Jikalau saja sedari awal aku tahu bahwa dengan mengatakan itu aku akan menyakiti perasaannya, maka sudah pasti aku akan memilih untuk selamanya tidak mengatakannya. Aku hanyalah seorang laki-laki yang butuh sebuah kepastian, bukan sebuah khayalan yang hanya akan berujung pada sebuah penyesalan. Sebuah penyesalan yang lebih menyesalkan daripada jika aku tidak pernah mengatakannya. Maka, kupilihlah sebuah jalan dan kulakukan dengan caraku, meskipun sebelumnya aku tahu konskuensi terburuk yang akan terjadi. Bukankah untuk mencapai sesuatu itu diperlukan pengorbanan?
Jika ikan didapat dengan dipancing atau dijala, maka kepastian diungkap dengan sebuah PERTANYAAN. Mungkin aku dianggap sedikit berlebihan dengan beberapa PERNYATAAN. Tetapi, pernyataan itu tak kumaksudkan untuk meluluhkan hati seseorang, tetapi hanyalah sebuah uraian rentetan kisahku, yang kujalani secara jujur dari waktu ke waktu. Tak ada maksud merayu, tak pula bermaksud mengemis belas kasihan.
Aku hanyalah ingin memastikan, bukan memaksakan. Tahukah ia bahwa aku bersungguh-sungguh saat itu? Aku tak main-main. Aku hanya butuh “YA” atau “TIDAK”. Benar, “YA” atau ”TIDAK”, sangat sederhana bukan?. Dengan jawaban “YA” ataupun ”TIDAK”, hidupku akan terus bergulir. Dengan bekal “YA”, aku akan punya rencana. Dengan bekal “TIDAK”, akupun akan punya rencana. Hei, usahlah khawatir, semua bisa direncanakan. Berkata “TIDAK” kepadaku bukanlah sesuatu yang diharamkan.Usahlah khawatir, aku akan tetap baik-baik saja. Mungkinkah ia sedang membutuhkan waktu lebih untuk berpikir? Semoga demikian.
Kebingungannya mungkin kini telah menjelma menjadi sebuah kebencian, semoga tidak. Ya Tuhan, ampuni aku yang sedang berburuk sangka ini. Maafkan aku Tuhan karena belum mampu memahami perasaan seorang perempuan. Aku hanya ingin sekedar memahamkan, bukan menghakimi. (AHP)
* In dedication to the oppressed & in memory of the innocent civilians who lost their lives —————————————————————————————————————————————
Take a close look at the first two pictures below. Identify the terrorist.
Okay...which one do you consider a terrorist now?
[Editor's Note: This picture is edited]
[Editor's Note: This picture is edited]
In other words, what is YOUR perception of how a terrorist is supposed to look like?
U . S . S o l d i e r . . .
P a l e s t i n i a n . . .
What about after seeing the full images?
A U.S. Soldier poses with a dead Iraqi man
A Palestinian is frustrated over the injury of a child
Get the Bigger picture?
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Ask yourself why...
a Jew who grows his beard to practice his faith is considered religious,
but when a Muslim does the same, he is considered an extremist?
a Nun who covers to devote herself to God is considered pious,
but when a Muslim girl does the same, she is considered oppressed?
Prejudice?
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Why is it when...
...a Muslim commits any crime he is labeled as a terrorist, but when a non-Muslim commits a similar crime he is labeled as a criminal or an Anti-abortion extremist?
...a Muslim commits a crime his religion is the center of news, but when a non-Muslim commits a crime his religion is not even mentioned?
Bias?
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Why is it that a Black person gets a negative connotation and a White person gets a neutral connotation even when both are doing the same exact action in a single event?
Racism?
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It's so easy to look at a picture from one point of view . . .
U.S. soldier walks with Iraqi kids
But it's just as easy to look at it from another . . .
Adolf Hitler accompanies a little girl
These pictures are authentic, yet it creates an imagery to make people view things according to how the media wants YOU to see it. The unfortunate reality of the media is that it doesn't have to be a complete lie, but just a distorted truth.
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The U.S. insists that they are fighting a War ON Terror.
War ON Terror?
or War OF Terror?
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Many U.S. citizens are willing to sanction a war thinking that the U.S. is fighting off terrorism, and at the same time freeing and helping the Iraqi and Afghan civilians.
This is freedom ?
This is help ?
Afghanistan before and after U.S. invasion
U.S. air strikes kill Afghan children
Let's be honest here. Who's terrorizing who?
And even after all this...
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People don't dislike America for what it Is, people dislike America for what it has Become. It's the policies that need to Change.
Yet because of some immoral people, they have and will continue to mislead their own citizens to justify wars that end up killing millions. The same tactics are used to sanction a war. Either the government will convince the public that people such as the Iraqi and Afghan citizens need help, or they will instill fear in their citizens in order to sanction an unjust war.
North Korea next?
"...Weapons of Mass Destruction..."
..."Weapons of Mass Destruction". Does that phrase sound familiar?
George W. Bush finds out there were NO "Weapons of Mass Destruction" only AFTER killing a million Iraqis.
This is also the same president that said, "We don't torture".
That doesn't mean that North Korea doesn't have a nuclear program. But the question is, why does the U.S. tell other countries not to have Nuclear Weapons when the U.S. itself has one of the highest number of Nuclear Weapons in the World?
It's clear what the media is doing by extensively covering the chaos of the Iranian 2009 elections. Isn't it similar to how the media was showing the Iraqi citizens that were also being deprived from freedom and liberty by Saddam Hussein? The same idea used for Iraq is now being used for Iran.
A public advertising to gain support in "helping" Iran, just like how the U.S. also wanted to "help" Iraq.
The idea is not about the Iranian government playing fair in the elections. There are numerous of other countries that don't even know democracy. This is the fact that whenever any country in the Middle East has a problem, the U.S. continues to interfere in their affairs. These countries can resolve their own governmental issues on their own without other foreign countries interfering. Countries don't want the U.S. invading their lands. They just want to be left alone without having their lands and lives taken away from them.
Speaking of Iran, isn't it ironic that Israel criticizes Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for claiming that he said 'Israel should be wiped off the map', when Israel literally wiped an entire people off the map?
From 'Palestine' to 'Israel'
Why is that when either the U.S. or Israel are criticized for killing civilians, they both use the same excuse?
The Famous Human Shield Phrase
When the U.S. air strikes villages and Afghan civilians die: "The Taliban uses civilians as "Human Shields"
When Israel bombs homes and Palestinian civilians die: "Hamas uses civilians as "Human Shields"
[Notice that groups like the Taliban, Hamas, Hezbollah, etc. {regardless which of them being right or wrong}, are fighting for their people, not against their people. Many don't realize that they are a part of their own people just as American soldiers or Israeli soldiers are defending their own people]
[Also notice how the "Human Shield" phrase used is just an expression?]
Yet Israel literally uses Palestinians as Human Shields
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Israel claims that those being Anti Zionism are Anti Semitic.
So ... are these Jews "Anti-Semitic" as well?
Is this what people should support?
Israeli soldiers use Palestinians as Human Shields
Israel bulldozes the homes of Palestinians to create more Israeli settlements
How can any normal person endure such brutality? And yet Palestinians are expected not to hate this movement called Zionism?
Being a Jew doesn't mean one is a Zionist, and being a Zionist doesn't always necessarily mean one is a Jew. Zionism and Judaism are two different things.
The Israeli Flag represents Zionism. The Star of David represents Judaism.
A Jew who follows Judaism and rejects Zionism.
Anti Zionism does not mean Anti Judaism at all. Just because Zionists wanted to make it appear as something holy by using the name 'Israel' and using the symbol 'Star of David', that doesn't make Zionism holy. Zionism is a POLITICAL Movement, Judaism is a RELIGION. They're two separate things.
The entire Palestinian/Israeli conflict was never about religion. Before Zionists occupied Palestine, Jews, Christians and Muslims were living peacefully side-by-side as neighbors. Being Palestinian doesn't mean you're Muslim. Being Palestinian means you belong to the land of Palestine.
In defense for occupying Palestine, Zionists will say it belonged to them first. They will argue that it was the land of the Jews first and that they are only taking it back. But anyone with any knowledge of Palestine would know that it is an ancient and historical country. Over the centuries, some Jews continued with Judaism, and many others converted to Christianity and Islam. Many also migrated to Jerusalem. These were the biggest reasons Christians and Muslims were even present in Palestine.
Although a just as fair question could be asked...
If the Native Americans decided to take their land America back, would the millions of European, African, Asian, and South Americans just head back to their country of origin? How would the reaction of that turn out to be?
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Asking
Muslims
why they hate
Zionists
would be like asking
Jews
why they hate the
Nazis.
It's very simple. People can't love their oppressors.
Do Black people love the slave owners that abused them? Can Arabs or Muslims love the invaders of their land who demolished their homes and killed their families?
And yet people
still
wonder why there's so much violence around the world?
Oppression leads to violence!
The areas that have the most violence are the areas that have the most oppression. If people took a look around the world in areas such as the Middle East, the whole of Africa, parts of Asia, regions of South America, people will begin to see the suffering of many people. War-torn countries will always lead to people fighting for justice. That doesn't make violence justified, but at least it makes it easier to understand the higher rate crimes and violence among specific ethnic groups.
If oppression does not cease to exist, then neither will violence.
