10 good reasons to reread marx

and #10:  the bush administration. by the way i’ll come to your home and give you a personal blow job if you can id all these fuckwads.

about mothers

i’m not an expert or a scholar on the middle east.

nor do i have any first hand experiences–i’ve never been to gaza, i’ve never been to israel.

i’m not even what i would call well schooled on the concepts of occupation or displacement. though i have read many books on these topics, and find myself haunted.

i am not knowledgeable about the intricacies of geo politics, though i do know that we are generally hoodwinked and bamboozled in this country when it comes to terms like “terrorism” and our role in creating the thing we fight.

and i’ve read quite a bit about violence in all its forms. i’ve written about it. i’ve experienced it. i’ve stood next to it and had to decide whether or not to move.

all i really have is this: i’m a mother. i’m a wife. i’m a writer.

i don’t believe in god, but i do believe in art and love.

so i’d like to send a prayer of art and love out to the people in gaza.

and since all i’m good at is being a mother, a wife, and a writer, all i can offer is a list of authors that make the heart beat faster.  writer who make us slightly less ignorant.

edward said
mahmoud darwish
deborah al najjar
rashid khalid
samah al-shaykh
basima takrouri
randa jarrar
adania shibli
liana badr

a good book with a collection of short stories by palestinian women: “Quissat”

love is a muscle.
l.