Gaza is Palestine

This is the first time I have written about Gaza, a lovely place in the world, I hope with these simple words to serve her as I should, and express some of my feelings for her.

Most people in the world think that the people in Gaza suffer from the siege, difficulties with travel, water, electricity and bombing…….etc.

Yes, a lot of people think that but I want everyone to understand a very   important thing, that the issue in Gaza is not a humanitarian issue or the siege.

The issue is much bigger than these things.

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How to find halal food?

When you live in a non-Muslim country you must be careful with your food because you can’t eat from anywhere.

We are Muslims and in Islam we can eat and drink anything we like, except drinking Alcohol or eating pork and any kind of meat that wasn’t slaughtered in the Islamic way. Also we can’t eat the food that contains derivatives of these things. All of these things you can found it in the Quran.

Some Muslims don’t know about that and the others don’t care to know, so be careful when you choose your food.

I want to write some instructions which may help Muslims to find halal food:

1-   Look for the nearest mosque to your place; it’s the right place to get to know Muslims people.

2-   In the mosque Muslims people will tell you where to find the closest place that sells halal meat.

3-   If you can’t find halal meat, the best thing to do in this  situation is slaughter with your hands

4-    You can buy anything from any shop which has a green sign “V” or “suitable for vegetarian” written on it.

5-    If you cannot find this sign or this statement don’t forget to read the ingredients.

6-    Anything related to pork, beef and chicken like “pork fat, lard or gelatin, beef fat or gelatin” means that thing is not halal.

It’s not easy to know this information about halal food if you are in a new place and you don’t know everything about it.

However you must take care and do your best to find halal food because it is an order from Allah and Prophet Mohammed and we have to follow them.

Muslims in York

There is one mosque in York (York mosque), and there are prayer rooms in the university.
I met all my Muslim friends in the mosque.
They are so nice and helpful.I thank Allah every day for knowing them.
The mosque activities are: a men’s halaqa, a women’s halaqa and a Quran school for children.
I share in the halaqa and the mother and toddlers’ group every week. I help in the Quran school and sometimes go to the jummah prayer.
In the university there is  an Islamic society. They worked hard to make an Islamic environment on the campus for Muslim students, like prayer rooms, halal food in the restaurants and doing all their activities easily like lectures, social meeting and trips.

Thank you

I want to say thank you to every one who has helped us since we arrived in York, especially our friends.

Thanks to Carol Pearman my teacher for helping and supporting us in everything we needed.

From the first day that she knew about us coming to York, she decided to host us without even knowing us.

Thanks to John Bibby and his son Kevin for helping us since we were in Gaza until we settled here.

Thanks to Misoon El-Gomati and her family for helping us to know everything about Muslim people in York.

We are so grateful, me and my husband Fadi, for all the lovely things that you are doing to help us enjoy ourselves in York.

Describe York

York is a green city full of many fruit trees, I like it very much.

There is a long river which passes through it, and it is full of many colored ducks.

There are a lot of cycle lanes in York, so some people called it cycle city.

York is old city full of historical places like a long wall, a castle, a very big museum garden, York Minster and The Shambles which is the oldest street in the city.

In York you will see a lot of people with different nationalities. They come to visit the historical places in the town.

The flat where we are living is very close to the city center but far from the university where my husband studies.

There are two universities. One of them is the University of York which is considered one of the best 100 universities in the world.

You can use taxis, buses, bikes or you can walk from one place to another in the city.

We usually walk to most places in the city, because the Public transport is very expensive.

Finally, it’s wonderful to travel and visit new cities in your life. This will change your life and make you full of energy.

In addition there is extra learning, meeting new friends, working, and killing boredom and routine.

However I love Palestine, I love Gaza It’s my home and my family, friends and everything I like are there.

Inshallah I will come back when this journey ends.

York …. A new life.

Since we moved to live in York at the end of September this year, I have lived hard days to adapt to British life style in different aspects, communications, the style of flats, and finding halal food.

I realized that when you live in a new place you must be patient until you learn about everything.  If you don’t do that, certainly you will make a lot of mistakes which take a lot of your time.

Inshallah I will write some notes about my life in York, Muslims and some experiences.

This is the first time that I have written in English since I was at school. I hope it will be useful to improve my skills. Maybe if I wrote in English my speaking would improve as well. I don’t know if that will be helpful but I will try.

I hope to write correct sentences and if I make mistakes please correct me as you can.

Thank you