Antennas After Midnight

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-        Where the waves are open, I like to write after midnight... when I sleep early....and usually that is almost daily, I wake up early as a natural equation in the world of sleep..and for the elderly there is a special provision.!!.. After midnight the waves and vibrations calm at all frequencies!!....in our sky...where the vast majority of people go to sleep...and the broadcasting waves and informational clamor via communication media stop.....so there is stillness...in which whispering becomes loud in the darkness of night....no movement ..nor the creeping of ants...and he too sleeps at such hours...!!...After midnight....the time is clear for contemplation... and quiet silent reading...pleasant.. after midnight ...even roosters fall silent about their permissible crowing....So our activities after midnight...are not forbidden....by natural law..as one of the great sheikhs told me..although the night was created for slumber..and the day was created for earning a living..yet there are many interpretations.....in the calm of night...there is no traffic policeman or civil censor to ticket you or oppose you in a march in which you express your opinion about matters of this life..in a civil and peaceful manner.....After midnight you do not hear the crowd's commotion as it shops in the vegetable market seeking cheap prices amid the high prices these days..!!! ..nor the Israeli occupation army vehicles...which we often find in front of us on most days cutting through the main streets crowded with cars and residents..but they...do not care..so sometimes we see them in the main squares in the city of Ram Allah...in the main Al-Manara roundabout....where the lions in their statues..do not move..nor speak..yet we feel they are angry!!..And sometimes in the Al-Masyoun neighborhood..in the city..and sometimes in Al-Bireh city and sometimes opposite places of a special nature...they know their routes...with great ease despite youths pelting them with stones.!!...They do not ask for addresses because they have obtained the maps and know the area by heart...And sometimes a handful of collaborators provide them services...... so they find the address of some building they want to search or demolish....because, as they claim, all segments of its tenants and subtenants participated in supporting the killing of a settler indirectly....in the suburbs of the city and near settlements on occupied Palestinian land.....by a young man who resides in the building...or left it...so the punishment is collective. Because the young man lives among them...according to the emergency laws from the British mandate days nearly 90 years ago.....and their entering main city areas is not forbidden to them..for we were told these are areas (A) they cannot enter....but...the Israeli occupation army whispers in some people's ears that such entry by the occupying army is legitimate and agreed upon. Submission...!!. In the Oslo agreements of 1993 and their annexes..under the clause –hot pursuits-....all that occurs during daytime......yet I was surprised on many of those nights by the roar of Israeli occupation military vehicles ..in the surrounding streets near us in the city!!...And I remembered an incident several months ago after midnight one night, soldiers stopped us who had dismounted from many military vehicles..and intercepted our private car at about 2:00 a.m. when my children and I were going to Ramallah Governmental Hospital...where we had received notice of the death of a dear relative ...who had been taken to the aforementioned hospital for examination and to determine the cause of death....the soldiers brandished their weapons in our faces while we saw armed plainclothes men who appeared to be from undercover units..who infiltrate among Palestinians, wear similar clothes to theirs, and use some Palestinian cars..so that no one suspects they are disguised occupation soldiers..and they had stopped a car on the other side of the street..these kill without arresting and use heavy fire to terrorize if they feel they have been exposed.....They asked for IDs..and we gave them..and they asked us why we were out at that hour..I was surprised to be asked why I was out in my own country at any hour..and on a main street...in Al-Bireh city..but I realized he was trying to get the answer quickly..under the threat of a weapon..so we told him the reason...about the death..and in that moment......between me and myself I tried to ask where are our group's patrols.....to complain to them about our concern and fear!!..They are sons of the homeland and they stay up to protect their people..but I realized that the time was late..and we were in the early hours of dawn....and it is not reasonable for the group to remain awake for this long a period...!! May God help them...What can they do...? They spare no effort to preserve our security but we see in their eyes..an incomprehensible regret.!!...but we all understand..that the Israeli occupation does not respect....those who respect agreements..!!..

-        After midnight ...inspirations descend....without barriers..and I receive information free of the censor's scissors!! ..so the devices and sensors of surveillance and human and mechanical eavesdropping fail.... There is no noise, only a squeaking....some of the American roaches...the red ones....I suppose they are in the crevices outside the house !

-        I sat in front of the personal computer—laptop—at a corner of the outer salon..where someone had placed for me a small desk and chair to be folded at the end of reading or work so they would not take up space...in the house...and I began to read a pamphlet someone sent me...from the Arab archive of the last century. In that pamphlet the author addresses one of the ten models of exchanged letters...between Sharif Hussein bin Ali –Sharif of Mecca– and Sir Henry McMahon, the British envoy in Egypt in 1915...and before World War I....after reviewing them, although we studied them in school, I was astonished at the Englishman's cleverness in understanding the psychology of Arab rulers..that with perfusive praise and commendation...he can capture the heart of that Arab ruler..and achieve the intended goal of passing any agreement..in which the British have the upper hand..they are the ones who draft the texts and they are the ones who translate and they are the ones who hide the parts that would provoke the Arab ruler..and show what the ruler wishes to hear. They postpone thorny files to later days..to be determined afterwards..exactly as they postponed our main issue files to a stage they called final but after a while....!! The sheikh is one and the priest is one...even if years pass!! .And in the end they obtain from that ruler...a desire to submit in friendship and that there is no objection to trusting Great Britain the friend in all intents and purposes...even regarding the sanctities......They exploit the ruler's circumstances and his intention at that time for independence and separation from the Ottoman Caliphate..and therefore the English lauded and praised with long words and synonymous phrases all meaning a single repeated sense ...only ..please review ...and you know the story. When they betrayed...and exiled Sharif Hussein bin Ali..and the British broke their promise..and their commitments......Below is an image of one of those letters and the endless words of praise......

·       From Sir Henry McMahon to Sharif Hussein

-        On 30 August 1915

·       To the noble and honorable Sir the Hashemite, of the line of the Sharifs and the crown of glory and branch of the Muhammadan tree and the noble Ahmadi Quraishi lineage, holder of the exalted rank and lofty position, the honorable Sir son of Sir and the Sharif son of the noble illustrious Sharif Hussein, master of all, Emir of noble Mecca before the world and the guardian of the devout, may people’s blessings be upon you all "

·       "After offering the warmest regards and the pure heartfelt salutations from every sect, we present it as an honor to express our obligation of thanks for showing your affectionate sincerity and the honor of feeling and sensations toward the English. And moreover we state that we know your lordship and your men are of one opinion and that the interests of the Arabs are the same as the interests of the English and vice versa. And for this proportion we affirm to you the words of His Excellency Lord Kitchener..which reached your lordship and which made clear our desire for the independence of Arab lands and their inhabitants together with our assistance for their separation from the Arab Caliphate upon its proclamation."

·       "And we state here once more that His Majesty the King of Great Britain welcomes the restoration of the Caliphate into the firm hand of an Arab branch of that blessed prophetic lineage. As for the question of boundaries and borders, negotiation in them appears to be premature for their time, and the disposal of matters will be closed "

·       "In matters such as these in detail, in case the war is about to ease its course..and because the Entente Allies remain occupied with overpowering those hostile forces in actual and especially with what we know, which astonishes and saddens, that a faction of the resident Arabs in those regions themselves may have neglected and missed this precious opportunity which is not greater than them, and instead of that faction advancing to help us they have tended to assist the Germans, yes they have extended the helping hand to that new cruel and plundering power which is Germany and the oppressive, long-suffering Austro-Hungarian Allies."

·       "Nevertheless we are fully prepared to send to the court of His Excellency and to the holy Arab lands and the noble Arabs gifts and acceptable donations from the Egyptian people and it will be sent with nothing more than a sign from your lordship and to the place you designate. And we have made the necessary arrangements to assist your messenger in all his journeys to us and we remain continually with you heart and soul, drawing from your pure kindness and confident in your sincere love asking God Almighty for the continuance of good relations between us."

·       "And in conclusion I extend to that sublime personage my complete regards and salutations and the highest expressions of my respect. 19 Tahrir in 19 Shawwal 1333 corresponding to 30 of August 1915"

·       Summary

·       Sir Arthur McMahon

·       Deputy to His Majesty the King"

-        Date: 22-1-2019