Go West!
Today is my last day on the east coast. In two hours I fly to Perth for 3 odd days of training at this NGO’s head office. After that I go straight out into the wilderness… although according to the White Pages the town I’m based in has an indoor sports centre, beauty salon and bike shop. Two out of three isn’t that bad!
This morning the woman who cut my hair was complaining about the amount of advantages Aboriginal people get in Australia. Free legal, free this, free that. I was in two minds as to the appropriate way to respond. On the one hand, I was really just happy to shut up and get my shag trimmed whilst I contemplated breakfast. On the other, I felt obliged to try to dispel one of the more common myths about Aboriginal (dis)advantage. In the end I reached a happy compromise, nodding my head occasionally, whilst occasionally noting that there was a great deal of Aboriginal disadvantage out of sight from suburban eyes. She agreed, and I didn’t even get any cuts!
On matters closer to abroad… it appears one of my contacts in the Occupied Territories has been jailed by the Israelis. And she’s an Anglo-Saxon Australian. That certainly makes things interesting. I don’t as of yet know why she’s been jailed, but I get the feeling it’s one of those standard, politically motivated imprisonments. That’s pretty common in Israel and the Occupied Territories. For example, leading up to the last Palestinian Presidential Elections, the most moderate and progressive of the candidates standing for election, Mustafa Barghouti, was detained by Israeli police for allegedly assaulting a policeman. He was later released without charge. Thankfully, unlike Barghouti or my contact, I am a complete nobody. Hopefully that counts in my favour (as opposed to my 'Arab' complexion and cheesy grin). Travelling light might also come in handy (read: I’ve decided not to take my ‘Israel out of Palestine’ t-shirt when I visit Israel and the Occupied Territories in September).
posted by Iqbal Khaldun @ 5:30 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
great, at least the beauty salon can continue to wax that carpet of yours off! ;)
on a more serious note, isn't the basis for arresting and jailing people just 'national security'?
Carpet indeed! The reality is persons may be detained by Israeli authorities for a range of reasons. There is a distinct lack of accountability, so the formal reason for any detention is often quite tenuous.
Walaikum assalam Phil, thanks for stumbling in! I am not at all surprised that the UN is a distinctly 'uncreative' work environment. Whilst having never worked for them, every experience I've had with the UN has confirmed that.
PS: Keep in touch. Although I'm based in Port Hedland I'll be in Perth from time to time. All the best for the move back.
I think we should all learn to just enjoy the lighter side of Israeli human-rights abuses, like the fine sports humour columnists at the Los Angeles Times:
"Israeli soldiers reportedly barged into a Palestinian home in the West Bank city of Hebron last week with what they apparently believed was just cause: to check out the Champions League soccer final between AC Milan and Liverpool.
Reuters news agency quotes a Palestinian teenager as saying the soldiers commandeered the TV set — and broke furniture and windows — after asking him on the street if his family owned one. Khigaji al Batch said the same thing had happened at his home two weeks earlier. 'They are using our houses like a cinema,' Al Batch said."
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-briefing1jun01,1,5547559.story?ctrack=2&cset=true
You see, those wacky fun-lovers took a break from ransacking and destroying his house... to watch the big game on his tee vee! Hilarious!
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