In her last year at Pace, she spent her spring break in the hurricane-ravaged city of New Orleans assisting with the rebuilding effort and gave a report back on the WB11 Morning News in NY.
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02/04/2010 - 5:06 p.m. CST -- by Rima Abdelkader 
The latest spy thriller to hit Egyptian cinema is “Welad El-Am.” Shot in Egypt, Syria and South Africa, the drama action movie is about a Muslim Egyptian mother of two who suddenly learns her husband is a Jewish Israeli Mossad agent. Daniel (Sherif Mounir) gives Salwa (Mona Zaki) two options – to stay or leave to Egypt without the children. The action begins when a Muslim Egyptian intelligence officer vows to save Salwa and her children from Daniel. Officer Mostapha (Kareem Abdelaziz) could be seen as an Egyptian Jack Bauer – instead of fighting off America’s “terrorists” – he’s seen saving Salwa from what he calls Egypt’s most-wanted. Israelis are seen as the villains in this movie – a different perspective from this part of the world as compared to the current popular Western depiction of Arabs/Muslims as villains. Director Sherif Arafa’s latest film succeeds not only in showing the complex relationship between Israel and Egy... [Read More] |
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01/20/2009 - 1:38 p.m. CST -- by Rima Abdelkader
International coffeehouse chain Starbucks spoke out on allegations of financial support or political support to Israel on its website on 16 January following worldwide boycotts of its products and stores that apparently impacted them financially. One fact no longer included on Starbucks’ accolades page is that its CEO Howard Schultz was once awarded the "The Israel 50th Anniversary Tribute Award" from the Jerusalem Fund of Aish Ha-Torah in 1998 for “playing a key role in promoting a close alliance between the United States and Israel.” Starbucks maintained that it is a nonpolitical organization on its website. They stated on their website: “It is disheartening that calls for boycotts of Starbucks stores and products, which are based on blatant untruths, have... [Read More] |
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01/19/2009 - 1:37 a.m. CST -- by Rima Abdelkader
The Obama-Biden Presidential Transition team has set up a number of questions for Americans to answer on their website, Change.gov. One of them includes whether America should reevaluate its aid to Israel that they posted on January 12. "Reevaluate whether the level of and the basis for the aid we provide Israel is appropriate given our tough economic circumstance. Presently I fail to see the benefits to our country that would justify the extraordinarily high per-capita level of aid," it states under the category "Re-evaluate aid to Israel". What are your thoughts? Should it be reevaluated given America's tough economic situation? If so, why? If not, why not? http://citizensbriefingbook.change.gov/ideas/viewIdea.apexp?id=087800000004lmt&srPos=1&srKp=087&srS=1 |
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01/19/2009 - 12:15 a.m. CST -- by Rima Abdelkader
Irish rock band U2’s main vocalist Bono reminded Americans that Palestinians too have a dream during his “In the Name of Love” song tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. at President-Elect Barack Obama’s Sunday Inaugural Celebration concert at the Lincoln Memorial. “This is not just an American dream,” Bono said. "Also an Irish dream, a European dream, an African dream … an Israeli dream ... (delayed response) and also a Palestinian dream." (See minute 3:40) The crowd then cheered. The camera later then panned to President-Elect Obama who some on Twitter thought donned a not-so pleasant facial expression in response. But, that might seem farfetched since President-Elect Obama seemed to be listening to the song. Bono’s statement was seen by some as the only contentious-seeming statement during the star-studded celebration. Why though? What are your thoughts? |
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01/17/2009 - 5:32 p.m. CST -- by Rima Abdelkader
ABC News’ N.J. Burkett twittered that all of his stories since Thursday have been preempted by the Hudson River plane crash in Manhattan. “The plane crash has pre-empted all of my stories since Thursday. Making plans to leave Israel for NYC,” he twittered 10 hours ago. ABC News reports that the New Jersey native is the only local reporter on the Gaza-Egypt border covering the crisis. |
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01/17/2009 - 1:17 p.m. CST -- by Rima Abdelkader
Shortly after Palestinian widowed father, Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish was playing with his son following a Friday afternoon lunch his eldest 20-year old daughter Bisan prepared over a kerosene stove, an Israeli shell hit and killed Bisan, his two other daughters and their cousins in the girls’ bedroom, reported the Chicago Tribune. Their other cousin injured her eye. “I believe in saving lives, not killing," reportedly said Dr. Abuelaish. “My children should be the last price, the victims of peace and a cease-fire.” Dr. Abuelaish who worked as a gynaecologist in an Israeli hospital was scheduled for a phone interview on Israel TV 10. He called correspondent Shlomi Eldar before the scheduled interview screaming with tears of anguish which the channel broadcast live. ... [Read More] |
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01/13/2009 - 10:36 a.m. CST -- by Rima Abdelkader
ABC News’ N.J. Burkett has been twittering his reports on Gaza and posting some photos of his experiences on Flickr through the Eyewitness News Photo stream. Since Israel is not allowing international journalists from entering the conflict zone, the New Jersey native has been reporting from the Gaza-Egypt border. ABC News is saying Burkett is the only local reporter there. His latest Tweet: Just filed the report for EWN at 5PM. Seeing the Palestinian civilians in the hospitals has been very moving. Doctors moved to tears. Here... [Read More] |
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01/12/2009 - 10:25 p.m. CST -- by Rima Abdelkader
As the Israeli Defense Forces continue their ground and online offensive for the 18th day now, international journalists still don’t have access into Gaza with the exception of the Al Jazeera Network and some Arabic-language networks. Al Jazeera has been providing groundbreaking news coverage through their 24-hour Arabic and English news channels from inside Gaza well before Operation Cast Lead. I’ve quickly tuned into Al Jazeera English online at the start of the offensive to get the perspective of both peoples from inside the area. Here are some examples: |
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01/10/2009 - 3:53 p.m. CST -- by Rima Abdelkader
Israel’s Operation Cast Lead against the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip is already in its 15th day and two virtual games on the conflict have already been created and posted on the Internet. It’s not clear if any of these games will be as popular as the Sock and Awe game created as a result of an Iraqi journalist throwing his two shoes at President George W. Bush. That site as of today shows that over 78 million people have successfully thrown shoes at the U.S. President in the game. One game is called Raid Gaza! and the other game is called Gaza Defense Force 2009. What do you think of these virtual games? |
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01/08/2009 - 9:38 p.m. CST -- by Rima Abdelkader
An exchange in Arabic between an alleged Gazan resident and an alleged Israeli Defense Force soldier can be heard in this phone call. Ahmad-Abu Ibrahim conversation The alleged Gazan resident or Ahmad called the phone number on one of the flyers the Israeli Defense Forces dropped on the ground in Gaza that asks Gazan residents to supply them with information on suspected “terrorists” and rocket launching sites. The alleged IDF soldier or Abu Ibrahim quickly realized it was a prank call when Ahmed said Ehud Barak, Gabi Ashkenazi, Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni are the suspected “terrorists”. I later learned that Ahmad was an Electronic Intifada editor, according to their website. |
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