The Prison Cell It is possible...It is possible at least sometimes...It is possible especially now To ride a horse Inside a prison cell And run away... It is possible for prison walls To disappear, For the cell to become a distant land Without frontiers: -What did you do with the walls? -I gave them back to the rocks. -And what did you do with the ceiling? -I turned it into a saddle. -And your chain? -I turned it into a pencil. The prison guard got angry. He put an end to my dialogue. He said he didn't care for poetry, And bolted the door of my cell. He came back to see me In the morning, He shouted at me: -Where did all this water come from? -I brought it from theNile. -And the trees? -From the orchards ofDamascus. -And the music? -From my heartbeat. The prison guard got mad; He put an end to my dialogue. He said he didn't like my poetry, And bolted the door of my cell. But he returned in the evening: -Where did this moon come from? -From the nights ofBaghdad. -And the wine? -From the vineyards ofAlgiers. -And this freedom? -From the chain you tied me with last night. The prison guard grew so sad...He begged me to give him back His freedom." -Poems byMahmoud Darwish
free and unfettered access to information about all subjects, popular or not, is a key principle underlying my involvement in wikipedia. I used to edit anonymously, but have found that "membership has its privileges," particularly in the face of increasing calls for the deletion of not insignificant articles on controversial subjects.
some sounds ofmy city birds roosters church bells (the time, every hour, and one beat for a quarter hour, two beats for a half hour, and three beats for three quarters of an hour) cars and people yelling about who's car is parked behind theirs the call to prayer, five times a day children playing, screaming, laughing, crying the carpenter's shops (there are still carpenters inNazareth just like inYousef's days) the neighbours chatting over the balconies or visitors calling for someone to come down arabic music hebrew - the voices of thejewish tourists fromtel aviv getting their "authenticarab experience" TV news broadcasts "live from the neighbours' living rooms!" birds roosters church bells
The Anti-Flame Barnstar Alright, this would be two barnstars for the same basic issue, but I admire you keeping your cool in this recent kerfluffle, and in not stooping to firing broadsides at every insulting post from a certain unnamed editor. I rather doubt I could have kept nearly so far above the fray in your shoes. Ravenswing 04:17, 8 March 2012 (UTC)
The Barnstar of Integrity For your ability to compromise while remaining firm on your values. Also, for one of the most calm and level-headed, yet boldresponses to an A/E report (the third paragraph in particular). ya3teke el3afyee ya a5tee. -asad (talk) 03:21, 7 March 2012 (UTC)
The WikiCup 2010 Ribbon of Participation Awarded toTiamut, for participation in the 2010 WikiCup.J Milburn,Fox andThe ed17 09:00, 1 November 2010 (UTC)
The Excellent User Page Award Rarely are Userpages so full of sadness and poetry. You have a way of latching onto little details—"sounds of my city", theMona Lisa-esque quality of the "woman from Ramallah"—to reveal the larger picture in the space between the words. As you wrote, "That's what moves me to write. My love for all people which begins with love for myself, then my neighbours, my people, and expands outward from there, everywhere." Beautiful. --AFriedman(talk) 06:39, 12 March 2010 (UTC)
The 50DYK Creation and Expansion Medal Congratulations for creating or expanding 50 DYK articles. Fine work!Binksternet (talk) 16:43, 8 February 2010 (UTC)
The Geography Barnstar is hereby awarded toTiamut for exemplary development work on theOutline of Palestine. ~~~ 23:18, 25 July 2009 (UTC)
The WikiProject Palestine Gold Medal Awarded for your outstanding contributions toWikiProject Palestine: for creating so many excellent, well-written, articles using your impeccable judgment, admirable clarity of expression, good humour and wisdom.Ian Pitchford (talk) on 21:52, 2 May 2009 (UTC)
The 25DYK Medal Congratulations! For your very good Middle East related DYKs and other articles.Chanaka L (talk) 04:32, 27 April 2009 (UTC)
The Barnstar of Diligence This is for your tremendous expansion ofImwas, not to mention starting the articles ofMeiron andJacob's Well with richly sourced information. I've always come to you when an article needs a great lead or a quality copyedit. This barnstar of quality, effort, and dedication could have no more of a fit owner. Congratulations and keep up the good work!Al Ameer son (talk) 07:57, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
Civility Award For managing to put across your frank views on the anecdotes relating to theMoses Montefiore Windmill without resorting to personal attacks and an edit war.Mjroots (talk) 12:29, 20 November 2008 (UTC)
The Original Barnstar For scholarly contributions and all-round good sense.PRtalk 22:47, 4October 2008 (UTC)
Tireless Contributor Barnstar. for your tireless contribution in Arab and Palestenian related articles especially Mavia and Liwan, you are the perfect user :)MARVEL (talk) 15:03, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
The Barnstar of Good Humor For your edit summaryhereAvi (talk) 15:09, 1 May 2008 (UTC)
The Special Barnstar in recognition of your dignified conduct in the face of very unpleasant provocation, and the continued high quality of your contributions in spite of these difficulties, notably the very high quality of the articleSumud which you created in just a few hoursNSH001 (talk) 19:11, 19 March 2008 (UTC)
The Resilient Barnstar There should be a Hemingway barnstar for grace under pressure, but this will have to do.G-Dett (talk) 13:09, 19 March 2008 (UTC)
The Barnstar of Sumud You are a singular editor, and I often wish that the virtue all ethnographers now claim as of peculiar force among your people,sumud, were recognized as a distinctive contribution and testimony to what is, under the civilized veneer, a violent world.Nishidani (talk) 14:38, 18 March 2008 (UTC)
The Barnstar of Diligence For your astonishing effort in providing wikipedia with high quality material on Palestine-related subjects such as the good articles ofTawfiq Canaan andPalestinian costumes and your dozen DYKs, not to mention your work on depopulated Palestinian villages. Wallah Mabruk! –-Al Ameer son (talk) 23:10, 19 February 2008 (UTC)
The Arabian Barnstar Thank you for your hard work on Arab, not to mention Palestine, related articles!Funkynusayri (talk) 04:23, 13 January 2008 (UTC)
The Original Barnstar For grace, diplomacy, intelligence, and magnanimity!G-Dett (talk) 18:03, 7 January 2008 (UTC)
The Original Barnstar This is for all the work you did from July to spetember on articles relating to palestine. You deserve this, and your work is appreciated. Cheers!SJP:Happy Verterans Day! 23:51, 8 November 2007 (UTC)
Mediation Barnstar I award thisBarnstar for helpful mediation (requiring a significant investment of time and patience) of a difficult dispute on theLegal status of Hawaii page, and especially for calling me on my own screwups. Mahalo nui loa!--Laualoha 23:53, 6 September 2007 (UTC)
The Barnstar of Diligence Thank you for turning a brief article aboutNadia Abu El Haj's tenure battle into the detailed biography she deserves. —Malik Shabazz (Talk |contribs) 19:43, 1 September 2007 (UTC)
The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar Kindness and for understanding every angle of a storyIrqirq 20:40, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
The Barnstar of Diligence is hereby awarded in recognition of extraordinary scrutiny, precision, and community service. Awarded byAddhoc 16:24, 26 July 2007 (UTC)
The Mighty Defender of the Wiki Barnstar just for that what includes your poems toogreg park avenue 20:50, 23 July 2007 (UTC)
The Original Barnstar for all your much-needed contributions, Regards,Huldra 15:08, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
The Resilient Barnstar For standing up for yourself against people who make Wikipedia unbearable at times.MetsFan76 22:33, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
The Resilient Barnstar For your learning from your mistake and for going aobut it in a civil Manner, Happy Editing!Aeon 19:26, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
The Sandwich of Exceptional Excellence (Potato Salad of Congeniality cluster, 1st. class) In Panis, Veritas. Awarded to TIAMUT for for being Civil and Assuming Good Faith in a frustrating situation :)--Doc TropicsMessage in a bottle 20:10, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Some of the hooks from my DYKs for your reading pleasure
...thatAramaean treaty-making in the first millenium BCE, as documented in theSefire inscriptions, includedloyalty oaths that invoked magical rites with curses to befall any violators?
...that the village ofAnasartha, located in WesternSyria and today known asKhanasser, derived its water supply until 1975 from a 12-kilometre longByzantine-eraqanat?
... that most of theplace names in Palestine areArabised words with ancientSemitic roots that were preserved by the local indigenous population, facilitating their identification withbiblical sites?
...that theSemitictriliteralQ-D-S meaning "holy" has been used in ancient and modern Semitic languages since at least the 3rd millenium BCE?
...that local legend inLajjun, a district center inPalestine under theAbbasids, held that the spring that served as its primary water source sprang from a stone afterAbraham struck it with his staff?
1999Ehud Barak becomes Prime Minister of Israel campaigning under the slogan of "Us here. Them there,"[6] a concept-turned policy known in Israel asHafrada (Separation)
October 14,2003 Ahmad Hajihosseini, Observer for the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), says "the form of apartheid Israel practise[s] against Palestinians fulfill[s] all elements of the crime as defined under the 1976 apartheid Convention."[7]
Things deleted from articles that I wish we could keep (if only I had aWikipedia:RS)
Kudna: The area was populated by the Shadfan family, who were forced to flee during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. All that remains of the Shadfan family is an old water well (that is said to have a special ability to cause women who drink from it to give birth to boys, rather than girls), a few ancient ruins (including a rock-made device for crushing olives), the remains of a fence, and their family cemetery.
References
^Uri Davis (2004). "2".Apartheid Israel:Possibilities for the Struggle Within. Zed Books.ISBN1842773399.{{cite book}}:Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1= (help)
