One Photo In Support of Gaza

In a day or so after Israel launched its brutal collective punishment atrocities against Gaza in December 2008, a group of people joined to participate in protest against the war and in support of the innocent women, childern, ellderly and innocent men of Gaza.

This group was formed on Facebook and called ONE PHOTO IN SUPPORT OF GAZA.

This was is the description of the group objectives:

"A Picture is worth a thousand words". Napoleon Bonaparte.

This Group is in Support of Gaza.

This Group is in Protest against War on Gaza.

Imagine that your profile photo and that of all the Photo Profiles of the people you know on facebook is the same - A Peace Dove.

If you can keep the profile picture until the war ends in Gaza, then we can say we did something during this war. We objected the war. We protested against the attacker. We supported the victims.

This Group is for Peace in Palestine and Freedom for the Palestianian People to Live in their country alongside all the nations in the region.

In Support of the Palestinian in Gaza, I hope that we can Build a Chain of one Photo In Facebook with the intention of making a stand, and not sitting on our couches watching in silence. This is our way to show support and share it publicly.

In Protest of War and Killing of Innocent People.

"The world is not moved only by the mighty shoves of the heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker."Hellen Keller

One Photo

Dear Friends,

A PCITURE SPEAKS "LOUDER" THAN A THOUSAND WORDS.

The war still goes on. The power of our message is in making one profile picture with a peace dove common between as many people as possible.

The idea behind the group is that a powerful impact will be made if hundereds of people have the same picture, others will notice, and we will have made our presence and contirbution in ending war in Gaza.

I want to thank three members who joined and who changed their profile pictures even though we never met before, which goes on to say that a picture speaks lowder than a thousand words.

Please feel free to change your profile picture for the duration of the war as this could be your way of contributing with impact to ending the war in Gaza.

SincerelyAbbas

A Pciture Worth a Thousand Words

Dear Members,

Our numbers have increased from 1 to 48 in two days.

11 of us are already actively supporting the idea of One Photo For Gaza.

Let me explain again what is hoped from One Photo Campaign on Facebook. As Facebook is the largest networking tool with ability to generate interest and mobilize thousands if not more into taking a cause, we can get our message across to the world not just our locale. If a demonstration in your city can get hundereds of locals involved, facebook groups have the potential of mobilizing thousands and tens of thousands and even more. And our message is a worthwhile messge, PEACE TO GAZA NOW.

It is cold and dark in Gaza and we need to do something to put our voice out. And nothing better than "Picture"..it is worth more than a thousands Words.

If the whole world sees tens, hundereds, and God willing and your active help, thousands of profiles with ONE PHOTO with a message of stopping the war, they will start asking, what and why? With our numbers increasing, our group will be center of interest to others who want to make a difference but do not know how.

And with enough members profiling a 'Peace Dove", the "Tipping Point" will be reached when this "Peace Dove" can become a SYMBOL of peaceful movement tha is calling for an immediate end to the WAR IN GAZA, and this group is international, with no prejudce against any gender, religion/faith, nationality or race. We welcome anyone who supports the end of WAr in Gaza. It is for PEACE for Palestianians in Gaza and For an End to the War in Gaza NOW. So, why do you say? Don't you think "A Picture is Worth More than A Thousands Words"? I do.

Finally, I want to thank Ayman and Samar for inviting their friends and many of whom are now members. Please feel free to invite as many people as you like, and hopefully enough of us will have a peace dove to reach a tipping point. Sincerely and Thank You All for the Support to the Cause,

Abbas

Dear Supporters of Peace,

Dear Members,

We now have tripled in size in less than 24 hours.

We are now 157 members (12:35 GMT time) and I think our numbers are increasing every minute.

This goes to show how much people care about the peace in GAZA and also how much they beleive in the message we are vocalizing.

Our group has a central concept to its succes, "Picture is worth a thousand words".

We want to visualize the protest in a civilized manner and using the power of a picture.

We want to unify the profile pictures of our members as much as possible so that the visual effect get the interest of non memebers and they get interested and read about it and the membership increase and feeds on itself to reach a largest number of facebook users possible.

When this is achieved, the least we would have done is that we vocalised our protest against the war, our support for the innocent in Gaza and may be even get some media and decision makers to take notice of our movement and talk about it further expanding the members until who know how many people decide to participate in this civilized protest.

I want to thank the active supporters who have asked many of their friends to join, and who are participating in convincing others to change their profile picture to any picture they like that has to do with Protesting the War in Gaza.

I can not impose one picture, as this will be limiting to people choices. But we ask you all to please change your profile picture to something having to do with the cause of Stopping the War in Gaza.

Our group picture is a good peaceful picture, but you can choose other pictures if you like, but making it to do with Protesting the War in Gaza and supporting a stop to the war now.

I want to thank Azza for her active participation in writing for the support of the group and for members to change their profile pictures.

We have now more than 30 members with photos about Gaza, lets try and make it 100% participation rate.

Thank you for the support and MAy the War end Today.

SincerelyAbbas

Making A Difference After the War Stops - Rebuilding Gaza-Friends of Gaza

Our group has shown that people from all over the world (60 countries from all around the world), 1800 members in five days from all religions and social backgrounds stood to say We Support Gaza and Palestianians right to live in peace, and we protest the war by Israel on Gaza and the injustice that is happening.

The time to really support Gaza is coming soon.

When the war stops, and it will, sooner rather than later, the real work starts.

Our support will have to shift from words to actions. Small or large actions and deeds will make the difference. Community Action is needed. Business ideas to help small business in Gaza will be needed. Small business loans in the amount of US$ 100 or less or bit more(Grameen Bank Style) for families who lost their main breadwiner. Gaza needs to be rebuild, rock and people.

Supporting Gaza in its efforts to rebuild will show our true support. We all have ways of making a difference, business people, artists, civil servants, doctors, nurses, mothers, fathers, university students, engineers, academics, and everyone. We will need teachers and pyscologists to find ways to support the childern of Gaza to build their self esteem back and see hope again.

We will need doctors to oversee the medical conditions on the long terms. Make a long term sustainable plan for medical help. Red cross and Red Crescent will need helping hands and equipment to rebuild the destroyed assets.

I am envious of the community support that Israeli society is giving to their soliders while they are killing Palestianians who are defending their homes. Reading the Israeli newspapers, you see Israel mobilized to support their troops, giving them presents, gifts, pins, solidarity tokens, donating mobiles, etc.. One would imagine that the Israeli Army was liberating its occupied land from imperalist occupiers?! If you see how the community in Israel supports its soldiers, If you see the solidarity that the Israeli Society, most of it, is giving to the war machine, you will be ashamed of the actions we are taking to support the innocent people of Gaza. If soliders can be hailed for killing innocent women and childern, what should we do to support the innocent?

I have decided to do more. I have decided to work on an action plan to help rebuild Gaza in my capacity. We will start another group, Friends of Gaza (FOG) to mobilize our ideas and get started. Who wants to join in their own way? Making a movie, and employ Gazans as staff and actors. Make a bakery shop in Gaza and train Gazans to work in it. Donate gifts and furniture. Donate your time to travel and help in UNRWA and Red Cross if you can. whatever you can, let Gazans see more of us. The most important of all, is to make tangiable actions on the ground.Let us show a community effort from around the world to Support Gaza in rebuilding its community using our combined knowedlge, experiecne, backgrounds. I can imagine a prosperous Gaza, can you?

SincerelyAbbas

Whats Next For Gaza

Dear Supporter of Stopping the War in Gaza,


I come from there and I remember
Born as mortals are,
I have a motherAnd a house with many windows…
Mahmoud Darwish.

The war has stopped. Maybe it will stop for ever, maybe not.

But as I look around the political world, I see hope that change, positive change is being shared by adversaires and by enemies. Iran is looking forward to the new administration, Syria is waiting for Mr. Obama to act on his plan for the Middle East. Palestianians have chosen the road to peace since 1991 Madrid Accord. Today the Palestianians are paying the price of their strategic decision to accept peace and negogiate with Israel. The Palestianians are split between those who will always have a sign of hope in the future for a peaceful settlement, and those who argue that Israel will never give peace to Palestianians becuase it wants the land in West Bank and the water. The Palestianians have now accepted to live in a states in West Bank and Gaza, but they need to have their dignity and land kept in one peace. Here is the problem.

Israel wants peace, but only if Palestine is weak and injured. It does not want a prosperous Palestine. This has to change for fairness is the essence of peace. Israel has gone through a brutal war that hopefully will make it see that to live in Peace and Prospoerity it has to be "Just" and show fairness and justice to its human neighbours.

Israel can not bully people to agree with them. It has to respect the human lives of the Arabs and respect their dignity. It has to stop being an occupier and of other people land and start acting like a 21 st century democratic state that it claims it is. Arabs are not "Dust in the Wind".
We were living in Palestine for as long as there was Palestine, and to write Palestianians off as intruders or barbarians or second class citizens is to ensure war goes on forever. And Israel should know that war is not always going to be in its favor. So, hopefully Israel now works towards ringing the bells of peace rather than those of War.

What grasped my attention most in this war, was the almost full suport that Israeli majority population supported and rarely, if ever, protested the inhumane acts of its army. What I noticed is that Isareli support for thier soliders covered their eyes from the killing of the childern, women and old men. I saw a written comment on a blog Israeli comment that Palestianians are still alive becuase the Israeli Army allows them to live! I hope that this arrogance of Israeli society is replaced by humility and fairness, otherwise we will not see an end to the brutality of war and both sides will get pain, not one.

Sun Tszu the famous Chinese Strategist and War General said,

"Confront them with annihilation, and they will then survive; plunge them into a deadly situation, and they will then live. When people fall into danger, they are then able to strive for victory. "

For me, Gaza was the center of the world during these last three weeks. Every where I went people were disgusted about what was happening by the Israeli war machine and supportive of the Palestianian cause of living in peace.

I salute the brave women, childern of Gaza and the elderly men. You took the pressure of war and you survived, lived and you will see victory soon. You will live in a peacful land in dignity and your heads high. This is a promise from more than 3600 people from all around the world from all religions, Jews, Christians, Muslims, and every other believer in humanity.

As every one knows, Peace in the Middle East needs an active role from the United States. A role that is fair and balanced. Since mid 1960's, the United States, Under Johnson presidency, gave Israel full and unequivacal support in all its actions, war or peace. The view that Israel is threatened by its Arab nieghbours was used in 1960 until now. But it is time for the United States Policy Make to take the Israeli glasses off and put on a clean set of glasses that shows them the fair view of the Middle East. Muslims and Middle Eastern People are not barbrians out to get the West. We have our dreams of living in proposerity and in diginity and we want to build our land and our countries and we want to join the world with our art and culture. We can not be living like second class world citizens. Mr. Obama's administration will do humanity a great service if it can see with fair set of eyes and act on the facts not the spins of the Israeli Lobby.

What are we the Arabs of the Middle East going to do about changing our destiny? I would like to think that we start in looking t the big picture- the forest not the tree. I argue that the big picture is now blurry, but we can make it clear and sunny. Work with the civilizations of the west and east to show them that we are able to produce a viable soceity based on human rights and edcuation. China and India were able to make their enemies respect them and become thier polticial allies because they took their destiny and advanced their soceity by being true to their cultures.

Our cutlure repsects people, is generous, and believes in education and reading. Quran tells us to read, to get an education, to be generous, to be civil, to have a balanced view of the world and of others. Lets get back to basics. Lets start talking and arguing and debating in the conferences of the world, but lets build an economically viable society that can support women, and minorities and gives every citizen the right to acheive their dreams and goals. We will then be able to defend our rights against any one who claims that we are not worth the effort. Let us support each other and show the other civilizations what we can give to humanity in the 21st century. Peace and Prospoerity to the Middle East is in our hands.

J.F Kennedy said "We need men who can dream of things that never were. " Is Mr. Obama this man? For Sake of peace and prospoerity for the Palestianians and everyone one in the Middle East, let us think positive and say yes. I am realistic about Mr. Obama administration's abilities to make a difference here. But I am also hopeful that this man can bring a sense of fairness to the discussions that his administration will be having as they proceed to sponoser the process of peace. He seems to be a fair and intelligent man with a respect to people lives.

Being a member of this group was an honor for me. We started with one person, and we are now 3,759 members from 80 countries, from all religions believe in the rights of Palestianians to live in peace and support their right to have a prosperous future. It is not easy to say no to Israel war machine when you live in Israel, but many members from Israel joined the group and said no. I hope you can vote for the people who support peace not war in your coming elections. I was happy to see Americans question the war logic and ask me questions about the real story behind this war and the wars the preceded it. I make sure to try to share with those who asked me my information.

Last, I will go and see ways to help the childern in Gaza have some fun and give hope to those whose lively hood had be erased by the war. I look forward to seeing many of you on that road. Thank you for your support of the group. A special thanks goes to all who dedicated their profile picture of Peace Dove to the cause of stopping the war. We totalled 120 people and this was a good acheivement.



Do not forget to support UNRWA http://www.un.org/unrwa/.





SincerelyAbbas

Bailout Plan : What Needs to Be Done More!

Hi,

Well yesterday and today the news is out again that the Federal Reserve is changing the plan of how to bail out the financial institutions. Back in October, the Reserve Chairman wanted to use the money of the bailout to buy the devalued assets on the bank's balance sheet. Now the Reserve is saying that his October plan was not good, and he has a new plan. The new plan is to invest the cash in buying shares in the banks- becomign a shareholder in the bank.

Well to give credit to the Chairman of the Reserve, the new plan is 100 times better and safer for taxpayers and government and banks than the October plan. If you are interested to know why, I will write about assets purchases versus equity investment later on today.

But for now, the plan to invest in the equity of the banks will give the banks the needed cash to "deleverage", or pay the loans THEY OWE to other banks and financial insitutions. Since the banks have large debt to equity ratios (sometimes 30 to 1), they need to pay down the leverage in order to have a capital strucutre that is more sound, structurally stable and allows long term investments.

This plan will help the banks to ''deleverage"- which is good- but will not necassrily mean that the recession will end. Nor will it mean the credit crunch will be over and consumers will have ability to take out loans to buy cars, houses, pay for furniture, etc.. The credit crunch is still going to stay with us for a while.

You might ask, why and how and when will the banks be back to normal in running after us to take loans? When will the lending start again for me as a consumer? When can I go shop for a better car loan among competing banks? When will I be able to make banks give me better rates on my home loan? Well this is long way. Why?

The banks are in the business of taking money from investors and depositors and lending them to others people for a higher interest than they pay thier investors or depositors. So, basically the banks have CASH as their primarily asset. Lending cash out in an enviornment of recession is extremely risky business. But of course, if banks honker down and hide their cash, the whole economy will not get out of the recession. So, it is the chicken and the egg dilemma.

Banks have to lend to the businesses to finance their inventory and working capital, but they are afraid the companies will not do a good job in managment and will go bankrupt, thus losing the ability to pay the bank.

Companies need to make a profit to convince the banks to lend them. But they are not able to make a profit with the consumers afraid of losing their jobs and not buying. As consumers hoard cash and stay at home and limit their purchases to the minimum, companies selling non stable services or prodcuts will face declining sales- GM/Ford/Toyota, Starbucks, Circuit City, Retailers of various products. As companies have declining sales, their fixed cost will have to be lowered to keep the company floating. Lowering fixed costs means firing people and closing shops and buying less inventory. As people are fired, less people are buying, and the downward spiral of recession takes a deeper dip and I am forecasting a depression in the coming year.

This is not going to be an easy ride and I recommend that every company and every person save as much as possible in their businesses. Now is the time to close shops that are not profitable. Now is the save on costs of all type.

I have installed Skype in the company and invited all the people I work with and friends to start using SKype to communicate with me. My telephone bill will be cut by more than 70% at least.

The same will go to all expenses in the company. On a personal account, I will only fly with low fare airlines and at the cheapest rates. I will only stay in the lowest rates in hotels. I already started searching the net for the best deals in the cities I ahve to visit on business.

Living the times is an enjoyable experience because it means we are adaptable and we are wise.

But back to the execution of the bailout. I think that the next probelm will be the credit card market. There is more than $1 trillion in credit card debt in the US alone, and much of it is bad credit.

I will talk about this in my next blog. Now I will go have my lunch.