zaεtar » Ramallah

Ramallah Road in Jacksonville Florida

za3tar — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:32:59 +0000

I was surfing online aimlessly when i stumbled upon this:

Isn’t it awesome ?!!

I have seen towns in the USA called Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Lebanon, Palestine, Damascus, Tyre, and Alexandria .. but these are all old biblical names and/or their corresponding cities in the Middle East are very old (from the greeko-roman times) unlike Ramallah.

And for my Jordanian readers, wala eyhimkom .. here is Amman Road in Edison New Jersey:

Another American Geography Gaffe: Where is Ramallah ?

za3tar — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:36:12 +0000

The recent influx of American journalists to the middle east covering Barack Obama’s tour has shown me their gross unfamiliarity of the basics of this world arena and its geography. Yesterday i posted about their confusion between Iraq & Jordan, two very distinct countries; one which they are occupying with more than 100k troops and is drenched in sectarian violence, and the other is a quite sovereign nation. You’d imagine they would know more about Iraq since they have so many people there .

Anyway, today Obama is visiting Israel & the West Bank. Ramallah is in the West Bank, and this area is usually referred to in news reports using any of the following terms: Palestine, West Bank, Palestinian Territories, or Occupied Territories. At least the term “West Bank” is very politically neutral. Not like this:

For God’s sake, you just said that you are sitting infront of the Palestinian President’s building

BZU Graduation Celebration

za3tar — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 09:54:35 +0000

I don’t know these people, and i did not attend that graduation celebration. However this is a video of some people celebrating graduating from Birzeit University (BZU) that i found randomly on YouTube.

I don’t know …. but there is something nice about their singing and celebration. It sounds so sincerely happy.

Sporadic Pictures of Ramallah

za3tar — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 16:07:03 +0000

Some pictures of my beautiful Ramallah. These were taken between July and October of this year.
This post with 11 pictures could be quite a bit for low-bandwidth connections … sorry …but hey, i haven’t posted in a while.

(that damn stupid wire !!!)

( a building enthroned )

( really nice ! )

Garden Moments

za3tar — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 15:47:11 +0000

Some random pictures from our garden (7akoora) back home.

… and the cat….

The cat looks down upon thy.

O’ so full of wisdom !!

Yazan’s Abstract Art

za3tar — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 23:08:51 +0000

I don’t know the exact classification of this type of art … i guess it is abstract art. … regardless … here are some very beautiful pieces by Yazan Khalifeh. I found these at RamallahUnderground.com.

Chain Free

Flesh in Harmony

The Nest

Pixelated Building

za3tar — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 12:14:13 +0000

I am trying to describe this, or give it contextual setting … but i can’t. All you need to know is: new building, under construction, highest point in Ramallah (..i think).

That open window ruined the shot

A hard day at work

za3tar — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 09:47:28 +0000

The daily events of this common “hard-worker”. Ya3teek el-3afyeeh Sob7ee

This clip was created by the creative folks at Zan Studio in Ramallah.

The team at Zan Studio

Best Burger Ever

za3tar — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 15:15:53 +0000

It seriously is nothing short of that!! The “Magnum Burger” at Chili Chili (rather an odd name if you ask me) is seriously one thick, juicy, delicious burger. I’ve tried burgers from various places ranging from the big chains (McD, BK, Hardee’s/Carl Jr, Wendy’s ..etc) to the more obscure places … but this one does win the challenge (IMHO).

M7ashee

za3tar — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 15:15:02 +0000

M7ashee, stuffed vegetables, is a (very delicious) traditional Palestinian/Levantine dish. The vegetables are usually carved and then stuffed with rice, some meat, and a dash of spices. The dish is cooked with a light tomato sauce and served hot.

The interesting thing is that people have used all sorts of vegetables in this dish. Besides the traditional Zucchinis and Egg Plants, some people stuff the following vegetables:

Green Peppers
Small Pumpkins (يقطين)
Potatoes
Cucumbers
Tomatoes (this is probably the hardest one)
Sweet Carrots (The purple ones)
فقوس (i don’t know what that is in English, but it looks like cucumbers)

Do you know of other vegetables that are also used in m7ashee ?

Radio Advertisements

za3tar — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 05:30:54 +0000

I was just looking at the second section of Al-Ayyam newspaper, and i found it a bit odd (and funny) to see the following:

These are advertisements for 4 radio stations that were placed one after the other !! What was the rationale behind this. Maybe they all wanted to be on the first (colored) page of the second section ?? Eh … who knows !!

The Purple Petals

za3tar — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 11:14:24 +0000

Purple petals have fallen of a tree down the road of where i live. The street turned into a majestic purple shade. I have not digitally altered any of these photos, i am not sure if they need to.

I have more of these if anybody is interested. I also don’t mind you using them, but please let me know if you do.

Office Building

za3tar — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 04:37:25 +0000

For some reason, the first tech companies in Ramallah had an unspoken tradition of settling in old traditional “Ramallah-style” buildings rather than trendy high-rises.

This is probably one of the nicest tech company headquarters i have ever seen. It combines old architecture with a glass deck that overlooks a couple of hills and valleys.

P.S: I took this picture while driving …. yes i have many skills :-p