Somewhere on A1A...

Posted 8/29/2002 02:37:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Moderate Islam Watch

Mustansir Mir, writes of Those Intrinsic Intellectuals in the Islamic World. He discusses the inability of the traditionalists and modernists within Islam to enter into any sort of dialogue:

Attempts have no doubt been made to heal this rift between the traditionalists and the modernists. But so far they have not borne fruit. Their rejection of each other is almost total. The traditionalist thinks that he has nothing to do with what he dubs irreligious and immoral modernism. He, therefore, rejects it with completeness worthy of his blind dogmatism. The modernist, on the other hand, looks down upon all tradition as the principal cause of backwardness and misery. And so he spurns it with a perversely rigid attitude.

The traditionalist is mistaken because he fails to appreciate the true nature of the modern challenge. The modernist falls into error because he fallaciously thinks that anything rooted in the past is antiquated. The traditionalist blames modernism for having weaned Muslims from Islam, their mainstay, while the modernist accuses traditionalism of making the disastrous attempt of putting the clock back. The two are not prepared to listen to each other because each thinks he is in the exclusive possession of the truth. So while things stand as they do, it is well nigh impossible to affect a compromise between the two parties. And, one is disposed to think, even if some kind of compromise were affected, it would be no more than a patchwork, with the fate of a patchwork.

His solution is a pipe dream of a new intellectual class that is more knowledgeable than the traditionalists but more modern in their approach.... The sad thing is nothing in the middle currently exists. How many from the extremes will move to the center??? Not many I fear.

Posted 8/29/2002 08:34:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Washington DC, along with Houston**, failed to make the final cut for the US bid to host the Olympic Games in 2012. Tony Kornheiser mourns the loss:

I was really looking forward to the Opening Ceremony in D.C. You know they make a big deal of getting the unique character of the host city in the ceremonies. I remember in Seoul they released something like 5,000 doves to fly around the main stadium. (Sadly, many flew directly into the Olympic flame and became dinner.) I was thinking we could release maybe 400 lobbyists and 300 government tax attorneys in pinstripe suits and black wing-tips. By 2012 I was hoping we'd have located where Dick Cheney lived, and we could set him free at midfield.

Ah, but that dream is gone.

Personally, I thought President Bush could have helped Washington land the Olympics. But he doesn't seem to like Washington. Bush leaves town every chance he gets. I don't know who spends less time here, him or Michael Jordan.

I'm surprised. I thought D.C. had a real shot. We have the kind of staying power other cities around the world don't. I was going to make a bumper sticker that said: "Washington. We're Gonna Be Here. Can You Say That About Baghdad?"...read more

**Courtesy of Amish Tech Support

Posted 8/29/2002 08:26:00 AM by Ocean Guy
An original approach to peace?...... Don't think so.

Posted 8/29/2002 08:22:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Will Word Perfect make a full come-back? Anything to give Microsoft some competition is a good thing.

Posted 8/29/2002 07:18:00 AM by Ocean Guy
The EUnuchs keep funding the PA, not only for humanitarian purposes, but in the words of Chris Patten, "the EU has no reason to be ashamed of its efforts to maintain the Palestinian Authority as a valid interlocutor for Israel, in order to prevent a slide into even greater chaos and anarchy.". David Weinberg explains it:

To begin with, only half the annual EU aid to the Palestinians is allocated for "humanitarian purposes"; in 2002, for example, about 113 million out of 232 million euros. This includes assistance to the PA, to Palestinian NGOs, and to UNWRA for emergency food aid, post-injury rehabilitation, psycho-social support, health services, cash assistance to "special hardship cases," water, electricity, shelter, non-food humanitarian items, environmental services, education, infrastructure, interest subsidies for the private sector, etc.

By propping up the present PA regime, Chris Patten's EU is prolonging "chaos and anarchy," not preventing it.

I have no problem with this, despite the fact that the EU has never provided similar assistance to innocent, terrorized, and traumatized Israeli citizens who also could use help in post-injury rehabilitation, psycho-social support, cash assistance to special hardship cases, and so on. The EU is entitled, after all, to help one side of this conflict more than the other. The real problems start with the other half of EU aid to the Palestinians, moneys allocated to sustaining the PA Israel's "valid interlocutor" according to Patten.

Posted 8/29/2002 06:41:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Don't miss John Hawkins' interview with Daniel Pipes.

Posted 8/28/2002 10:56:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Israeli owned company sells arms to Iran but the shipment is intercepted by German authorities.... Israeli comoanies were implicated during "Irangate." Let's hope that it's nothing more than coincidence.

Posted 8/28/2002 07:54:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Go see the cartoon RealPolitik has posted this morning.

Posted 8/28/2002 07:35:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Maybe there is some good to be done by the UN, if the Palestinians accept the UN offer to inspect the 35 foot bulge in the Temple Mount Wall.

Posted 8/28/2002 07:28:00 AM by Ocean Guy
I'm not sure what all this means. When wanted terrorists turn themsleves in it is a good thing. But, is it an indication of some deeper change in the collective Palestinian heart? Are they beginning to understand that their violence hurts their Arab brothers as much as it hurts Israel? Or is it simply scared men acting for self-preservation? I suppose time will tell, but without a complete reformation of their society, long term hope for a peaceful coexistence is minimal.

Posted 8/27/2002 07:48:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Judith Weiss, contributing to Kesher Talk suggests a Blog Burst as a way to remember the Israeli athletes murdered by Palestinian terrorists in Munich in 1972. Thursday September 5 is the 30th Anniversary of the event. Stop by and let Judith know if you're willing to participate.

Posted 8/27/2002 10:30:00 AM by Ocean Guy
The New York Sun didn't print it, but Norah Vincent has published it on her blog.

Let the bored radicals rave, and in their ravings give us still more justification for our course of proactive action. The sickly quality of their mercy won’t restrain us.

Yes, we have gotten ours, and those who get theirs give as good as they get. Those who get theirs have no obligation to neutrality, and those who would ridicule them for having gotten it, have no arguments left for peace.

We have taken our blow. We have been laughed at for it. We have indeed lost our innocence, and having lost it, have as much right and reason as anyone to fight back. We have earned the right to inflict wounds when necessary, and necessity is now our friend.

That is how the game of retaliation works, and if Noam Chomsky moans as retribution flies East again, what of it?

Also today, she decries the state of leadership among black activists....

Oddly enough, it’s the conservatives—the ones every good leftist still thinks are holding clan meetings in their basements—who are giving voice to the kind of leaders and role models the black community should support—e.g. Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Ward Connerly, etc.

By supporting snake oil salesmen like Farrakhan, and Sharpton—and oh yes, there’s the grand embezzler Jesse Jackson, to say nothing of the NAACP’s recent leadership—the black activist community gives credence to and propagates this hideous stereotype. Is it an irrepressible tendency toward self-destruction? Is there really white liberal collusion in this? Or are the liberals simply too afraid to question the black community’s leaders of choice for fear of appearing and being branded racist. They would be, of course. Immediately.

Don't miss her today

Posted 8/27/2002 09:31:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Here's another to add to the file of anecdotal evidence that the Palestinians don't want peace with Israel..... They don't want Israel to exist. At the UN summit for sustainable development the Palestinian Authority is an exhibitor:

The PA has its own booth, some 15 meters from the [Jewish National Fund] exhibition, void of any environmental information, adorned with a banner reading "Viva Intifada." At the booth Palestinians are handing out anti-Israel newspapers and keffiyehs with a map of Israel on the back that says "Palestine."

Posted 8/26/2002 04:49:00 PM by Ocean Guy
The cat's out of the bag, Laurence now knows he's one of my blog daddys.... whatever that is. Reading Amish Tech Support helped get me hooked on blogging. Frankly I still have to decide whether to thank him or curse him.

Posted 8/26/2002 11:57:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Thank you, Marshall for sending this: Why Arabs Lose Wars It's worth the time to read the whole thing, but here's an exerpt:

Arabic-Speaking Armies have been generally ineffective in the modern era. Egyptian regular forces did poorly against Yemeni irregulars in the 1960s. Syrians could only impose their will in Lebanon during the mid-1970s by the use of overwhelming weaponry and numbers. Iraqis showed ineptness against an Iranian military ripped apart by revolutionary turmoil in the 1980s and could not win a three-decades-long war against the Kurds. The Arab military performance on both sides of the 1990 Kuwait war was mediocre. And the Arabs have done poorly in nearly all the military confrontations with Israel. Why this unimpressive record? There are many factors — economic, ideological, technical — but perhaps the most important has to do with culture and certain societal attributes which inhibit Arabs from producing an effective military force.

Posted 8/25/2002 06:27:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Moderate Islam Watch

I found this particularly offensive. Maybe I'm taking it wrong...

There was a time in the past, and even now, when a Muslims Islamic perspective of the world was made through interpretation of the immigrant sheikh, who declared that America was evil, and kuffaar, and thus, an enemy to Islam. People would convert to Islam and over night; start to hate America, Americans, the west, the government and so on. American Muslims were willing to discard their sense of nationalism in order to be in solidarity with their Muslim brothers and sisters from abroad. We took the attitude that "if you guys don't like America, then we are your Muslim brothers and we don't like her either". You never used to hear references such as, "we are American Muslims" in exclusion of the other immigrant Muslims. On the contrary, we tried to be one and the same with them. Now it is paradoxically apparent that immigrant and American Muslims have separate political and patriotism agendas...

...In a personal sense if you find that you are able to get a job, buy or rent a house, go to the movies, buy goods and services for your family, have good neighbors with no one saying hey, you Muslims cannot do that here! Then there is no harm in being kind and just and even loyal to the country that extends such latitude in spite of your religion. As Allah has said: "Allah forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for (your) Faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for Allah loveth those who are just" 60:8, al-Mum'tahina.

by Imam Abu Laith Luqman Ahmad

Posted 8/25/2002 03:59:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Moderate Islam Watch

The Economist reports on subtle changes in Saudi Arabia. Maybe they are too little and too subtle, but it is reason for hope.

SHOCKWAVES from last September's attacks on America continue to buffet Saudi Arabia, rocking its relations with the West and stirring change inside the kingdom. They have even reached Buraydah, a city famed for its rigid puritanism. Suddenly, in this desert Vatican, men are talking to women, even some with their faces bared, about reforming the strict Saudi branch of Islam. “We have to develop a modern, tolerant and inclusive interpretation of faith,” says one of the participants, Mohsen al-Awaji, who was once jailed for religious extremism.

This is no revolution. Women still need permission from their male relatives to attend such meetings, and are not allowed to drive home. But the fallout could be far-reaching for Buraydah's clerics, who for the past 70 years have enforced their brand of Islam on the peninsula and used Saudi petrodollars to spread it throughout the world. In a town where television was long scorned, the guardians of tradition now compete to appear on satellite channels. One-time firebrands, such as Salman al-Awda, a dissident hardliner, issue cyber fatwas on the legality of anything from opening internet cafés to oral sex (both permitted, according to his website).

Posted 8/25/2002 03:53:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Moderate Islam Watch

Victor Ghalib Begg, writing at iview, changes Bernard Lewis' title question from What Went Wrong? to What Have Muslims done to Islam, and How Do We Fix it..

To start with, the answer maybe lies in recognizing that there is indeed a problem, especially in the inflexibility of Muslim attitudes that stifle freedom of thought and expression. We must accept that there have been changes made in the Islamic practices that are sadly neither Islamic nor taught by the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Then next, we need to think about how as Muslims Americans we can take corrective actions to bridge this gap:

**Recognize that there is nothing un-Islamic about the West. Muslim Americans must participate extensively in America and American politics to bring about a moral change, together with our Christian and Jewish brothers and sisters who will work with us in promoting Abrahamic values.

**Motivate and encourage our communities, especially the youth to follow an important and early tradition of our Prophet to engage in businesses and trade. Our community centers must also be run like an efficient business.

**Encourage Muslim women to participate and run our community affairs equally. We need the talents and energies of the half of our population.

**Incorporate and practice democratic process in all our institutions, starting from our mosques and encourage Islamic national organizations to do so as well.

It's a start, I hope more of this thought gets attention.... that is until you read the comments.

Posted 8/25/2002 03:43:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Moderate Islam Watch

Many of us have wondered where the voice of moderate Islam has been in condemning, or at least explaining what is different about "true Islam" and how those differences can make it possible ro Islam to be tolerant of other religions, of secular government, of the Rule of Law. Can "true Islam" coexist with Western civilization? I admit, I don't know if it is possible, but the more I learn, the more I doubt it.

Here's an English languarge Islamic site, iveiws.com. In this article about Safeguarding the Solidarity of the Ummah the author seems to be calling for protecting the whole of Islam against any criticism from outside and not even considering a deviant faction within:

In the atmosphere generated post-September 11, some in the West have openly suggested that wars be instigated "not with Islam but within Islam." While the mainstream Islamists and general Muslim public do not have any intentions of an overt or covert war with the West, this suggestion indicates a sinister motive of entangling Muslims with each other, and inciting factionalism within the Islamic Ummah. It is critical that the responsible Islamic leaders put all their efforts together, and diligently work on ways and means to fortify the Islamic Ummah in order that it meets the responsibilities entrusted to it by the Lord Almighty.

Further in the article hw explains that unity of the Ummah is demanded by the Qu'ran

It is thus obvious that the greatness of this Ummah is contingent upon carrying out the great role for humankind that is assigned to it; and this could only be performed when it is united. Thus it is warned against discord, dissension and factionalism within itself. The Qur'an warns, "And do not enter into dispute with one another, lest you fail and your moral strength deserts you" (8:46). Furthermore, history of the followers of earlier prophets is repeatedly provided, pointing out grave lessons with dire warnings: that civilizations rise and fall, flourish and decay as a consequence of faith or disbelief and unity or disunity among its people. "And be not among those who ascribe divinity to any but God (or) among those who have broken the unity of their faith and have become sects, each group delighting in what they themselves believe and follow" (30:31-32). The Prophet is told with regard to "those who divide the unity of their faith and break up into sects" that "you have nothing to do with them" (6:159). Based on such Qur'anic injunctions, the Prophet variously emphasized the importance of unity, and sanctioned severe reprimands and punishments for those who deliberately attack the unity of Ummah.

I guess someone might find some reason for hope in this article, though I don't.

One thing that can be taken from the article is that we are not about to hear any Moderate Muslims criticize their Muslim brothers, for fear of "severe reprimands and punishments." If this analysis is correct, then the best we can hopoe for is tht "moderate Islam" will ignore the extreme Islamists. Not a lot ot feel good about is it?

Posted 8/25/2002 11:45:00 AM by Ocean Guy
I see this blogged everywhere, and it should be! George Will is again on the money with his comments on the education establishment's approach to post-9/11 therapy.

Lippincott has down pat the education industry's pitter-patter about "diversity" and "tolerance" and the omnipresent danger of bigotry by the loutish average American. With the patience of a savant lecturing primitives, Lippincott explains that "people of all ethnicities were hurt by these attacks." And he reminds us that we are sinners in the hands of an angry professor of psychology: "Some of this country's darkest moments resulted from prejudice and intolerance for our own people." And one emphasis of Sept. 11 should be on "historical instances of American intolerance."

I have one word for the NEA's guidelines: BALDERDASH!

Posted 8/25/2002 10:35:00 AM by Ocean Guy
The recent JPost article on blogging, mentioned our friends Gil, Tal G, and Renatinha. Also mentioned was Arjan El Fassad, a Dutch Palestinian. I offer the link as a window into a young Palestinian's thoughts. It was frustrating reading many of his thoughts because his basic assumptions are so different from mine. His view of history is seen through the Palestinian lens, with the requisite blinders keeping him from seeing the Arab contribution to the problem. He doesn't appear to update the blog regularly, but it's worth a few minutes to see the other side articulated by someone with a foot in both the Palestinian and European worlds.

Posted 8/25/2002 10:15:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Thanks to charles at lgf for linking to this article. (And I see that shellshocking has also noted it.) Read what Bala Ambati, an immigrant American from Indiahas to say about American guiding principles:

These principles have helped this country become great. Sure, they have drawbacks (gridlock, bureaucracy, materialism), and yes, America has too often been hypocritical (the three-fifths compromise, lack of women's suffrage, slavery, wiping out Native Americans), but within our system is the capacity to recognize faults, change and grow, to form a more perfect union.

We can no longer hold the illusion, nourished by two oceans and two friendly neighbors, of isolation from the world. Foreign policy must be informed by an appreciation of who we are so as to articulate and pursue cogent goals of freedom and justice. This is what we defend: Faith that people can rule themselves through reason, an orphaned belief for millennia prior to the United States.

Go read his list of principles.

Posted 8/23/2002 07:38:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Thank you Howard Fienberg for linking to this article comparing the current Palestinian Intifada with the uprisings of the 1930's and 1980's.

A critical look at modern Palestinian history reveals that the current crisis, driven by the so-called "Al-Aqsa intifada," fits a recurring Palestinian pattern of miscalculation, fratricide, religious radicalism, economic despair, and self-destruction.

Beginning with the first Arab Israeli War...

The cause of Palestine was championed by those who rejected the 1947 United Nations General Assembly partition plan, which would have endowed the Palestinians with a state in an expanded Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and much of the northern territory. It was all lost when the invading Arab armies failed to crush the new state of Israel. Egypt and Transjordan occupied what was left of mandatory Palestine, leaving the Palestinians without a state of their own.

The revisionist Palestinian history absolutely ignores, if not denies, this fact. The "Palestinian" problem was caused by Arab recalcitrance in accepting the State of Israel, and the surrounding Arab countries were too absorbed in their own selfish interests to do anything at all for Palestinian Arabs. The Intrafada that emerged has not abated. The only unifying factor between feuding segments of the Arab world has been a hatred of Israel.

Another fact that is almost always overlooked by Pal apologists and appeasers alike is this:

The seeds [of the current intifada] were sown in May 2000, when Israel unilaterally withdrew from southern Lebanon after sustaining years of heavy casualties in a conflict with the Iranian-backed Hizbullah guerrilla group. This was the first time in history that Israel withdrew from conflict with an Arab foe. This retreat emboldened the Palestinians, who flatly rejected the Camp David II peace plan—Israel's historic offer of a Palestinian state in nearly all the territory of the West Bank and Gaza. In all likelihood, Palestinian Authority chairman Yasir Arafat reasoned that if the Lebanese could force an Israeli withdrawal without negotiations, so could he. Thus began the "Lebanonization" of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.34 Within weeks, the Palestinians launched a unilateral war of attrition with ill-defined aims. The scenario is sadly familiar...

...According to Khalil Shiqaqi, the director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah, a Palestinian civil war is now underway. Young zealots have effectively hijacked the intifada and are now exploiting Palestinian instability "to weaken the Palestinian old guard and eventually displace it." This young guard, according to Shiqaqi, "has assumed de facto control over most PA civil institutions [and] penetrated PA security services." They have chosen "not to create new national institutions but rather to work for control of the existing ones."

The result for the Palestinians has been utter disaster.

While strange turns cannot be ruled out in the Middle East, the current "intrafada" also has the odor of a defeat. The violence has again destroyed the Palestinian economy, while radicalism, fratricide, and internal squabbles continue to erode society at an alarming rate. Worse, perhaps, is that this current round of violence has undermined the confidence of supporters of the "peace process" in the United States, Israel, and the Arab world. The result, in Israel and the United States, has been a swing to the right of the political spectrum and a general distrust of Palestinian objectives. It will now take years for former moderates to believe again in the concept of rapprochement and perhaps even longer for Israeli-Palestinian relations to rebound.

More important, as a direct result of the intra-Palestinian violence that accompanied these uprisings, the Palestinians are arguably no more prepared for statehood today than they were in 1936. They are simply more destitute, more fragmented, and more radical.

I don't think they'll ever recover.

Posted 8/23/2002 01:25:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Those Crazy Podiatrists
From Colorful, Sunny Florida: Podiatrist to Psychiatrist

Posted 8/23/2002 12:40:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Moderate Islam Watch

I saw this a few days ago and did not get around to blogging it. It's a summary of Freedom of the Press in the Islamic World. The contributors were 4 Muslim journalists who are surprisingly candid. Of particular interest to me were the Jordanian journalist's words on the state of Jordan's Press Freedoms:

All the visiting journalists mentioned that government pressure and regulation is not the only source of censorship. They decried the lack of quality education and the spreading influence of fundamentalist interpretations of Islam, which create intolerance among the public for views that are labeled anti-Islamic. As a result, Dina Zorba noted, journalists fear attack by members of the public as much or more as they fear arrest. Defaming Islam, Zorba confirmed, is a religious crime punishable by death in Jordan. She noted that such a sentence would be imposed and carried out by the public, not by a government office. Also, Zorba said that she feared she would lose her readership if she tried to write any article in favor of peace with Israel. Although a peace treaty exists between Israel and Jordan, she noted, the journalists' union was fiercely opposed to normalization with Israel and sanctioned members who wrote positive articles about Israel.

Posted 8/23/2002 10:21:00 AM by Ocean Guy
A cartoon appears in the Arab News is surprising only in the fact that they published it. You can find it at little green footballs.

Posted 8/22/2002 08:34:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Tears this morning. Tears of anger and of helplessness. This Doctor's Story, tells some of his experiences as head of the Level I trauma center at Hadassah Hospital, dealing with the victims. One of his stories is his meeting and talking to Shiri Negari. I don't know how these Doctors function, Dr. Avraham Rivkind, and his staff are amazing people. Please read it.

Posted 8/22/2002 08:33:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Today's column by William Safire contributes to the debate on whether to invade Iraq. Specifically, he talks of Saddam's attachment to terror:

Such verification of data obtained from the captured terrorists awakened C.I.A. bureaucrats who for nearly a year waved reporters away from evidence of Qaeda-Iraqi links lest it justify U.S. action. Belatedly, a C.I.A. team interrogated some of the terrorists held in northern Iraq — comparing what they found with information gleaned from Al Qaeda prisoners at Guantánamo and elsewhere.

Even religiously motivated terrorists crack in dismay at how much the interrogator already knows. When added to prisoners' family details provided by Kurdish sources, the scope of our knowledge led captives in Kurdistan to talk about poison production and Iraqi links because they figured there was little left to hide.

The new information has changed much intelligence analysis. The C.I.A. has even stopped discrediting reports from Czech intelligence about a different point of Qaeda-Saddam contact: the meeting between the Sept. 11 hijackers' leader, Mohamed Atta, and a top Saddam spymaster in Prague.

Look for more evidence like this as it begins to appear throughout the media.

Posted 8/21/2002 05:42:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Windwalking Nikita is now a DJ..... some hilarious stuff.

Posted 8/21/2002 02:46:00 PM by Ocean Guy
As a kid I once found a small data buoy with instructions for notifying NOAA or some such agency about the circumstances of the find. I was amazed how far that little float had traveled. After that, I probably sent a dozen or more notes in a bottle out to sea in hopes that someone would write back to me excited with their discovery. I never got that letter. Since then, stories of objects traveling the world have always caught my attention.

My favorite story was the lawn ornament rabbit that was stolen from a local front yard and taken on various trips around the world. The owners periodically received photos of their rabbit from exotic places like the Pyramids, Niagara Falls, Las Vegas, Tahiti, Great Wall of China, Machu Pichu.... sometimes the rabbit would be "dressed" in tourist attire or local costumes. Although the rightful owners now have their rabbit back, they received more enjoyment from its travels than they'd have ever got from it sitting in their yard. Missing it for a few years was a small price for the story it now tells. I've often dreamt about doing something similar.

This weekend the local fish wrapper carried a story about BookCrossing a sort of combination book club, book exchange, and scavenger hunt. It's an online community that leaves, or rather releases books in various places (busses, trains, restaurants, grocery stores...) with instructions for the finders. The anticipation and wonder of its story is the same whether it's a released gamefish or a released book that had meant something in your life.

Anyway, it's free to join, only takes a few minutes to register and fill in a profile for anyone interested in sharing a favorite book or two. I'll be releasing my first books tomorrow. If nothing else, be on the lookout for released books. I like the motto too: Free Your Books!

There are a little more than 30,000 members right now and the response rate, according to the article I read, is below 10%. I have to assume most released books just wind up as trash... still that a traveling book might weave a fabulous story.......

Posted 8/21/2002 01:31:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Susanna Cornett gives us a lesson in Terrorism 101: Why they kill... It'll take you a couple of minutes instead of a couple of seconds to read, but it's worth it.

Posted 8/21/2002 07:59:00 AM by Ocean Guy
I see Tal G has mentioned this interview with Harry Kney-Tal, Israel's ambassador to the European Community too. It's a fascinating view of relations with the EU, with insights into the EUs viewpoint that we should all try to understand.

The Europeans, says Kney-Tal, after having reached a rational decision in favor of reconciliation, and having lived for six decades under peace and economic prosperity, have a problem in grasping Israel's difficult plight. "After the Second World War, Europe decided to abandon the use of force as a means to resolve disputes, and to set up the European Union, which operates on the basis of shared interests.... What drives them [the Europeans] crazy is states in the world like the U.S. and Israel, which don't recognize purely rational-legal rules of the game, and which believe that there are situations which require them to exercise their right of self-defense by resorting to the use of massive military force. The Europeans don't believe in a zero-sum game; instead, they try to cultivate interests shared by all the sides, while trying to create the widest possible common denominator."

After two devastating world wars, Kney-Tal says, Europe doesn't want to believe that there are situations in which arrangements can't be forged by negotiations. It has succumbed to cognitive dissonance: were the Europeans to indicate agreement with the claim that the Palestinian Authority uses incitement, and that such incitement leads to irrational actions such as suicide attacks, such agreement would contradict the manner in which the situation has been analyzed up to now, and the way they have wanted to view matters.

"They simply cannot accept this turn of logic - incitement leads to suicide attacks. Such acceptance would entail rejection of the creature they've created, the Palestinian Authority, an entity established largely through European assistance and funding," Kney-Tal says.

The European Union is proud that it enabled the Palestinian Authority to survive in recent years, in a period when Israel enforced severe economic sanctions against it.Go read the whole article.

Posted 8/20/2002 09:42:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Abu Nidal commits suicide!

But these reports and the murky circumstances surrounding Abu Nidal's death he is said to have suffered several gunshot wounds fueled speculation outside Iraq concerning his final days.

"Yes, I confirm his suicide and an official will give you full details [today]," Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz told reporters yesterday without elaborating

And he was working for the U.S.

The Iraqi agents later found classified documents concerning an American attack on Iraq in Abu Nidal's house, the official said without elaborating on the documents.

Posted 8/20/2002 06:35:00 PM by Ocean Guy
One Difference between men and women.....
I'm jealous!

Posted 8/20/2002 06:28:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Jonathan Tobin writes of Donald Rumsfeld:

Rumsfeld cemented his claim to the title of the most honest man in Washington last week when he stunned the foreign-policy establishment by telling a forum of Pentagon employees that any peace deal with Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority leadership wouldn't work because they are "involved in terrorist activities."

ITs' a shame that merely stating the obvious makes you the most honest man in DC. More on the recurring disagreements in policy with Colin Powell:

Each are always determined to be in the driver's seat of American diplomacy. On the key question of American policy in the Middle East, Powell has clearly been at odds with Rumsfeld. Powell's statements make it clear that he would have been comfortable in the Clinton administration when pressure on Israel to make drastic, even dangerous concessions to the Palestinians was the order of the day.

Rumsfeld understands that Clinton's initiatives were a disaster, and may have emboldened Arafat to think that a terror offensive would bring Israel to its knees while the United States continued pressuring it to give in on territory, including Jerusalem.

Posted 8/20/2002 08:46:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Also worthy of extensive comment are Norah's thoughts on editorializing, opinion-making and blogging. Shes' put into words the reasons I think many of us joined the blogosphere. Though can she really be serious about this:

Why does not a single sustainable and consistently non-doctrinaire editorial/op-ed page exist in any newspaper in this country? (The Washington Post is the closest we come.)

Posted 8/20/2002 08:38:00 AM by Ocean Guy
I have to admit I didn't know the name Norah Vincent.... my loss. Thanks to Bill Quick for the link to Norah's new blog, I'll be reading it every day. Today, in talking about why feminists ought to be supporting President Bush, she says of the war on "terrorism":

Because it is a war against militant Islam, the war on terror is a war on both the institutionalized and random tribal misogyny that pervades fundamentalist Muslim countries.

Posted 8/19/2002 09:26:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Bill Bennet, once again, sounds like the voice of quiet reason. Along with his co-author James Dobson, they say, In War, Sides Must be Taken.

Why do we take Israel's side? Israel is a democracy and a long-standing U.S. ally. And while it is a "Jewish state" it affords political and civil rights to Christians and Moslems as well. By contrast, the Palestinian leadership has been a long-standing supporter of U.S. enemies from Castro and Brezhnev to Khaddafi and Saddam Hussein. Have we already forgotten the scenes of those Palestinians dancing in the streets on September 11th celebrating bin Laden's attack on the U.S.? Have we forgotten Israel's response? Israel lowered its flags to half-staff. Benjamin Netanyahu stated "Today, we are all Americans."

Posted 8/19/2002 09:25:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Moderate Islam Watch

Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bin Mubarak, Wife of President His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi, speaks of her view of the role of Arab women.

Sheikha Fatima said that the forum emphasised the need to instill Arab and Islamic values in young generations and to benefit from the modernity without undermining Arab traditions and heritage.

But, she does go on to say:

Sheikha Fatima said that the UAE woman had achieved a significant and gradual progress over the years due to the patronage and support of His HIghness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

She added that the UAE woman had become a real partner with man in working for the country's development, noting that laws had been passed giving woman equal rights in work, salary, and social security.

She said she hoped that the day would come when the UAE woman would be an effective member of the Federal National Council, FNC, as well as a minister in the cabinet.

Sheikha Fatima said that the joining of women in professions that had previously been male dominated such as the military and police forces was a positive step, asserting her strong support for women to take military and police careers.

Their struggle is how to instill Arab and Islamic values and modernize at the same time. The smaller Gulf States have been progressive when compared to the Giants of the region, Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, still they are far from liberal democracies. We'll have to waatch and see if their small steps are copied or condemned by their larger neighbors.

Posted 8/18/2002 06:49:00 PM by Ocean Guy
I think Thomas Friedman is one of the better columnists around. His Pulitzer Prizes were well earned, although I usually haven't found myself agreeing with him lately. Today's column is different.
He is right on, both about the foolishness fo the current Arab Intifada, and his call for President Bush to make a better case for action in Iraq.

From the moment this intifada got rolling, Palestinians have never been able to explain why they were adopting armed struggle, killing Israeli civilians with suicide bombs and exposing their own people and institutions to utter devastation — when they had a credible opening diplomatic offer to end the occupation.

He's afraid the US will be in the same boat if it fails to make a good case for the need to displace Saddam Hussein.

Attention President Bush: What is your bumper sticker for justifying war with Iraq? I've heard a lot of different ones lately: We need to pre-emptively attack before Saddam deploys weapons of mass destruction. We need to change the Iraqi regime to give birth to democracy in Iraq and the wider Arab world. We need to eliminate Saddam because he is evil and may have been behind 9/11. We need to punish Saddam for not living up to the U.N. inspection resolutions.

All of these are legitimate rationales, but each would require a different U.S. military and diplomatic strategy. If the Bush team is serious about Iraq, it needs to zero in on one clear objective, produce a tightly focused war plan around it and then sell it — with a simple bumper sticker — to America and the world. If the Bush administration's different factions — which are as divided as the Palestinians' — can't do that in advance, they shouldn't move.

He's right.

Posted 8/17/2002 04:14:00 PM by Ocean Guy
On the baseball strike... My father was a major leaguer. I grew up loving baseball and appreciating it more than most. In '94 they took my love and turned it into mild interest. This strike will kill it forever. Tony Kornheiser is right: youth don't go to watch baseball anymore unless they're dragged out by their parents. He’s right about the strike too:

But what is this strike about? The average salary in baseball is $2.4 million. Most of the veterans who are any good make $4 million or more. A luxury tax won't roll back salaries; it will simply prevent an escalation of those preposterous $25 million a year A-Rod contracts. This is worth striking over? Did I miss something that happened in the last half hour that makes it impossible to live on $4 million a year?

Baseball is the goose that lays golden eggs.

Only fools would strike. Only fools.

Posted 8/17/2002 09:16:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Moderate Islam Watch Another point of view alludes ot moderates being primarily of the middle and educated people.... Not much hope for Saudi Arabia in those numbers. From Naseem Jamali.

Posted 8/17/2002 09:04:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Moderate Islam Watch

Might this kind of article eventually find its way to the Arab News? Here's a call for the Muslim silent majority to come forward, by Karamatullah K. Ghori, an Indian Muslim.

September 11, it is being said, has changed the world, and it may never be the same place it was on September 10. That being the case, let us seize this watershed to quiz ourselves why it is that we, Muslims of the world, find ourselves in the dock of universal opprobrium and condemnation , and are being questioned not only about our motives but also about our credentials, our moorings and our beliefs.

A sense of moral outrage, indignation and hurt sweeping across the Islamic world like a prairie fire has irrefutable merit and justification. However, an overtone of self-righteousness asserting itself stridently in some quarters is unjustified, and could still cause more harm. Throwing the book at those who may be ignorant of it does not mean anything. The sense of hurt aside, the general belief of the silent majority in much of the Islamic world that Muslims are being viciously targetted only because of the Islamophobia that has suddenly gripped the west and has been ruling the roost there since September 11 is not conducive to any serious appraisal of our own faults and shortcomings. This temptation for short cuts, and faulting others for our failures, is nihilistic and must stop.

And about terrorism:

Islamic terrorism’, ensconced in western vocabulary for nearly a decade , has become a favourite bete noire in the aftermath of September 11. Once again, Islam is being made a lightning rod for the misdeeds of a few disgruntled and frustrated Muslims who had an axe to grind with the world’s lone policing power. The problem of whether or not Islam and its core values have anything to do with the terrorism of Bin Lden and his followers is becoming complex and convoluted because the Muslim world has yet to have its act together on this debate.

Will we see more of this? We need to if we are to believe that a silent majority of true Muslims is willing and able to live in peace with the rest of the world.

Posted 8/17/2002 08:55:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Moderate Islam Watch

Reported in Jordan's Star, In Amman a group of Islamic scholars, purportedly moderate Muslims, met to discuss the Futrue of Islam. I was disappointed.

At least they call for "a dialogue of cultures between nations," but little substance is reported to give any real hope that a voice of Moderate Islam exists. My impression from reading the report is that only the language is moderate. Except for the call for Islam to use modern technology and modern communications to spread Islam's message, there was nothing reported about any kind of real self-examination. All the themes are old and have been seen countless times.

The scholars recognize the need to modernize, but really have no idea how to do it. "Islam very much has a place in the modern World." They need "training [for] the new generation on how to use the new technology." They lament that "the world gained from the technological revolution especially its latest phase of satellites and the internet." and that "the Islamic world should take advantage of this revolution but at the same time take care to stay within the Islamic moral framework." Aren't these really statements of the problem? To paraphrase: "We have a place in the world. We need to modernize. We need to hold to our faith." In other words, they have no answer.

I guess what gives me hope is that these Islamic scholars are calling for modernizing communications and taking advantage of the internet. That's not much to feel good about though. We've seen, especially at lgf, how the Arabs fear and try to control internet access. But maybe if the religious scholars embrace it something positive will happen. But is that the only answer they have?

One of the other answers they propose is a dialogue. This group says that "society must strive to differentiate between terrorism and resistance and between extremism and Jihad." Well, we hear that 'dialogue' constantly it's more like a mantra from talking Arabian heads on any of the networks..

Maybe this conference will wind up doing good in the long run, but I see nothing more than empty generalities. Still, I continue to look for the voice of "Moderate Islam," or "True Islam." The scholars meeting in Amman speak in whispers while a more warlike Islam speaks with utter contempt for non-Muslim values and the action of violent confrontation. When the moderates fail to condemn, fail even to criticize the extremists, then they appear to be the one and the same. I look for moderate Muslims to start a dialogue with the extreme elements in their own world.

Although dialogue with the west is also necessary and should be ongoing, most of us are fully aware of the differences in opinions, values and goals, between the two cultures. What I don't understand, and I'm not sure they do either, is what are the differences between "True Islam" and the Islam that is in conflict with so much of the world? That dialogue is badly needed. Without the help of the moderates it is impossible to tell them apart. That is dangerous for us all.

Posted 8/16/2002 04:14:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Regular readers know I try to keep everyone from forgetting the victims of terror in Israel. One young woman, Shiri Negari, has stood out. Her family and frineds have vowed to keep her memory alive through her web site. BBC Radio 4 also did a story on her that will stir your emotions. Please remember Shiri and all of the people who have been hurt or killed.

Posted 8/16/2002 03:51:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Something not to miss: Stefan Sharkanski has done some more translation work for us. Just another article from a German publication about the EU funding of Arafat's terror machine, but Stefan, I appreciate the work. He wonders, just as most of us do, why the Europeans have such Unyielding Faith in Arafat. Of course with the name "Chris Patton" being used in Arafat's defense, we understand.

EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten disputes all of the allegations in the strongest terms. Standing before the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee on June 19 he said that the EU Commission had "painstakingly examined" all of the Israeli government's documents. They found "no proof, I repeat, no proof that European aid funds were used for anything other than their intended purpose". Patten refers to an old report from the days of the peace process, according to which the EU has implemented "the most comprehensive and intrusive oversight system" of any comparable situation in the post-war era.

One has to wonder, then, just whta were the intended purposes?

Posted 8/16/2002 03:14:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Jack Kemp is also stating the obvious in his column about securing Peace in the Israeli-Arab war.

George Orwell said that the first duty of intelligent men is to restate the obvious, and that is precisely what Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld did last week with respect to the territorial dispute between Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians.

Speaking at a briefing last Wednesday, he gave a quick history lesson on the Middle-East that in one sentence summarized the essence of the problem: "If you have a country that's a sliver and you can see three sides of it from a high hotel building, you've got to be careful what you give away and to whom you give it."

When Israeli diplomats refer to Israel's "security," they are not just talking about defending its people -- Jewish and Arab -- from terrorist attacks; they are talking about enabling Israel to defend itself from those who seek to destroy it.

Yes, it's obvious to me, but too many Europeans have their head in the clouds and cannot see the obvious.

The problem with those who claim that the conflict would be over if the Israelis simply ended the occupation is that they assume Palestinians are the legal, sovereign owners of these territories and what their borders should be. As Rumsfeld pointed out, those are precisely the questions that still need to be resolved.

Rumsfeld deserves commendation for his truth-telling and his clarity. As we all work and pray for a peaceful solution to the crises in the Middle East, we will do well to keep his reservations in mind. History can repeat itself, so who could fault a sliver of a democracy for insisting that there be a functioning Palestinian democracy before it gives back precious land it won in a defensive war?

Posted 8/15/2002 02:11:00 PM by Ocean Guy
You'll probably laugh, probably groan, might even be offended, so what. Lighten up: So you want to be a Martyr. Two pamphlets, one to recruit, one to educate with the help of Hooters girls, Wonder Woman, The Virgin Mary, Britney Spears, and Gertrude Stein.

Posted 8/15/2002 08:43:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Please visit Dawson today. His guest writer, Joseph Alexander Norland, has done an awful lot of work publicizing issues in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Today he'd like you to consider a Petition to Investigate UN abuses.

Posted 8/14/2002 08:55:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Mark Goldblatt wrote a piece about Pipe Dreams in the JWR. He talks of the "two pipe dreams that sustain the chaos in the Middle East."
The first is the Arab pipe dream of a Palestinian State with no Israel, ie. Mandatory Palestine with Israel obliterated.
The second is our pipe dream that diplomacy can pursuade the Arabs to give up their dream and live in peace with Israel.

"Ironically, our pipe dream is the more farfetched of the two. The Palestinians, for their part, can at least point to what's laughably called the "peace process" as evidence that they're making headway."

Given this understanding, he calls for giving the Arabs what they want.

"The last century taught us the hard lesson that wars don't truly end until the defeated people know they're defeated; thus, ordinary Palestinians are doomed, right now, in the same way ordinary Germans were doomed even before World War II began. There's no going back for them. They're too committed to their pipe dream. They're begging for the coup de grace, begging to be taken seriously enough to be put down..."

Posted 8/13/2002 10:36:00 AM by Ocean Guy
I was inspired while reading the Right Wing Texan, at Laurence’s suggestion. One line, “Just sitting here (slightly tipsy) in a comfortable old pair of Wranglers and field-broke Lucchese boots listening to the new Springsteen album, drinking a Shiner Bock, and bloggin'. Life is good!” made me think.

Sitting at the computer with my colortini: a Red Stripe, in my baggy shorts and well worn flip-flops, listening to Keb Mo and bloggin’, Yes, Life is good. I imagined sitting on the deck with the Right Wing Texan and a few others and telling stories about our experiences in the Middle East, and decided to blog the story I’d have told him...

I’ve had three experiences as a nameless man being reported on by the national networks. They have all involved the Middle East. The first was an interview at a gas station somewhere on the New York State Thruway during the oil embargo in 1973. I was waiting in a long line to buy gas for my father’s car at the only place open on the west Side of Syracuse. I had driven 20 mins for a chance to buy a partial tank of gas…. $3 worth if memory serves me right. I was proud of that ‘performance’ on Dan Rather’s evening News. I was a star!

The next appearance was a few years later during the Iran-Iraq War. I was a helicopter pilot based in Bahrain, one of four pilots of the 'Desert Duck.' The Duck was assigned as the transportation for the Admiral in residence as the Commander of Middle East Forces. We also hauled the mail and air freight to and from the ships in the Persian Gulf to the airfield in Bahrain. The Duck was well regarded by everyone who knew of it.

As a hauler of people, mail and cargo, we were unarmed. None of the air crew flew with side arms and the aircraft had no armament. We ferried cookies from home and American coffee along with spare parts. We also flew the boss around from ship to ship and between his ashore Headquarters and his Flagship. Often we would fly him out to the flagship in the morning and back home in the evening after a long days work with his afloat staff.

The ships in the the Arabian Sea (Persian Gulf to the Iranians), were monitoring the War. You may remember the Iraqis shooting at oil tankers in the gulf and even hitting the USS Stark... they were our “friends” back then. Merchant ship traffic in the gulf was pretty heavy despite the war. Sheep Ships from New Zealand, (which would toss the dead sheep over the side on their way into port, leaving a trail of bloated, floating sheep for us to follow back to Bahrain) were frequent visitors, as were RO-RO’s of Mercedes and Toyotas, and countless container ships full of Japanese electronics were plying their trade. Except for the occasional oil slick and burning tanker, or listening to the news and reading the papers you’d never know there was a war on. There was, though, small group of vultures who were very much interested.

Always monitoring the VHF shipping radio frequencies was a small group of ocean going tugs, what we called salvage vultures. When a ship was attacked and then called for help, these tugs would race to the area to be the first to offer help and get a line to the distressed vessel. The first tug in assistance had salvage rights claims which could mean millions of dollars to the captain and owners. Imagine 8 or 9 ocean going tugs steaming in slow circles monitoring the radios for signs of distress, and then racing to the area for a chance at a sizeable prize. You understand the vulture reference.

The journalists, covering the war while drinking it up in the bars of Bahrain or in ex-Pat neighborhoods in Abu Dhabi or Dubai, monitored the same frequencies as the vultures and the US Navy. Did you know that a bored sailor can set the news in motion with a radio transmission or two?? But I digress, I’m supposed to be telling you about my second exposure on the National Evening News.

On April 25, 1984 a Panamanian flagged vessel with a Swedish captain, a Philipino crew, owned by a Saudi Oil company left Al Kharg Island in Iran loaded with crude. A couple of hours later the Safina-al Arab was hit on the starboard side at the water line, just below the bridge, by an Iraqi Exocet Missile. The missile tore a basketball court sized hole in the side of the ship and barrels of crude were burned or leaked into the sea. The Captain called for help and the salvage vultures responded.

On the flagship, and in the Admirals ashore HQ, they monitored the situation through most of the night and into the next morning. On his way out to the ship the Admiral wanted to fly over to see what was going on and so we could photograph the damage and try to piece together the picture that was emerging over the VHF radio.

The ship was reportedly still smoking. It was unclear whether the fire was under control or not, although a salvage tug had been fighting the fire. There were no reports of injuries, at least none which required medevac. Radio reports from the Danish tug captain were that he had been threatened by an Iranian gunboat which was still hindering his rescue effort. The Safina Al Arab’s captain also complained about the harassment and wanted his crew to be rescued. A couple of US warships were ordered to the vicinity in case any humanitarian assistance would be needed. It was not the US Navy’s mission to get involved in Admiralty disputes on the high seas and we had witnessed more than one of these competitions between the salvage vessels. But this was a little different because an Iranian gunboat was involved. So, Oceanguy and his crew manned the Desert Duck with the boss aboard and flew to the scene.

The Iranian ‘gunboat’ turned out to be a competing salvage tug that was not equipped to fight a fire. So even though they were first on the scene, they were not the first to render assistance. Apparently one of the crew of about 20 had brandished some sort of pistol while arguing with the Dane from the second-on-the-scene tug saying that he was there first and deserved the rights to salvage. The second-on-the-scene had the fire-fighting equipment and had put the fire out, so the dispute was over who would tow the ship and to where it was going to be towed... Who would get the treasure? The issue was dead as far as we were concerned, and we dropped the Admiral on the Flagship and picked up his Chief of Staff for the return trip to shore. The COS wanted to see the scene too.

Once again we flew to the ship. Neither salvage tug had a line across to tow the tanker. Both were sailing very close to the damaged vessel and were apparently still arguing. The Chief of Staff made a couple of Jokes about the “Rag Heads” on the deck of the Iranian vessel needing a bath, and we flew around the ship a couple of times slowing to a hover to examine the damage before disappearing over the horizon to follow the dead sheep back to Bahrain.

So, how did all of this play on the evening news? Well, I can only report on Peter Jennings’s broadcast, for that is the tape we received about 2 weeks later. When dining on the flagship we had the treat of watching the ABC Evening News just before dinner, almost like home, even if it was two weeks behind. So I got to hear about my heroism on TV, but this time I almost didn’t recognize me.

The “truth” as reported by ABC went something like this: "Today in the Persian Gulf, the Safina Al-Arab was hit by an Iraqi Missile. An Iranian gunboat threatened the survivors and attacked the rescue ship. The tense confrontation was eased when the Iranians were chased away by two US Navy Helicopter gunships.” Me, flying over twice, on a sight-seeing tour in the Desert Duck turned into an heroic act.

I suppose I should have been honored to be so feared that my single, unarmed, mail carrying helo was perceived as a fearsome pair of gunships. I should also be proud of the heroic way we fought off that gunboat….. Except I knew the real story, now you do too.

That event made me ever skeptical of all “world news” reporting. It has made me always look for the untold story. I wish Blogs had existed back then. Even almost 20 years later it feels good to fact check Peter Jennings ass.

Some other time I’ll tell you about my third time in Prime Time.

Posted 8/13/2002 08:30:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Dont' miss the Iraqi News Wire on MEMRI. Saddam's son writes a point paper on handling the coming war with America. among his points:

"Despite an increased clarity in Iraq's position on the international arena... important countries will not take a decisive position against the American administration... However, it is possible to [gain the support of these countries] under one condition, which has to do with their major economic interests, by 'bribing them,' especially in the cases of Russia and Syria"

"The official Arab position is hypocritical and will support the American position against Iraq. But it is also scared of the people's response to such support... therefore, there is a need to increase efforts on the Arab streets to get them to take a serious and active position, to the point of uprising [against the Arab regimes], in case Iraq is attacked..."
- "The need for a complete change in dealing with France on the basis of getting its support in exchange for economic considerations..."

Posted 8/12/2002 05:15:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Palestinian Parents turning their own children in to the IDF to save their lives and the parents' homes. Thats' not all they're doing...

It was reported today that a Jenin man had shot his son in the leg after he learned - from the IDF - that his son was planning a suicide attack against Israel.

Posted 8/12/2002 12:00:00 PM by Ocean Guy
A simple letter to friends in America. Oh what a letter! See what Jerusalem Diarist, Sharon Siegel writes:

The Middle East, according to all available logic, is a mess. The Arabs are ridden with hatred and infused with a burning desire to destroy - firstly us, then everyone else. The entire history of Islam is a story of conquest and subjugation. Even in its heyday, Islamic civilization was not one we'd like to copy. Moslems living as a minority in Western society are admittedly more "Western" and share more of our Western values. A few (very few) are even outspoken against the brutal, "fundamentalist", anti-Western theology of their brethren. But the vast majority of Moslems, even in the West, have imbibed and are loyal to basic Koranic values. At best, they are passive supporters of fundamentalist Islam and the eventual (if not sooner) disappearance (read: destruction) of Israel; at worst, they are vocal (or active) supporters of their suicidal brethren and their ideology.

This is not to say there aren't Moslems who are "good" people; obviously there are. But Moslem culture, values, outlook, around the world, is warlike, violent, undemocratic, with a set of rules and values which Judeo-Christian culture cannot countenance. Read the newspapers and see for yourselves; or try the Koran - not the nice, humane parts which were copied from our Torah, but the parts which give voice to Mohammed's despotic, domineering philosophy.

The West is not going to change these values or this culture, held by half the world's population, and the sooner it recognizes this, the sooner it can get down to the business of defending itself. Moslem countries and Moslem minorities in countries around the world are feeling their oats and will not remain passive observers of the world scene as long as they can hope to conquer, subdue and prevail. If the cold-war vs. communism was the last big, global issue, Islam is the next. Western democracies are definitely at a disadvantage in this battle because Islam plays by a different set of rules.

Democratic and humane Israel is at an even greater disadvantage because the world's latent but eternal anti-semitism figures into every equation. And, being a truly democratic, highly independent, stiff necked people, Jews find it difficult to come to a working consensus until the last possible moment. Which vastly complicates the running of the Jewish state. Of course even in the U.S., Bush and the State Dept. often promulgate different messages, but here it's even worse. Although the vast majority of Jews in Israel (except for our permanently benighted Left) have no doubts that the surrounding Arab nations are bent on our destruction, our government still hems and haws, hampered by worries of world opinion, by our own Left, the Arab vote and our own confusion as to the best road to take.

For fifty long and bloody years, we hoped against hope that if we only do this or that, if only we give up this piece of land or that principle, if only we help, support, supply the Arabs with technology, water, electricity, hospitals; if only we pull back, keep quiet, smile, look nice, dismantle Jewish settlements, dismantle Jewish borders, allow Arab refugees to return, the Arabs will learn to like us. (I think there is some genetic disorder in the makeup of the Jewish people which prevents it from acknowledging the existence of raw hatred and pure evil. ) This was the Israeli dream - before Oslo.

Now that hope has pretty much disappeared. Now many Israeli's are saying, "Forget about peace. Just leave us alone. Build a wall, a fence, separate the Arabs and the Jews and let us live our lives."

Posted 8/11/2002 08:35:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Did our friend Saeb Ereket actually think he'd get something he'd copnsider positive out of Washington? Only Arafat, who has to be thrilled that his representatives were even being received in the US, could find anything positive. The Jerusalem Post reports that Erekat reported back that the talks did not achieve the hoped-for break through.

Arafat said in interviews published yesterday that he would not allow the US to turn him into "a puppet president." "If they think they will make me an honorary president," like Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan, "they are mistaken."

So says Arafat. He makes himself more and more irrelevant every day, meanwhile his underlings scramble for a lifeline to Western approval. Sadly, for the average Palestinian Arab, Arafat is succeeding while his organization is not.

Posted 8/09/2002 10:49:00 AM by Ocean Guy
This is Unbelievable.

That's right: the White House has announced its intention to replace the now-fired head of Consular Affairs, Mary Ryan-the pioneer of Visa Express-with a woman who raises the ire of American parents struggling to recover children abducted in foreign lands.

Ambassador Maura Harty, the White House's pick to succeed Mary Ryan, had two stints running the Office of Children's Issues (OCI), the division within Consular Affairs in the State Department charged with reuniting parents with children illegally abducted to foreign lands.

In her two tours at OCI, from 1994-1995 as its Managing Director and from August 1999-April 2001 as the Deputy Assistant Secretary, Harty's office had a record of "indifference bordering on hostility" toward the interests of American parents, according to Patricia Roush, whose two (now-adult) daughters Aisha and Alia have been held hostage in Saudi Arabia by their Saudi national father since 1986.

Posted 8/08/2002 09:31:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Oy, So where's the Mohel when you need him? Laurence has a bit about a man losing his bit, along with a history lesson you might find amusing.

Posted 8/08/2002 11:19:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Haven't had a lot of time to read the blogs today, so I'm sure someone has already jumped on this from MEMRI. A former Libyan Prime Minister asks the Arab world, "Hasn't the Time Come to Stop Hiding the Flaws." An exerpt:

Why Do Arabs Ignore Their Flaws

Former Libyan prime minister Abd Al-Hamid Al-Bakkoush published an article in the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat titled, "Hasn't the Time Come to Stop Hiding the Flaws." The following are excerpts of the article:

The Arabs Ignore Their Shortcomings and Make Them Virtues

"They say that the camel cannot see his hump. Perhaps this is somewhat descriptive of our behavior. Yet while the camel cannot see, we... do not want to see..."

"Anyone following the affairs in which we engage and of which we write or speak in this era will easily discover that we obliterate our cultural, political, and economic defects. Any observer will discern our supreme efforts to ignore our shortcomings and present them as virtues."

"We do not consent to harbor any flaw, in neither our past nor our present. With regard to our future - well, it is a campaign of achievements and triumphs that cannot be described or enumerated."

It's nice to read one of the few Arabs who recognizes the reality.

Posted 8/07/2002 01:50:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Charles Johnson has an animated discussion going at lgf about the misguided youth Religion of Peace. You should stop by and contribute any way you can. Talk like this from the Youth of Islam show it as a Religion of Hate. The QT video included in one post is absolutely abhorrent, I watched the beginning for a fact check, I wish I hadn't.

From the discussion:

Bintul-Khattaab says: Brother Behz, there is worth in such videos, which can be seen simply by taking Ibn Musa's example. Living in the West, we are taught to be 'wimps', not to be able to stand the sight of blood or 'gore'. How are such muslims to go to the battlefield and kill those who oppose Allaah and His Messenger? How are they to do such acts in real life if they cannot even bear to even watch it on a screen? With increased exposure to such scenes, we become desensitized to the fear of blood which has been instilled in us

Right.... the Religion of Peace.

Posted 8/07/2002 11:11:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Why hasn't the conventional news media been full of the protests, even a revolution in Iran? Why is it a Secret? At least someone is reporting it and it's getting attention in the blogosphere. Still.... Why???

Posted 8/07/2002 09:45:00 AM by Ocean Guy
Here's a Law Student at Cal Berkeley on the move for divestment writing in the Palestine Chronicle:

The involvement of such prominent players in combating a campus movement indicates its potential potency. Here is a campaign with a clear, logical precedence: universities divested from South Africa because it as an Apartheid state. Thus, all pro-Palestinian activists need to do is prove that Israel is an Apartheid state, and the same path should, in the logical sense, follow. One has an easy argument to make, and simplicity is what strong movements need.

The divestment strategy is based in universal ideals, such as equality under the law, and other principles of secular democracy. There is no religious or nationalist basis for this claim, so it attracts a diverse array of people, and relies on the legal-moral tenor of American institutions in a way that most pro-Palestinian language does not. The result: it is taking off and Zionists are scurrying to combat it.

Thus, all pro-Palestinian activists need to do is prove that Israel is an Apartheid state
Israel accepts Jews from all over the world of different races and Arabs as citizens. The Arabs want the Jews out so that they may have a purely Arab Muslim State..... Which side is racist?

The divestment strategy is based in universal ideals, such as equality under the law, and other principles of secular democracy. There is no religious or nationalist basis for this claim, so it attracts a diverse array of people, and relies on the legal-moral tenor of American institutions in a way that most pro-Palestinian language does not
The PA a secular democracy? I will agree that they have invented a strategy that has no basis in the pro-Palestinian language. I will also agree that they have been effective in imputing American ideals upon the PA. The trouble is, it's an absolute fantasy.