 (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-705283043303548530).

Sunday, February 15, 2009

68 candles !


By Saed J. Abu-Hijleh

Sixty eight candles shall be lit
A new dress shall fit
An embroidered soul shall say it all
From eternity till present time…

Mama the first word I said
Mama the last word I shall say
Before I travel away
To meet her
On the other side of this great divide
Between dream and reality…

Who said the bullets were real
Or the wounds that you feel
Or the jokes and laughter
After a Friday meal
In the springtime
Of Nablus?

Who said we had birthdays
And lit candles
And sang "saneh hilwah ya gameel"
In Egyptian accent
And with One breath put them off
With tears on our cheeks
And smiles in our hearts

It was all dreams
Or so it seems
And the only thing real
Is what you do not want to feel!

I want to be the bridge
To connect this unbearable wedge
So you can caress my head again
And save me from becoming insane
Your name is my mantra of redemption:
Mama Mama Mama Mama Mama Mama Mama


On the occasion of the 68th birthday of Martyr Shaden Abed Al Qader Al Saleh Abu-Hijleh who was assassinated by Israeli Death Squads on Oct. 11, 2002.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Invitation for a public workshop (The Obama Presidency and Prospects of Palestine Solidarity Action in the USA)

The Center for Global Consciousness (CGC)
Cordially invites you to attend

A workshop on


The Obama Presidency and Prospects of Palestine Solidarity Action in the USA

By
Dr. Rabab Ibrahim Abdulhadi
&
Mr. Jaime Veve

Dr. Rabab Ibrahim Abdulhadi is a distinguished scholar and longtime Palestinian activist who is Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies and Director of the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Initiative at the College of Ethnic Studies, San Francisco State University.

Mr. Jaime Veve is a distinguished leader of the Latino-American community in New York and longtime antiwar activist from Vietnam to Iraq. He is an organizer of the Transport Workers Union and Co-Chair of the Palestine Labor Action Network.


Thursday, Jan 29, 2009
3:30 pm

Al Yasmeen Hotel
Nablus -- Palestine

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Gazan-gri-la!

My crime is premeditated Gaza
Punishable by hope
Lynched by a scope
of "Lost Horizons"…
Oh Gazan-gri-la:
My beloved paradise
Full of blood and fallen butterflies
All truths are nothings but lies
That is what Israel is saying to the world…
You must believe her for she is the only one who knows
F-16s are peace loving white doves
It is wrong to think of them as black crows
The one thousand bounds bombs
Are nothing but candy bars
And the mutilated bodies of children have no scars…
These are only engraves of ancient biblical names
Sacred to all
And we must memorize them good
Before we fall
Into our deep sleep
And dream of nothing but the glory of Eretz Israel…

Oh Gazan-gri-la:
My sweet sweet paradise
The nice smell of burned flesh
The juicy pieces of human shish kebab
Levni and Barak are having a dinner party tonight
Only the elite are invited: Sarkozy, Bush, Obama, and our blessed Mubarak…
The Security Council will keep the food warm
So no ceasefire till all the guests eat
And congratulate Israel for this wonderful treat…

By Saed J. Abu-Hijleh
Nablus, Palestine
Jan 7, 2009

Thursday, January 8, 2009

(Solidarity Tent with Gaza in Nablus City Center)(Thursday, Jan 8, 2009, 1 pm)

دعوة للمشاركة في خيمة التضامن مع أهلنا في غزة -- دوار الشهداء -- نابلس -- الخميس 8-1-2009 -- الساعة 1 بعد الظهر (Solidarity Tent with Gaza in Nablus City Center)(Thursday, Jan 8, 2009, 1 pm)

إنطلاقا من أهمية التضامن مع أهلنا في غزة
وتعبيرا عن رفضنا للهجمة الصهيونية البربرية على كل معاني الحياة والكرامة الإنسانية في قطاع غزة الصامد
فإننا في مؤسسات التضامن الدولي والمؤسسات الوطنية والرسمية
وكافة أحرار العالم

ندعوكم للمشاركة في إفتتاح خيمة التضامن مع شعبنا في غزة المحاصرة
تحت شعار
(أحرار العالم من نابلس إلى غزة)

وذلك يوم الخميس 8-1-2009
الساعة 1 بعد الظهر
في دوار الشهداء
نابلس-جبل النار

الرجاء تعميم هذه الدعوة على جميع الأصدقاء والمتضامنين

Monday, November 17, 2008

No need to kill the butterfly!

By Saed J. Abu-Hijleh
Nalus, Palestine


No need to kill the butterfly
she will fly away
before finishing what I say
and land on the jasmine tree
near the sea
of true love...

No need to break the wings
or the heart that rings
with thy name
before it goes to sleep
and goes deep
in the sea
of true love

No need to veil the face
that smiles with grace
hiding the scars
of years of war
on the shores
of the sea
of true love

No need to forget the name
that once lived
in the soul of a tree
watered from the sea
of true love

No need to delete a man
who is sailing away
searching for the truth
in the sea
of true love...

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Six years after the assassination crime of Shaden Abdel Qader Al Saleh Abu-Hijleh (Oct 11, 2008)

Sixth Anniversary of the Assassination and Martyrdom of
Shaden Abdel Qader Al Saleh Abu-Hijleh
(February 15, 1941--October 11, 2002)

Six years have passed and the death squad and terrorist State of Israel is still refusing to admit the responsibility of its cowardly soldiers for the crime of assassination of Shaden Abu-Hijleh. Despite this, the family of and friends of martyr Shaden are still continuing their legal and media campaign to bring the perpetrators to justice and to expose the war crimes of Israel on the international level.

Six years, and the blood of Shaden is still winning over their bullets; her smile is stronger than their hate, ever-present in the minds and hearts of all who knew her; a torch of hope and love for the wretched, and an honorable example for the strugglers for freedom and human dignity, illuminating the road ahead so we can see our goal clearly and unite for the sake of a free & democratic Palestine, all of Palestine, from the river to the sea, and from the Galilee to Um Al Rashrash.

On October 11th 2002, Shaden Abu-Hijleh (aged 62), a grandmother, peace activist and philanthropist, was murdered in cold blood. Israeli soldiers deliberately shot her without provocation while she was embroidering inside her home in the West Bank City of Nablus. Over 15 hollow-point bullets, which are banned by international law, were shot directly at her and her family killing her and injuring her husband and son.

haden was a devout patriot and shared with her Palestinian brothers and sisters the aspiration for freedom and liberation from the Israeli military occupation. She worked for Palestinian independence and the preservation of Palestinian national identity on Palestine's soil. She joined several organizations and association working for freedom and peace in Palestine and around the world. After her sons and daughter graduated from university, Shaden dedicated her life for the sake of achieving political and social justice and became a notable leader in the women's movement in Palestine. She was an active member in several local and national organizations:

- Administrative Committee Member, The Charitable Cultural and Social Society
- Administrative Committee Member, Society for the Safeguarding of Motherhood and Childhood.
- Founding Member, Ebal Cultural Center for Palestinian Arts and Folklore
- Founding Member, Association for Combating of Smoking and Dangerous Drugs.
- Founding Member, Palestinian Women for Democratic Change.
- Member of the Palestinian National Popular Committees (Responsible for the disbursement of food supplies to needy families affected by Israeli curfews and sieges of Palestinian towns and villages).

You can watch and download a film on the assassination of martyr Shaden Abu-Hijleh by the Israeli Military "death squads":

www.archive.org/details/SaedHijleh
or
http://lifeunderoccupation.wordpress.com/2008/09/09/25/

Website for Martyr Shaden Abu-Hijleh:
www.remembershaden.org

الذكرى السنوية السادسة لإستشهاد المناضلة شادن عبد القادر الصالح أبو حجلة

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
(ولا تحسبن الذين قتلوا في سبيل الله أمواتا بل أحياء عند ربهم يرزقون)

الذكرى السنوية السادسة لإستشهاد المناضلة
شادن عبد القادر الصالح أبو حجلة

" أم سائد "
حرم الدكتور جمال أبو حجلة


ستة أعوام مضت ولا تزال دولة الإرهاب والقتلة ترفض الاعتراف بمسؤولية جنودها الجبناء عن جريمة اغتيال المناضلة شادن عبد القادر الصالح أبو حجلة. ولكن بالرغم من ذلك يبقى أهل وأصدقاء الشهيدة مستمرين في حملتهم القانونية والإعلامية للمطالبة بمعاقبة القتلة وفضح ممارسات سلطات الإحتلال الإسرائيلي على الصعيد الدولي.
ما زال دم شادن الطاهر ينتصر على رصاصهم وما زالت إبتسامتها أقوى من حقدهم، حاضرة في وجدان كل من عرفها، شعلة أمل ومحبة للفقراء والمستضعفين، ونبراس عز وفخار للمناضلين في سبيل الحرية والكرامة الإنسانية يضيء عتمة الطريق لنرى هدفنا بوضوح ونتحد من أجل وطننا الحبيب فلسطين، كل فلسطين، من النهر إلى البحر ومن إصبع الجليل إلى أم الرشراش.

استشهدت المناضلة شادن برصاص الاحتلال الإسرائيلي الغادر يوم الجمعة 11/10/2002 الموافق 5 شعبان 1423 هـ، بعد عمر حافل بالنشاطات الاجتماعية والشعبية والثقافية والإنسانية. فقد عملت في تربية الأجيال منذ عام 1960 واستنكفت عن التدريس عام 1967 احتجاجا على محاولة سلطات الاحتلال تغيير المناهج الدراسية واستمرت في نشاطها النضالي مع المخلصين الشرفاء لدعم مسيرة شعبها الفلسطيني في تطلعاته للحرية والاستقلال من الاحتلال الإسرائيلي والمحافظة على الهوية الوطنية الفلسطينية على التراب الفلسطيني حيث شاركت الشهيدة في العديد من المؤسسات والجمعيات المحلية والوطنية التي تعمل من اجل العدالة والحرية في فلسطين والعالم

عضو الهيئة الإدارية للجمعية الثقافية الاجتماعية الخيرية.
عضو الهيئة الإدارية لجمعية رعاية الأمومة والطفولة.
عضو مؤسس لنادي عيبال للثقافة والفن الشعبي.
عضو مؤسس لجمعية مكافحة التدخين والعقاقير الخطرة.
عضو مؤسس لحركة فلسطينيات من اجل البناء الديمقراطي في فلسطين.
عضو فاعل في اللجان الشعبية لمحافظة نابلس.

نؤكد أن الشهيدة شادن قتلت بدم بارد، وكان قتلها اغتيالا مع سبق الإصرار والترصد. يعتقد البعض خطأ أن الشهيدة استشهدت برصاصة طائشة وهذا ليس صحيحا. لقد أطلق جنود الاحتلال خمسة عشرة رصاصة على الأقل على الشهيدة وعلى زوجها وابنها اللذين نجيا بقدر من الله سبحانه وتعالى. الرصاصة الأولى كانت موجهة إلى رأس الشهيدة وأخطأتها بعشرة سنتيمترات ولكن الرصاصة الثانية أصابت جسدها الطاهر إصابة مباشرة في خاصرتها اليسرى وكانت من النوع المتفجر المحرم دوليا مما أدى إلى استشهادها على الفور. هذا وقد اعترف الجيش الإسرائيلي عبر وسائل الإعلام بأنه أطلق النار ولكنه قال أن الشهيدة أصيبت بالخطأ. لا يمكن لعاقل أن يصدق أن يتم إطلاق خمسة عشرة رصاصة على هدف معين من مسافة 25 مترا بالخطأ. هذا هو الإرهاب بعينه.. هذا هو الجبن بعينه... هذه هي إحدى جرائم الاحتلال الإسرائيلي ضد شعبنا الأعزل. لقد قاومت الشهيدة شادن الاحتلال بالطرق السلمية وكرست حياتها لمساعدة المتضررين من الاحتلال ولكن عنصرية الاحتلال وفاشيته أرادت أن تسكت صوتها المطالب دائما بحرية شعبها واستقلاله.

يمكنكم مشاهدة فيلم وثائقي عن جريمة الاغتيال والحصول على معلومات أوفى عن حياة الشهيدة من خلال زيارة موقعها على الانترنت بالإضافة إلى المواقع الأخرى المذكورة

www.archive.org/details/SaedHijleh
or
http://lifeunderoccupation.wordpress.com/2008/09/09/25/
http://www.remembershaden.org/

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

"Internalized Colonialism and the Palestinian National Struggle"



يتشرف
قسم الجغرافيا بجامعة النجاح الوطنية
بدعوتكم لحضور محاضرة عن

(الإستعمار "المستبطن" والنضال الوطني الفلسطيني)

تلقيها الدكتورة الزائرة

مارسي نيومان

الدكتورة مارسي نيومان أكاديمية مرموقة وناشطة سياسية في مجال حقوق الإنسان، ومتضامنة مع حقوق الشعب الفلسطيني خاصة حق العودة للاجئين الفلسطينيين وفقا لقرار الأمم المتحدة 194. تدرس الدكتورة نيومان مساقات في الأدب العالمي والدراسات الأمريكية والشرق أوسطية. في ربيع 2008 إستقالت الدكتورة نيومان من عملها كمحاضرة في جامعة ولاية بويزي الأمريكية مع أنها حصلت على عقد عمل دائم هناك وذلك لكي تستطيع القدوم والتدريس في جامعة النجاح الوطنية معبرة بذلك عن عمق تضامنها مع شعبنا وقضيته العادلة


وذلك يوم الأربعاء الموافق 24-9-2008
الساعة 2:00 عصرا

في مدرجات الشهيد ظافر المصري
جامعة النجاح الوطنية (الحرم القديم)



The Geography Department of An-Najah National University
Cordially invites you to attend

A lecture on

"Internalized Colonialism and the Palestinian National Struggle"

By
Dr. Marcy Newman


Dr. Marcy Newman is a scholar, teacher, and an activist interested in human rights. She is especially committed to al awda or the Right of Return for Palestinian refugees under UN Resolution 194. She teaches literature courses, as well as courses in American and Middle East Studies. In the spring of 2008 she received tenure at Boise State University, but quit her job in order to accept a position at An Najah National University in Nablus, Palestine. Previously she taught at the American University of Beirut, Al Quds University in Al Quds, Palestine, the University of Jordan in Amman, Jordan, the University of Ghana in Legon, Ghana, and at Boise State University in Boise, Idaho, U.S.


Wednesday, September 24, 2008
2:00 pm

Martyr Zafer Masri Auditorium
An-Najah National University (Old Campus)

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Invitation (An evening of "Poetry of Witness", Monday, August 4th, 2008, 6:00 pm, Al Yasmeen Hotel, Nablus, Palestine)

Research Journalism Initiative (RJI)
&
Center for Global Consciousness (CGC)
In cooperation with the
Public Relations Department of An-Najah National University
Cordially invite you to attend


An evening of

"Poetry of Witness"


Featuring
'Fugitive Poets' from Nablus and Abroad:

Falastine Dwikat
Jennifer D. Klein
Saed J. Abu-Hijleh



Monday, August 4th, 2008
6:00 pm
Al Yasmeen Hotel
Nablus Old City, Palestine

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Bed & Home

(by Saed J. Abu-Hijleh, Nablus, Palestine, July 15, 2008)

In communion with the One
that created the 100 billion galaxies
containing hundreds of billions of stars;
In the presence of the One that heals
all wounds that turn into scars:

Only He can hear my voice in the place
Where my dreams begin and end,
Where my face is not shown
under embroidered covers
in my sacred bed
in the darkness of moonless nights
before or after the soldiers
enter my neighborhood or the refugee camp
across the hill.

*******

My home is the dream of my Dad,
the place in which I am sane or
when I am mad
without anyone seeing me
except the One that sees all.

My home is Love and the product of Love;
my neighbors are imperfect angels
who care about me
and want me to get married
and settle down
and stop being an international clown.

My home is in fifteenth street
in a city that lies between two mountains
channeling the breeze of the Mediterranean
to eastern dry lands
of prophets and nomads.

My home is under a dome
of mystic words
on the path of Sufi masters
to the land of bliss
where love burns all sins…

Monday, July 14, 2008

Snapshot!

by Saed J. Abu-Hijleh, Nablus, Palestine, July 14, 2008)

He snapped his fingers and the other one shot,
All of what it is became what is not,
Love became hate, life became death,
As Mother of All let out her last breath…
All of humanity froze,
The "Iron Fist" killed the most beautiful rose…
A surgeon of Ear, Throat, and Nose,
Stood by and watched the love of forty years
End in a river of tears…

+++++++

A shooting star is quite far
Yet it makes the heart move
With hope
With desire…
How can a distant fire
Calm the fire inside?!
How can a single fish bring down the tide?

No where to hide
Time to respond:
Close your eyes
Count to seven
A 'shooting heart'
From earth to heaven.

+++++++

He shook my hand for the first time
Few of his fingers were missing
Compensated by a beautiful smile
The kind that makes you go the extra mile…

A year later his arm was missing
The beautiful smile remained
The more he lost
The more we gained!

Fadi is now all missing
Entered earth on a journey
To the other side
But he left his smile engraved on my mind.......

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Poetry !

I write to tell my soul that you have the possibility of not being alone. I write to allow my inner voice to come out, so I can see it, touch it, and maybe understand it. I write so as to feel the limits of my being and to see where it intersects with other beings, somewhat like Venn diagrams. I write to allow the air to come in to my hidden wounds to avoid spiritual gangrene. I write to find love; to find my soul mate…

It happened for the first time almost thirty years ago, at the age of 11. I was laying in my bed just about to sleep, and then suddenly sat and received few words. I say 'received' because I am not sure I had total control over the process that brought these words to my tongue and lips:

I will read and dissolve in the meaning of reading,
I will write and dissolve my ideas in the tunes of my poetry,
And I will sing for the joyful nightingale to forget my sorrows…
And I will be happy for death is the wedding of every human being…

It felt good, magical, unexplainable… where exactly did these words come from, and how did they surface or appear suddenly to the realm of consciousness…

Now after so many years, I say that these words were brought to me by the flicker of wings of a mystical butterfly, and my young soul resonated with the waves…

Many things happened since then… and I moved from the land of boyhood to the domain of men… too soon I must add,
And events that occurred almost made me mad…
Three bullets hit me when I was fifteen,
The pain was unbearable,
Difficult for you to know what I mean…
I was tortured on my wounds when I was sixteen,
They whipped me with electrical wiring,
Put me in a room full of sewage,
But I came out clean!

Many things happened since then, in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and in 2010...
The future is already here…
This might sound crazy or queer…
I write to calm my fear
Of history repeating itself,
And that I won't have enough stitches for new wounds,
Or strong legs faster than bullets,
And seconds that last longer than minutes…!

Friday, June 20, 2008

A State of Love

One state, two states, or no state,
Zionism, what a fate...
They caught the bait, and continued the hate,
Can they keep this rate... of ethnic cleansing!

Israel the "Jewish State", 60 years too late...
In the Middle East "the only democracy",
What a hypocrisy!
Can't they see our blood filling the Jordan River?
A wound oozing forever!

A State of Love the only solution,
Yes we say to spiritual cleansing,
No we say to ethnic cleansing,
"All in and no one out" at the top of my lungs I shall shout...
Refugees must come back, a just society with no doubt.

One State, No hate,
A State of Love,
Blessed from the above...
The children dance, happy in a trance,
This is our last chance...

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Be gentle with nature & .......

To write continuously is to live continually... to feel time and space... to wash you face... to look in the mirror... to breathe deeper... to slow down... slow down... slow down... and look up to the night summer sky of Palestine and watch the stars... and think of the vast universe... and put things in perspective... I once told myself (Be gentle with nature, nature will be gentle with you)...

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Sixty Years and Counting!

Commemorating sixty years of the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe)

By Saed Jamal Abu-Hijleh
May 2008, Nablus, Palestine

Sixty years and counting,
Anger in my being is mounting.

Sixty years and counting,
The child in me is shouting:
I want to run, to fly, to sing, to cry,
To walk, talk, write on the blackboard with a chalk:
"End this bloody occupation..."

Sixty years and counting!
Nablus the city of goodness,
A wounded witness to this “bloody occupation...”

No need for wake up calls,
The tanks come on time,
Go on time,
And leave you no time to plan your time…
But can these tanks kill the thyme… of Ebal and Jirzim?

Kneel to these monsters they tell us everyday,
But only to Allah we kneel when we pray,
Another sixty thousand years will not change what I say.

Tanks do not grow on mountains but olives do.
Tanks do not grow on mountains but Palestinians do.
I am an olive and my blood is oil,
My flesh is this sacred soil,
My breath the wind of the Mediterranean,
My eyes make the sea blue.

Sixty years and the fascist can go to hell,
The mosque will say Allah Akbar,
The Church will ring its bell.