A Poz Salam

A Poz Salam http://www.thebody.com/content/art58283.html A blog by Ibrahim at TheBody.com. http://www.thebody.com/images/blog/ibrahim_biobox.gif Ibrahim http://www.thebody.com/content/art58283.html 115 145 The Grinch Who Stole World AIDS Day http://www.thebody.com/content/73206/the-grinch-who-stole-world-aids-day.html Usually, I try to cheer everyone on World AIDS Day, but this year is an exception because I will be asking you to boycott the celebration of World AIDS Day. Before you accuse me of being a Debbie Downer, read my reasons and if you do not like them, you can always skip this one and click to the next blog.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/73206/the-grinch-who-stole-world-aids-day.html ibrahimpoz@yahoo.com (Ibrahim) Fri, 15 Nov 2013 08:00:00 GMT Arabian Erotica on Twitter http://www.thebody.com/content/72618/arabian-erotica-on-twitter.html Beyond their historical role in the Middle East political changes, Twitter and other social media networking sites have created a safe space for a population pulled between loyalty to culture and natural needs to express a collective wild sexuality. Up to now, a discussion about Arab sexuality is often a classical case study of orientalism: The sexually inhibited women and the lewd abusive men were once the ABCs of a course in Middle Eastern sociology.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/72618/arabian-erotica-on-twitter.html ibrahimpoz@yahoo.com (Ibrahim) Thu, 5 Sep 2013 17:19:00 GMT Mental Therapy and HIV: One Patient's Perspective http://www.thebody.com/content/71351/mental-therapy-and-hiv-one-patients-perspective.html The mental burden of being HIV positive is of substantial weight that could equal, if not exceed, the weight of the physical damage HIV can cause to the body. Unfortunately, this significance is met by a practice that still deals with broad categories of mental illness rather than the specificity of HIV-related mental problems. Mental health care providers in the case of HIV-positive persons are, mostly, social workers who lack the experience to deal with nuances of the problems rooted in the minds of poz folks.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/71351/mental-therapy-and-hiv-one-patients-perspective.html ibrahimpoz@yahoo.com (Ibrahim) Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:29:00 GMT A Positive Ramadan http://www.thebody.com/content/67900/a-positive-ramadan.html Ramadan is the name of one of the 12 lunar months of the Islamic calendar. For 29 days of Ramadan, Muslims believe that they are supposed to fast from sunrise until sunset. Many HIV-positive Muslims wish to join their community in observing this important month ... Can they?

In Ramadan, Muslims practice the maximum self-control by denying their bodies every earthly pleasure during the daylight. This means, they cannot eat food, drink water or even have sex (bad news to some J ). If a Muslim wrongs another human then his fasting is annulled and a Muslim will miss the great reward God promised to those who fast Ramadan truly.

Read more ...

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/67900/a-positive-ramadan.html ibrahimpoz@yahoo.com (Ibrahim) Wed, 18 Jul 2012 11:03:00 GMT Middle Eastern Food Is Poz Friendly http://www.thebody.com/content/66388/middle-eastern-food-is-poz-friendly.html While most things in the Middle East could be unfriendly to Poz persons, one thing keeps proving the opposite: Middle Eastern cuisine. A diet that is high in good fats, protein, vegetables and good carbs; how can you go wrong with that?

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/66388/middle-eastern-food-is-poz-friendly.html ibrahimpoz@yahoo.com (Ibrahim) Fri, 23 Mar 2012 18:20:00 GMT World AIDS Day 2011: New Activism, New Generation http://www.thebody.com/content/64853/world-aids-day-2011-new-activism-new-generation.html To be an activist is not about how big the effort you make; it is about how you think and what you believe. To challenge perceptions and misconceptions is either in your DNA or nowhere. Achieving the goal of World AIDS Day 2011 requires a spirit of activism, willing to challenge many predominant principles in our society. Some of these principles and values are entrenched not because of their validity but because of who benefits from them and promotes them, or who has the power to affirm them. Just as one philosopher stated: "The ruling principles are the principles of the ruling class."

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/64853/world-aids-day-2011-new-activism-new-generation.html ibrahimpoz@yahoo.com (Ibrahim) Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:56:00 GMT Status Undetectable? Not Really! http://www.thebody.com/content/64568/status-undetectable-not-really.html While the virus in my blood is becoming undetectable, other things are becoming much more visible to me. My comprehension of my status as HIV positive is staging an assault on all aspects of my life and becoming excruciating. Hiding a label that tagged me is becoming a difficult task ... and no matter what success I am achieving in my life, the burden of this status is causing such bitterness that could burn away any feeling of success.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/64568/status-undetectable-not-really.html ibrahimpoz@yahoo.com (Ibrahim) Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:18:00 GMT HIV and Death ... In Memory of Dr. Bob http://www.thebody.com/content/64384/hiv-and-death--in-memory-of-dr-bob.html Weeks ago, we were saddened by the death of Dr. Robert Frascino. Dr. Bob insisted on delivering a message of tolerance towards all people and not only HIV-positive persons, responding to questions that sometimes drifted away from medicine to politics. He was a firm believer that a doctor has no choice other than to eradicate any moral judgments on the human body. Dr. Bob decided to declare his status to everyone, hoping this will help fight the stigma and prove that "HIV is not a death sentence."

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/64384/hiv-and-death--in-memory-of-dr-bob.html ibrahimpoz@yahoo.com (Ibrahim) Fri, 14 Oct 2011 11:29:00 GMT Poz Politics ... in the Face of Armageddon http://www.thebody.com/content/63502/poz-politics--in-the-face-of-armageddon.html "It started with a poster," an old nice woman once told me when I was a child explaining how in history, dictators used images and posters to demonize people they dislike, or to idealize the one and only beloved. We in the Middle East had many of these posters: a poster showing the beloved Sheik, King, or president hugging a child. Him visiting patients in the hospital. Him as a great teacher. Him taking a shower. Posters everywhere. And there were hate posters that depicted the enemies with horns.

I was flipping through posters in my mind when I was standing in the subway looking at the New York City Health Department's poster, "It's Never Just HIV." The poster used pretty much the same tactic this old lady told me about: Fear ... demonizing individuals. Nothing based on solid facts, except overdramatizing isolated cases.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/63502/poz-politics--in-the-face-of-armageddon.html ibrahimpoz@yahoo.com (Ibrahim) Sat, 13 Aug 2011 11:14:00 GMT Curing Your Spirit of HIV http://www.thebody.com/content/62669/curing-your-spirit-of-hiv.html It usually starts with "He was charming ..." then the drama follows. By now, I am kind of used to this soap opera. However, the story of "Toxic" was unique. Toxic is not only a young charming man who is seeking a "soul mate unconfined by the norms of queer culture" as per his profile. He will write love poems to the guys he will meet and will paint pictures of their dreams about the perfect life. Toxic will take you in a walk in the park, and will kiss you under a tree. You will fly with him to the sky of love so fast and once you've touched the clouds ... he will drop you.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/62669/curing-your-spirit-of-hiv.html ibrahimpoz@yahoo.com (Ibrahim) Wed, 22 Jun 2011 11:15:00 GMT Coming in and out of the Closet http://www.thebody.com/content/art62215.html I knew it was coming; writing about sexuality and LGBT issues. I'd tried to avoid it, addressing this issue in all my previous blogs in the most subtle way ... but finally it was time for Olivia Ford from TheBody.com to ask me if I wanted to write about gay pride. Ouch!

I wrote the first draft but it was nothing more than baffling and made no sense. I was trying to find the words to address what I mistakenly saw as a contradiction to my culture. The question was: How could I defend the LGBT pride without attacking my culture, as if the two seemed in definite quarrel? The result was a blog that could be found only in the memoirs of the Duck.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/art62215.html ibrahimpoz@yahoo.com (Ibrahim) Wed, 1 Jun 2011 16:00:00 GMT God ... Get Outta Here! How I Met My HIV Doctor http://www.thebody.com/content/art61562.html When I was a child, I had a teacher at school who believed that her mission was to introduce us to God. As you can see, she was a Middle Eastern version of Camp Jesus! She made us believe that God will take care of us for the rest of our lives no matter what; and when difficult times come, it is just his way of slapping us on the wrist -- because we definitely did something bad ... He just wants us to be better.

This belief was inside me until I was diagnosed. At that moment, I felt betrayed by God. How could he do this? Even if he wanted to discipline me, why choose something that would leave permanent scars? My teacher said that he has a plan always; even when bad things happen to us, something good will happen later. We just need to wait and behave well, and he will take away his punishment. This time, I couldn't apply this logic to my situation. It was a total disaster that couldn't be justified or explained by any wisdom. How is he going to reverse this? It could not be undone this time.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/art61562.html ibrahimpoz@yahoo.com (Ibrahim) Mon, 18 Apr 2011 14:57:00 GMT Dear Ibrahim ... I Will Kill Myself. http://www.thebody.com/content/art60581.html Sometimes I get this startling headline in my e-mails from friends who are still struggling with accepting that they became HIV positive. My initial reaction is usually to panic and keep e-mailing the person asking him to call 911, 311, 411 or any of the numbers that have 11 in the end, just to make sure that Big Brother gets involved, turns into the good mother for once and get him help. Or, I ask him to see a therapist immediately (a cheap and sane one).

After many e-mails, I get angry with this young man when I see his online profile status changing into something like "Girlz night tonight ... YAY!" Well, peeps will always be peeps. But away from this endless story of "Oh, my God, I am gay and Poz." In reality, this suicidal mentality raises a very important question: Why do HIV-positive Muslims (or even non-Muslims in some cases) want to kill themselves? Are they trying to get some attention, feeling so voiceless? Are they even serious about it?

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/art60581.html ibrahimpoz@yahoo.com (Ibrahim) Thu, 24 Feb 2011 09:25:00 GMT Is It Time to Celebrate the "Cure"? http://www.thebody.com/content/art59977.html If we analyze the Google usage of any newly diagnosed HIV-positive person, chances are 90 percent of his search history will reflect the phrase "HIV cure." The idea of waking up one day and finding out that there is a cure to your HIV that could replace your daily pills with a once-and-forever treatment is a dream to every Poz person in the world.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/art59977.html ibrahimpoz@yahoo.com (Ibrahim) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:30:00 GMT Mission Impossible: Tom Cruise and Sara http://www.thebody.com/content/art59702.html Sara who? No, I am not announcing the name of the chick who will be riding behind Tom Cruise on the motorbike in his coming movie. The issue simply is that a lot of my beloved friends here on TheBody.com have applauded me for doing what they see as a great mission! Therefore, I wanted to give that credit to those who really deserve it.

After all, I do live in the U.S. It's relatively safe for me to blog, talk and advocate. But I would like to talk about those heroes who still live in the Middle East, yet are working tirelessly to bring justice to HIV patients. They deserve credit more than I do -- they are the heroes of what some see as Mission Impossible.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/art59702.html ibrahimpoz@yahoo.com (Ibrahim) Thu, 2 Dec 2010 22:14:00 GMT Finally, I Got a Color TV! http://www.thebody.com/content/art59387.html Not exactly -- in fact I don't even watch TV! I guess I am not missing a lot, right? What I meant is: Before this year, World AIDS Day for me was something black and white -- it was similar to watching a TV that has no colors.

I perceived it as a day for Africans. This was pretty much my entire connection to AIDS and World AIDS Day -- I used to view it as a day to distribute food to frail Africans with AIDS who were lying on their iron beds looking at the cameras while the I.V. fluid tubes crossed over their faces. This whole day didn't reserve more than a few brain cells in me. World AIDS Day was not my day by any means. Not even in my wildest dreams -- and wow, if you knew how wild my dreams could get -- had I had ever imagined that at this point, this day would mean something for me.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/art59387.html ibrahimpoz@yahoo.com (Ibrahim) Mon, 15 Nov 2010 16:54:00 GMT In Arabic, "HIV" Is Misspelled "AL-AIDS" http://www.thebody.com/content/art58708.html Looking back at the early days of AIDS, almost everybody in the Middle East talked about the new Western disease that seemed to be the very logical and divine result of the decadence of the West, the punishment for adultery and homosexuality.

Theories of the "super nation" and moral superiority fueled the misconception that Muslims and especially Middle Easterners are immune when it comes to HIV. Governments that reacted hysterically to the pandemic, imposing a series of Middle Ages-like policies targeting HIV-positive people under the title of preventing HIV from entering our countries, helped in building more this wrong belief in our immunity as a society and as individuals towards HIV -- and it created such a strong stigma associated with HIV in most Muslim countries.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/art58708.html ibrahimpoz@yahoo.com (Ibrahim) Thu, 30 Sep 2010 21:27:00 GMT A Poz Salamu-Alaikum http://www.thebody.com/content/art58272.html "Salamu-alaikum" is the Islamic greeting used in the Middle East and in almost every country that is predominantly Muslim. It's in Arabic and it means in English: Peace be upon you!

And peace is what I am seeking, by writing this blog -- peace in my soul and mind -- so here we go. This is my first time writing about me and my Poz experience as a proud Middle Eastern, Muslim man -- and recently trying to be a proud Poz as well.

]]> http://www.thebody.com/content/art58272.html ibrahimpoz@yahoo.com (Ibrahim) Wed, 1 Sep 2010 21:13:00 GMT