I watched Jenin, Jenin for the second time tonight. I cannot express the horror I feel at sight of what my Palestinian sisters and brothers endure. These beautiful people, with a beautiful culture, a beautiful Din... and they are reduced to shattered, scattered refugees, hounded and harassed no matter where they go. And branded as 'terrorists' when they do what any human being would do in their place- defend themselves. I am utterly ashamed to know that my tax money goes to support this unjust and utterly repugnant occupation; they only thing I can do to make amends is to make known their plight, to fight for their cause in this country, and, insha'allah, to travel to Palestine and share in their plight directly.

Edward Said has died. While I do not always agree with his analyses of Orientalism and find the writing style he employs in those critiques to be overly opaque, I have a great deal of respect for what he has done to make the plight of the Palestinian people known to the rest of world. He will be missed; with his death we have lost an intelligent and articulate critic of imperialism and of the ill uses to which the West puts its economic, political, and technological clout. RIP.