Cerpen Perca-Perca Cinta Untuk Palestina dalam Berita Harian Hari Ini

Grafik dari Berita Harian
(Saya terlalu suka imej grafik ini. Ya, seorang muslimah juga mampu menggegar dunia!)

“Namun beralasan dan berpeluk tubuh tanpa mengusahakan sesuatu juga dosa. Jihad Baba adalah melalui saluran akademia, sementara buat masa ini perjuangan saya, seorang warga dunia terhad kudrat jasmani dan rohani - maafkan, saya beralasan lagi - masih berlegar meliputi demonstrasi prokeamanan, memaksimumkan tekanan politik ke atas ahli Kongres tempatan yang saya undi, menawarkan penerangan kepada sesiapa yang kepinginkan kebenaran serta ya, berkaffiyeh sebagai simbol solidariti. Biar pun tidak banyak, tetapi inilah perca-perca cinta yang mampu saya kirimi kepada saudara-saudara saya di Palestin.”

-Wafeya Mustafa

Alhamdulillah, setelah hampir setengah musim tanpa karya di media, akhirnya cerpen "Perca-Perca Cinta Untuk Palestina" memecah kebuntuan itu.

Proses kreatif cerpen ini tercetus apakala saya mengisytiharkan resolusi peribadi untuk mengenakan kaffiyeh sebagai tudung setiap hari. Maka saya terfikir, bagaimana jika ditelusuri jiwa seorang pemudi (watak utama saya mesti perempuan kerana saya seorang feminis!) yang teraniaya oleh peraturan duniawi yang dipolitikkan semata-mata kerana menggunakan platform kebebasan bersuara untuk menyatakan solidariti terhadap saudara-saudara di Palestina?

Pembacaan berterusan tentang perkembangan terbaru di Palestin menimbulkan kejelekan terhadap Majlis Keselamatan PBB dan kebaculan organisasi itu, atau setepatnya manipulasi kuasa veto oleh Amerika Syarikat sebagai salah satu ahli tetap, untuk mengekang kezaliman kerajaan haram Israel saya hubungkan dengan struktur Bangunan Sekretariat PBB di pinggir East River, New York. Bak kata Wafeya, selari tetapi disanggah pula Babanya, Isham sebagai ironik.

Saya sangat enjoy menulis cerpen ini meski banyak kali bertukar lokasi: dari kamar peribadi ke coffeehouse selama berjam-jam ke pusat rekreasi seharian dan lain-lain, argh, namun tatkala noktah terakhir menamatkan cerita, kepuasan membara!

Selamat menikmati!


P.S Kafeteria menghidangkan Manhattan clam chowder hari ini dan itulah makan tengah hari dan malam saya!

Kehilangan Kata

Kami akhirnya berpeluang berdiskusi panjang tentang dua agama - Islam (anutan saya) dan Kristianiti (anutannya) setelah berbalas-balas mesej dan bersembang di laman maya Facebook sejak tengah hari Ahad. Saya sudah bangkit dari duduk yang panjang (3 jam!) tatkala dia mengusulkan soalan terakhir, "Beritahu aku, dan tidak, kau tak perlu tergesa menjawab, apa istimewanya Islam yang mampu membuatkan aku meninggalkan itu (menuding telunjuk kepada naskhah Bible edisi New King James milik peribadi yang bersepuh nama sendiri pada kulit) untuk selama-lama?"

So we had a long discussion about both religions - Islam (my belief) and Christianity (his) - for three hours, a continuance from an equally long thread of messages and online chat on Facebook since Sunday. Before I left, he got one last question for me: "Tell me, and you don't have to answer this right now," he said, "what is it about Islam that would make me renounce that (pointing out to his personal copy of the New King James Bible with his name engraved in gold on the leather bound cover) once and for all?"

From Oprah to Tattered Cover in LoDo Denver: My (Emotional) Meeting with Dr Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Prize Laureate

Two minutes into his very brief remark at Tattered Cover Bookstore in LoDo Denver, I was fighting back tears. Dr Muhammad Yunus, a Fulbright scholar in Vanderbilt University (and a summer alum of CU Boulder) and founder of Grameen Bank ("grameen" means village), a pioneer in micro-lending scheme around the world, reminded me of my beloved Uncle Wan.

Both are very humble, modest human beings who would go the distance to help those in needs even if that meant they have to fork out the financial expenses out of their own pockets. Uncle Wan is like a second father to me, my aunt (his wife) took care of me when I was an infant because my parents were working in different cities during the first three years of their marriage. I haven't seen him for almost two years and he isn't a talker over the phone (most men in my life aren't apart from my eldest cousin, Abang Lan) so meeting Dr Yunus felt like homecoming, at least for a little bit.

Melancholy aside, meeting Dr Yunus was a dream comes true. I have heard about him, Grameen Bank and the Nobel Peace Prize they have been awarded to in 2006 a few years ago but it was during the summer of 2007 (the last time I was home from college) when I was lounging in my parents' living room after lunch, watching Oprah on cable that I was truly touched by what he has accomplished and still strives to do. Dr Yunus was a guest of Oprah in that particular episode and I choked back tears when I explained about his cause to my mom when she joined me a few minutes later. So braving the chilly Sunday morning after a 4-hour sleep was nothing for this chance of a lifetime.

Dr Yunus was frustrated with capitalism and all the fancy, perfect economics theories (I am an economics minor so I can attest to all the perfections in the textbooks) that he preached daily in class so he decided to take his students on a field trip to the adjacent village to the Chittagong University campus. While he was there, he spoke to the villagers and was appalled at the fact that how poverty among these poor people of Bangladesh was actually caused by the system of money lending. To borrow money requires collateral, and it comes at a price - the interest. People who wanted borrow money to bring themselves out of poverty were rejected by banks because they did not have collateral so they turned to loan sharks who were literally, well, sharks. That day, Dr Yunus lent his own money ($27) to 42 villagers (most of them women) , without collateral or any legal bindings, and interest-free so they can start some home-based business to feed their families and eventually pay the loans. Thus, Grameen Bank was born. Yes, in the slums of Bangladesh, not in some fancy conference room in a big city.

Dr Yunus doesn't believe in charity. Loans, he said, give people dignities, while charityn would only make people sink futrher into poverty. And there is nothing stronger than trust. Therefore, based on this two principles, Grameen Bank gives out loans to beggars. Yes, BEGGARS, so they would be door-to-door salespersons instead of door-to-door charity cases. And there is no time limit to their interest-free loans.

You might ask: so how that would ensure them to pay the loans back?

The answer is simple, Dr Yunus pointed out, give them incentives in form of larger loans instead of punishing them with high interest rate. This has been proven to work; so far 11 000 of beggars have graduated from this program and become regular borrowers of the bank.

Dr Yunus also spoke about the concept of social business, which is formation of businesses to fulfill social responsibility instead of making profits. For instance, Grameen Bank has a joint venture project with Danone to produce and distribute special yogurts to malnourished children in Bangladesh. Imagine how the world would be if all major corporations take their social responsibility seriously. However, they treated it as obligations and do whatever they can to push it aside.

It was one very short remark as Dr Yunus was due to give a keynote address at the American Librarian Association Convention but it was worth sacrificing my usual lazy routine on Sunday mornings.

The event ended with book-signing, and I had him signed a copy of Banker to the Poor for myself (To Rebecca) and a copy of Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism for my dad.

I told him "Thank you for doing what you're doing" and he asked where I am from. I answered him to which he replied that he has had a lot of pleasant experience working with Malaysians.

And from a Malaysian, it was a pleasure meeting him as well. How could it not be so? Dr Yunus is the embodiment of what Malek Ben Nabi said about analyzing "social problems" and coming up with "social solutions." If there was no one taking up the cause in one's society, is it not mandatory for a Muslim (fardhu 'ain) to do so? But even if it was a fardhu kifayah, why not we all strive to make a difference?

Pasca Obama Memansuhkan Salah Satu Polisi Bush...

“Tebakanku, kau menolak?”

Lucentio memicit ruang antara dua kening. “Bagaimana nak aku turutkan, Aya? Pertama, ia menyalahi undang-undang. Merujuk Abortion Act 1967, di Britain dan wilayah-wilayah kekuasaannya, kandungan berusia 24 minggu ke bawah hanya boleh digugurkan atas sebab-musabab perubatan yang kukuh. Misalannya, melahirkan bayi itu akan memberi kesan fizikal dan mental yang buruk kepada si ibu, atau terdapat kecacatan kekal pada fetus yang akan menjejaskan kualiti hidupnya kelak. Itu pun, hanya setelah dua orang doktor bertauliah mengesahkan. Dan kedua, ia bertentangan dengan prinsipku sendiri. Sebagai doktor, atau setepatnya bakal doktor, aku amat menghormati kehidupan. Meskipun di dalam rahim Soleil itu masih zigot, atau apa tu menurut Ayat 14 dari Surah Al Mukminuun, hanyalah segumpal darah atau alaqah yang seakan lintah melekat di dinding uterus, belum ditiupkan roh atau diberikan nyawa – ia tetap anugerah Tuhan. Bukan kita sesama manusia ini yang layak menafikan peluangnya dilahirkan ke dunia.”

- Di Bawah Langit Manchester
Rebecca Ilham

Dewan Siswa, Januari 2008

Pasca Presiden Obama memansuhkan sekatan ke atas dana antarabangsa untuk membiayai abortion di luar Amerika, saya serentak teringatkan cerpen ini. Secara peribadi, saya seorang pro-life, tetapi saya juga percaya manusia perlu punya kebebasan memilih.Tetapi setiap pilihan berbendung pelbagai aspek: kemanusiaan, undang-undang, budaya dan tentunya agama. Oleh itu, pilihlah dengan bijak!

Gaza Will Not Go Down

WE WILL NOT GO DOWN (Song for Gaza)
(Composed by Michael Heart)
Copyright 2009


A blinding flash of white light
Lit up the sky over Gaza tonight
People running for cover
Not knowing whether theyre dead or alive

They came with their tanks and their planes
With ravaging fiery flames
And nothing remains
Just a voice rising up in the smoky haze

We will not go down
In the night, without a fight
You can burn up our mosques and our homes and our schools
But our spirit will never die
We will not go down
In Gaza tonight

Women and children alike
Murdered and massacred night after night
While the so-called leaders of countries afar
Debated on whos wrong or right

But their powerless words were in vain
And the bombs fell down like acid rain
But through the tears and the blood and the pain
You can still hear that voice through the smoky haze

We will not go down
In the night, without a fight
You can burn up our mosques and our homes and our schools
But our spirit will never die
We will not go down
In Gaza tonight

Selebriti dan Mesej Politik

Take That, mocking the world leaders.

Reach Out
by Take That

If our arms were reaching out
If our words could only bridge the doubt
Will we lose this chance again?
Strange roads with different signs
DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE WE DIVIDE
ARE YOU MY ENEMY OR MY FRIEND?

'Cause I don't know you
And you don't know me
IT'S THE SAME SUN RISING
We all just look to the sky
If we try
We can work it out somehow
If you don't know me
And I don't know you
HOW CAN WE BE FIGHTING
We're all connected it's true
Reaching out
It's only love that pulls us through

We all grieve in different ways
If one tear could wash away the pain
WE'RE FREE TO HAVE THE FAITH WE BELIEVE, yeah
The world sleeps at different times
WITH ONE TURN YOUR DAY IS NOW MY NIGHT
WE ALL LIVE SHARING THE AIR THAT WE BREATHE


Reaching out, reaching high
Reaching out
Touching you, touching me

If our arms were reaching out
If our words could only bridge the doubt

Reaching out, reaching high
Reaching out
Touching you, touching me

Reaching out

It's only love that pulls us through




*Lyrics are taken from here

Kaffiyeh Setiap Hari Sebagai Simbol Solidariti

Nawaitu tercetus sebaik pulang dari demonstrasi pada 11 Januari. Saya sudah mula dan akan terus memakai kaffiyeh (putih-hitam, merah-hitam dan merun-kuning muda bergilir-gilir) sebagai tudung setiap hari demi menyatakan sokongan kepada saudara-saudara seagama di Palestin sehingga paling kurang gencatan senjata dikuatkuasakan.

Media barat akrab mengaitkan kaffiyeh sebagai lambang keganasan, tetapi memetik sebaris kalimah dari laman I Love My Kaffiyeh yang saya anggotai di Facebook, "Just because Charles Manson wears jeans, doesn't mean that everyone supporting a pair is also a murderer."

Siapa bilang aksesori fesyen tidak bisa jadi pernyataan politik?
Bebaskan Palestin!

Klip-klip dari Demonstrasi pada 11 Januari

Saya Sedang/Akan Baca...

Imej disalin dari sini.

Imej disalin dari sini.

Saya ke Borders di Colorado Mills Mall dengan nawaitu untuk mendapatkan naskhah majalah Time terbaru dengan isu muka depan "Why Israel Can't Win" namun edisi yang dibincangkan oleh dua newscaster Saluran 4 CBS dan Editor-in-Chief majalah berkenaan itu rupa-rupanya hanya akan berada di pasaran minggu hadapan. Namun, kelaziman gilakan buku, saya tidak pulang dengan tangan (atau setepatnya beg) kosong. Dua naskhah buku di atas dengan jumlah bayaran yang bisa menampung belanja hidup selama tiga minggu saya kelek balik ke Weaver Towers.

Sempat berbual sebentar dengan pengurus lokasi Borders yang kebetulan menyemak inventori di sisi seksyen US History dan Politics, kami sempat bertukar-tukar pandangan tentang konflik di Palestin. Saya tegaskan pendirian peribadi saya kepadanya, "It doesn't have to be political, and it doesn't have to be about religion but just consider the humanity aspect" kerana "it could have happened in Canada!" Dia berseloroh, mengatakan "This is why I love working in a bookstore. It's place where ideas are exchanged!" sambil memaklumkan bahawa sebuah buku satira yang membayangkan andai Israel ditegakkan di Alaska pernah ditulis sedikit masa dulu.

Wanita di kaunter daftar keluar tatkala mengimbas kod bar naskhah The Case for Israel mengatakan "This is a good book, I've read it." Saya sekadar membalas dengan nada neutral, "Really?" Daripada sinopsis kulit belakang buku ini membentangkan 25 sebab mengapa Israel berhak wujud di atas tanah yang dirampas daripada penduduk Palestin. Jangan bimbang, pegangan saya kukuh, cuma untuk membidas hujahan pihak 'sebelah sana,' premis mereka wajib kita tekuni. Yes I'm biased, but at least I am critically biased. Membenci membuta-tuli adalah jahil, ia akan hanya menjelmakan kita sebagai ekstremis.

Imej diambil dari sini.

Selain itu, saya masih meladeni People of The Book karya Geraldine Brooks. Buku ini saya beli sebaik tamat demonstrasi solidariti Palestin pertama saya hadiri pada 30 Disember. Fokus utama novel adalah sebuah haggadah bersejarah yang menyaksikan toleransi antara penganut tiga agama - Muslim, Kristian dan Yahudi - sekaligus memungkinkan haggadah itu ditulis, dilukis dan survive selama lebih 500 tahun. Ironik.

A Whole Different Rally

*Entri ini adalah nota yang saya tulis di halaman Facebook

It was a counter-protest, really. The pro-Israel rally was on the steps of the State Capitol, so we gathered across Lincoln Street and held our pro-Palestine signs up, chanting. Some of the chants were now at the back of my head, and together with the lady that I have befriended at the Golden mosque (she's a Causasian American Muslim), we started up some really good chants, such as:

"Free, free Palestine!"
"From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free"
"Gaza Gaza don't you cry, Palestine will never die"
"Stop the murder, Stop the hate, Israel's a terrorist state"
"Down with the Occupation"
"1, 2, 3, 4 Occupation No More, 5, 6, 7, 8 Israel's a terrorist state"

I was also near a group of teenagers, so we started the hip hop version of "Free Free Palestine" chant that we picked up on Friday night. It was a HUGE hit.

During this time, when the pro-Palestine protesters were calling out for a permanent end to the genocide, mass murder and bombings of schools and households in Palestine, the pro-Israel side was blaring up some music and started dancing. The lady next to me could not contain her anger and yelled out: "Stop dancing and start addressing the issue!" But the music only got louder, especially when we started chanting "Stop celebrating the death of civilians!" When it was a serious matter for us, looked like it was a picnic for them. A spokesperson from the Colorado-Palestine Coalition (I just saw him on Channel 9) said that they were drumming on some war drum. Is that a message of peace?

Earlier during the protest, when a guy from the pro-Palestinian side crossed over and I don't know, trying to reason with some of the people from the other side, he was lynched. So who started the violence? The cops were more involved in this rally than the other ones I've been to of course. There was also more media coverage, but the marshals warned us against talking to some TV station which apparently has been twisting the information around. Gosh, talk about ignorance!

The signs from the other side that really ticked me off read "Israel has rights for self-defense" and "Gaza is just another front on the war against terror." What rights, I really want to ask, when Israel does not have the rights to exist in the first place? I can go deep into the principle of jus sanguinis, the principle on which Israel in built on, so ask me if you're interested. But if you do not want to be political, just consider the humanity aspect. That is all I ask for, that is all the Palestinians ask for. And it doesn't have to be about religion either because no people with good conscience would accept the crimes that has been going on in Gaza for 60 (almost 61) years now.

At 3 p.m, about an hour and a half into the rally, the call for prayer was heard. We responded to the summon and another congregational prayer in front of the Capitol was performed. There were no words to describe my feeling. To pray together, shoulder to shoulder with strangers who are bonded to me because of our identical faith in God and His messenger and messages was very strong, and profound. But what made me teary-eyed the most was the fact that we are united in this issue and we are not afraid to make ourselves heard.

Thanks for reading.

Ketiga Kali di hadapan Colorado State Capitol

*Tonton news footage tentang protes ini di laman 9news.com dengan menaip kata carian "peace rally" dan klik pada video pertama.

Kredit foto: Mohamad Afiq Ishak

Sekadar foto buat masa ini, kisah di perhimpunan tergempar anjuran Muslim American Society (MAS) Freedom Foundation bakal menyusul secepat mungkin (selepas saya beroleh paling kurang enam jam waktu rehat berkualiti)

Israel Is Not Stopping So Why Should We?

*I was told by Debi that this rally made it into the news on CBS. Will update this entry with a link to the video once it is uploaded on CBS website!*

Tunjuk Perasaan di Kedutaan Israel, London

Buat teman-teman yang merancang menyertai tunjuk perasaan besar-besaran sepanjang embankment di pinggir Sungai Thames esok, 3 Januari pada jam 12.30 tengah hari (waktu London), semoga selamat semuanya dan jaga diri!

Sementara di Denver, Colorado, demonstrasi damai juga dijadualkan esok hari:

ISRAEL IS NOT STOPPING SO WHY SHOULD WE ?

Saturday, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM January 3, 2008

West side of the State Capitol, along Lincoln St. between Colfax and W. 14th Ave.
We had a very successful and peaceful protest on Tuesday, so we hope for even
more people to come Saturday. Please bring signs, flags, flyers, and your creativity.
We will not need a permit, because we will protest along the sidewalk. The weather
forecast is for a high of 35 degrees. Please dress warmly, especially the children.

Co-sponsored by

Friends of Sabeel - Colorado
Colorado Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Colorado Progressive Jewish News
Metro Denver Green
Rocky Mountain Peace & Justice Center
& many other peace & justice groups

Maklumat lanjut di laman Colorado Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Saya akan hadir, inshaallah selepas berpindah masuk kembali ke kolej kediaman.