Gaza

The massacre in Gaza has entered its 4th day as Israeli Occupation Forces continue to bombard the Gaza Strip. 400 Palestinians have been killed as well as four Israelis. Obama, who has been very vocal on the economy and the Mumbai terrorist attacks has been unusually silent. Obama now hides behind President Bush as his rhetoric closely mirrors Bush's. They both blame Hamas as the sole party responsible and talk on and on about Israel's right to self defense but never a word about any Palestinian right to self defense. So one has to wonder if anything is really going to change. Obama use to talk about speaking to our enemies as well as our friends yet will not engage with Hamas. If this is the case, what can he possible hope to achieve in negotiating with Iran? How then can he be any different from Bush with Iraq? If he remains tied up in Iraq, what can he do in Afghanistan? And if he will not break with Bush on foreign policy, why should we expect him to break with Bush domestically? After everything we have done to ourselves and the rest of the world, we did not get the change we need but the change we deserve and the Palestinians are paying the price. Maybe this time so many will die that the world must wake up but I hope it doesn't come to that. Many who supported him are finally waking up to Obama's hypocrisy and are trying to call him on it. I suspect they will be disappointed.

God bless my homeland: Norway

They have created this game where you can throw a shoe at Bush. Seriously Norway rocks.

Working for Middle East airlines?

Note that everything you see in the boxes is a requirement. No lie.

Actual Change?

Although this is only a rumor, I'm putting it up anyway. I have my doubts on whether there would be an actual NATO deployment into Palestine but I think it would be better. Even though it looks like trading one occupation for another, I'm sure it would take a less generous view towards settlements than the Israeli gov't even though the U.S. is dominated by the Likud party. Also, it would be a good way to get the American gov't directly involved and finally beat American liberals over the head with the cognitive dissonance many displayed over being against the Iraqi occupation but supporting the occupation of Palestine. Put simply those people hate America. The good part about NATO (as oppose to a purely American force) is that there is involvement by the European countries which is more supportive of Palestine than the U.S. It may only be a slight step, but I think this would be a step for the better.

Not what I expected from Haaretz...

For anyone who thought Haaretz can't deliver good coverage of anything outside Israel and Palestine, check this out.

Sweet sounds of blowback...

I was surprised this article appeared on CNN.

I honestly didn't know that this was done by an Israeli film maker. It looks like the Clarion Fund didn't anticipate that the spotlight might start to be shined on them and their secret dealings. I'm not sure if the organization's funding is really coming from Aish Hatorah, but the people who work for the Clarion Fund are or were employees of Aish Hatorah. The Clarion Fund is even based at the same address as Aish Hatorah (the New York branch). I think there is a very good case that the Clarion Fund should lose its tax exempt status for electioneering and that it should be investigated if the Clarion Fund is a foreign supported entity with the intent on influencing the U.S. election.

Shu?!?!?

If anyone can explain what is happening in this picture on the Lebanese Internal Security Forces website I would really like to know.

If you don't know Arabic DON'T F*%$IN USE IT!

One of the things I that I think will be missed from the Biden-Palin debate is this gem by Biden "There have been 7,000 madrassas build along [the Pakistani] border, we should be building schools to compete for those hearts and minds." Oh really? Because the word Madrassa literally means school. It can be an Islamic school but it doesn't have to be. You can have an Islamic Madrassa or you can have a public Madrassa. So Biden's quote translates basically to this "There have been 7000 schools built along that border, we should be building schools to compete for those hearts and minds." Speaking of consistency, I'm waiting for the Stop the Madrassa coalition to fulfill its promise and shut down every school as its name suggests. Maybe while we are at it we should shut down all Christians, Jewish, and Islamic schools to stop the preaching of religions.

Of course to be fair Biden isn't the only one who does it. Ever since September 11th, we've seen commentators use Arabic words like "Shahid" or "Jihad" but rarely other Arabic words like "salaam"(peace) or "Zakat" (purification or growth, usually in reference to alms giving). I wonder what the point of using Arabic words have been aside from making Arabs out to be evil and inhuman. People need to either learn the language or stop using the words.

a cultural challenge to psychologists

I was recently reading a post about domestic violence in Syria and the article it links caught my eye. The article states,

"Muna Al Assad, a lawyer volunteering at Good Shepherd, says its counseling--for both Muslim and Christian women--often focuses on reconciliation because divorce has such negative consequences in Syrian society. Few battered women, she said, choose to take their cases to court.

"Even if the woman considered going to the legal system, where she might get partial fairness, people around her will resent her if she is strong enough to do it," Al Assad says. "They will outcast her because normally the person who committed the violence is her husband, father or brother."

Al Assad has worked on 13 domestic violence cases in 17 months. Of these, only one resulted in divorce. In that case the victim's family supported her."

Women's shelters in the States often focus on empowering the victim to leave the abuser but in this case it seems that the situation would render that approach ineffective. On the other hand, I could not imagine anyone who handles these cases ever recommending that the victim returns to the abuser to try to reconcile with them. Although I'm sure there are plenty of psychologists here in the States who would love for nothing more to go to Syria and impose American methods for dealing with domestic violence, I'm sure that that would cause more harm than good in the end as it sometimes does in situations when help is forced on people whether they ask for it or not.

So are there any alternative ways to deal with this? Or is this another situation where only two mutually-exclusive choices exist (i.e. American methods or Syrian methods)? I've thought about it a lot but I'm just not sure. What do you think?

Home and out to Dry

So I've been home for 11 days running around throwing my resumes at various universities while hanging around the house. Unfortunately the prospects of finding something to do in cross-cultural psychology over the next six months seems to get slimmer every time I log online. I've gotten to the point of writing random professors in the field of cross-cultural psychology asking for what to do next. My senior psychology capstone was focused more with the feel good talk on values instead of giving us direction and goals. Really though its not so bad aside from the fact that I'm not really doing anything with the Middle East or psychology.

I've been starting to catch some flak from some friends of mine about the whole job thing because they face greater obstacles than I do when finding one. When I was in Lebanon, many people were really preoccupied with the idea of moving to the U.S. and making money. The idea became this grand fantasy and was put on a pedestal. Then enter me, this twenty-something American kid who is really close to a B.A. in psychology who choices to come to Lebanon when I could easily stay in American and have a decent job. Needless to say it blew a lot of people's minds. Even my good friends were at first trying everything in their power to persuade me to go back to the States and finish my studies there before coming back many years down the road. Although the more they got to know me, the more they supported my desire to stay in Lebanon. However, what I was doing was destroying a lot of people's fantasies. After all, if America has everything, then why is someone like me trying to go to great lengths to stay in Lebanon?

Of course fantasy isn't reality. Sooner or later everyone will have to face up to the fact that their fantasy isn't what they made it out to be during the long time they spent pursuing it. Though many of my friends thought they would just want to live in American, some of them would probably get sick of the differences and miss their friends and family back home. Even in America you still have to pay for stuff, you have to deal with rude people, you still get rejected by the opposite sex sometimes, you still have to deal with violent crime, there are still generally bad days, stupid people, and the list goes on. The real problem is that over time problems become externalized and projected onto these fantasies while the root of the problem is not dealt with. Fortunately, most people realize this sooner or later.

Khalas, bitti, done

Well this is my first time writing here for awhile because now is the first time I got free time to write on this blog. However, the program is over which is what is giving this free time. Beirut has also been very quiet since the prisoner exchange so I have really had anything that I urgently wanted to right about. At least until now. First some reflections on the program. My professors were great and in the in-class time was great and really helped but the amount of homework assigned left me feeling a little cheated. It was enough busy work that kept me from seeing more of beirut, making more friends and hence kept me from interacting with more locals (granted some of my friends are from places like Jordan and Saudi Arabia but you get my point), and the homework left me feeling so drained that I didn't want to learn anymore arabic or speak it. Granted it is incredibly difficult to run a program like this and learn a lot of arabic in a month but still I was hoping for something more like my turkish program last year even though that was four months.

The other thing I was thinking about a conversation I had with a teacher and a friend of mine yesterday. We were talking about being pride and being self-critical in the Arab world. Despite the image Americans have of all Arabs only criticizing the U.S. for anything bad that happens in their lives, the majority of my friends spend the most time blaming themselves sometimes I think unnecessarily. What also happens is they think I am way to self-critical of my country. My teacher put it best when he explained the pride that exists here and criticizing your own country is like criticizing family which can make you look really crazy. As long as my friends understand that I love my country its fine but otherwise its bad. In most cases it was pretty minor but I had a friend who when he heard I wanted to study in AUB for my masters in psychology he passionately tried to dissuade me from studying in Lebanon and tried to get me to study in the States until he realized that I was firmly and genuinely committed to studying cross-cultural psychology in Lebanon. I'll be writing more over the next couple of days as I unpack my whole experience here in Lebanon to make up for the lack of updates during the program.

Sick on a busy day.

So I ate some chicken last night which has made me a little sick and I had to skip class. This is a strange day to be sick considering there is a lot of celebration in Beirut over the prisoner swap with Israel. Everywhere gun fire can be heard in Beirut as people are celebrating. In the meantime I'm worried about being sick since it will hinder my ability to learn Arabic. Everything seemed fine over the weekend as we went to byblos which was really beautiful. I took lots of pictures and it was just nice to be with everyone having a good time. Now there is a mid-term on friday and I'm hoping I will be able to drag myself to class tomorrow so I can review for the test. Guess I'll see where things go these next couple of days.

Beirut blues...

So this weekend I finally got out of AUB and saw some cool stuff. On of the areas was the Shalita refugee camp. The place reminds me a lot of Palestine with the open air markets, the massive poverty, and the love of a homeland lost. Seeing the camps has been one of my big objectives in Beirut and I'm hoping to organize a trip there. In case people were wondering, Shalita is an open area that is not armed so traveling there is fine but it would help to have a guide who knows the history of the camp. It was strange but the posters around the camp feature Arafat along with Rafiq and Saad Hariri. It's not too unlikely but I would have never have guessed seeing them together like that. As we drove though you could smell the argile and various fruits and vegetables that were being sold. I know I'll be back at some point.

On sunday we were able to travel to Beit Eddine thanks to Nadine. I was able to take a lot of really nice pictures that I hope to get onto facebook soon inshallah. The area was very beautiful and I'm really glad I got away from AUB. It's not that I don't like this place but I feel suffocated and I want to experience the part of Lebanon that doesn't have as much western influence.

Middle Eastern Nightlife...

For most Americans, the Middle East is the last place you would expect to find great nightlife but then again, many of them would never make it to Beirut. One can find themselves drowning in the choices of different bars and clubs in gesemynie street. Of course you have to be really careful getting into gesemynie street since it has one of the highest traffic densities in Beirut, especially on weekends. The club we did settle on incorporated a nice mix of Euro trance, rap, and Arabic music. What you have to watch in Beirut unlike most Middle Eastern cities is prices. We easily ended up running up a $160 bar tab between six people in one bar alone (Andrew, if you want us to pay our share of the tab, we’ll understand). While food and transportation are cheap (chicken swarama is $2 a pop and taxis are $1.25), entertainment clearly is not.

While fun, clubbing is not the peak experience for me here in Beirut. For that there is the question of what can I do here that I can’t do back home. Yesterday we went to pigeon rock which is a natural rock formation you see on a lot of postcards from Beirut. Even though we are in a major city, the water is as clear as you would see in a small resort town (though you do see more trash). The rocks themselves and the cliffs are truly breathtaking and the swimming did feel great. The only hard part is getting out since you have to move with the tide. When I finally got out I felt like a beached whale.

The Arabic classes that I am taking have been fun and simple enough thanks to Aziz’s tutoring even though I am in the Intro class. I get one hour of colloquial Arabic and four hours of modern standard (al-Fars?). While the write is important I want to take more time to devote to speaking and vocab so I can get out and practice among the local population inshallah. Although the homework does take awhile, I am here to learn Arabic and not go clubbing so I don’t really mind. I’ll be back with more later.

Finally in Beirut.

"Wow, your finally in Beirut" my friend says with a look of near disbelief. I can't blame him: I'm surprised that I'm in Beirut myself. This place is hard to understand in many ways. It is extremely beautiful and very prosperous. It is hard to imagine that nearly a month ago that everyone was worried Lebanon would slide back into a civil war. I also want to stay so badly that it is hard for me to see why people would want to leave. Of I course I know that I am more well off then some and feel that I can maintain my safety here should something happen.

The thing I can't shake is the feeling that I should have been able to place myself in high introductory instead of regular intro. It is probably better that I go with a class I know I can handle and I don't regret coming to Beirut without knowing any Arabic but I just felt that I should be able to do more. There will be more updates later.

Abusing peace...

Some calm has finally prevailed over Gaza but there is much doubt over whether it can last. Even though rocket launchers have dismantled from the border, Israeli tanks still sit on the Israeli side waiting for the call to go. Even Ehud Olmert said the calm was to be short lived. On top of this settlers in the West Bank set fires to Palestinian olive trees which will anger the Palestinians. The Israelis have also ruled out a truce in the West Bank which is sure to agitate Palestinians further. This is strange since there haven't been many attacks from the West Bank and the West Bank is controlled by Mahmoud Abbas who is very committed to keeping peace and stability in the Fatah-controlled West Bank (Where is all the talk now of supporting Abu Mazen?). So if the Israelis keep raiding the West Bank, will Hamas launch counter strikes or does this go to show that the powerful can once again bully the week while using the peace process to impose its own agenda with the facade of an agreement? Does this also mean that starving millions people becomes a legitimate tactic for those who oppose US and Israeli plans? I just wonder when everyone will wake up and realize what is really going on.

I'm also hoping this goes to show that boycotting Hamas is not going to work and that the only way to actually achieve peace is through engaging it. Hamas has shown itself as willing to amend its position on the two state solution as long as it is accepted by the Palestinian people while Israel refuses to budge from its positions on settlements and refugees. Hopefully if everyone is living in peace for awhile it will give them time to come to their senses and make a just and lasting peace agreement.

Irony at a whole new level.

"And they the hunters should hunt them' - that will be the Jews. 'From every mountain and from every hill and from out of the holes of the rocks' - if that doesn't describe what Hitler did in the Holocaust, you can't see that," (Aljazeera English, May 22, 2008)

This quote is something you would normally expect to hear from Hamas. However this time there is a twist. This now well known quote comes from John Hagee who is the founder and national chair for Christians United for Israel. Seriously I have no idea how this kind of thing happens. I mean you support a nation of people and the person who tried to kill all of said people. I'm truly speechless. The only thing I have to say is too those who always throw the charge of anti-semitism at people who support Palestine: Who is anti-semitic now?

You leave for a couple of days and...

I'm glad my friend's house out here as internet (it's literally in the middle of nowhere) because I wouldn't want to miss this. After I read this, I was convinced that our congressmen and women celebrate Israel's independence more than our own. But speaking of which I finally got my project paper back. I was doing a project on stereotypes and how media affects bias towards Arabs. For my project I had to flash Arab and American names on the screen (I will not bother explaining the Implicit Attitudes Test, just google it). One of the Arab names I showed was Haifa. If you, like my psych. professor, think it is an Israeli name, I was referencing the Arabic singer Haifa Wehbe. My mind for some reason was not prepared for that one.

I also got a call from the Lebanese embassy telling me that I forgot to send some stuff with my visa. I had forgotten that they do not take check but I also missed one item that confused me. They wanted a self-addressed envelope. At first I was wondering what they expected me to send my stuff in if not an envelope but I just figured they were covering every angle. I missed their intention. Apparently the Consulate General of Lebanon in Detroit needs you to address the return envelope for them. I had always known the Lebanese gov't was dysfunctional but it was only then that I realized how dysfunctional it was.

One little country.

I talked to my friend from Beirut yesterday doing a may term with the UN. He was doing much better since things have been calming down. Meanwhile Bush pushes himself further into irrelevancy with his latest statements on Lebanon. Obviously disarming Hezbollah is not an option until the causes of their support is addressed. It is weird to hear him talking about Hezbollah turning on their own people like he really cares about the Lebanese people. He even recognizes Hezbollah's role as protecting Lebanon against Israel. It only took him two years. And where was his help for the Lebanese army when Israel was bombing the country? Where was his concern about the fate of the Lebanese people when Israel was bombing them ?!?!? It kills me the most that my friend laments about how Arabs are fighting each other. There will always be people who sell out there own no matter where you go. I just wish someone was honest about our role in Lebanon and how no one really cares about the people there.

Summer plans.

Well we have seen that once again I have impeccable timing on my summer plans. I honestly do believe that things will settle down before I arrive but this could last for awhile. Either way its a risky situation but I didn't get into the Middle East because it seemed like the place with the least amount of risks. Truth be told though I still fear Chicago more than Beirut. The amount of crime here lately has been out of control and unlike the violence in the Middle East, this just seems far more random. To sum up my life, if something is going to happen to me it doesn't matter where I am because danger is always lurking around the corner in life. In America though we seem to have this illusion that it doesn't happen here. Maybe that's why we're always pissed when something does go wrong.

Walkout...

No wonder why we can't solve the crisis in Gaza. Still this is the typical Western response as Gaza starves: Just walk away. I don't agree with the Libyan ambassador's comparison to the Holocaust because this has become a different situation in and of itself given the length it has continued for. That being said it's just deplorable that the West would allow people to starve because it doesn't agree with the language used in the discussion of the situation. Have we really compromised so much on our humanity? It seems the West will only discuss this situation only if blame for this situation is placed on the victims. It's truly an embarrassing time to be an American.

Another bout of craziness

Thanks to Al Jazeera for showing me something that would motivate me to update this.

Lately Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livini(I'm glad i'm writing this because I could never say it) has been at Doha's annual democracy forum. She said that Arab states do not need to wait for an agreement with the Palestinians to normalize ties with Israel and that Israel and Arab states face the same threats from Hamas and Hezbollah (It seriously took me ten minutes to write this sentence while my mind tried to block me from doing so). I've also debating whether to seriously discuss this point by point but I'll take a different approach.

At one point in Josh Rushing's book Mission Al Jazeera he writes about how Americans think that Iraq and Palestine are totally different issues while he states that most Arabs see them as similar if not the same. Why is this? Although some would claim that this is the work of the Israel lobby (This sounds like a job for Mearsheimer and Walt), I think that people really should be able to see that the conflict in Palestine has effects in the rest of the Middle East in some way. That said, I don't think that Livini is really trying to court Arab states. I think the statement is for the Israeli and American publics to say that Israel is still interested in peace but since the Arab states are delaying on normalizing relations with Israel, the Arab states are not interested in peace so we can keep on bombing Gaza. That's the only way this makes sense.

ha...

Looks like the only democracy in the Middle East decided to prove that Mr. Falk's criticisms were completely unfounded by NOT LETTING HIM IN!!!

Full Circle: Israel and the Nazi comparisons

Go to any demonstration that criticizes Israel and you will often see signs that connect Israel with the Nazis. It use to just be a hippie thing but now Professor Richard Falk has brought that discussion into the mainstream. Richard Falk is the UN’s investigator into Israel’s conduct in the occupied territories and like anyone in the UN who is free to speak their mind such as John Dugard, he is naturally very critical of Israel’s conduct. It is important to note that Falk did not say that Israel and the Nazis were the same, Falk claimed that Israel and the Nazis both employed collective punishment often. His comments were aimed specifically at the American public and the BBC quoted him as saying, “if this kind of situation existed...in...China...or...Darfur, I think there would be no reluctance to make that comparison.” Falk claimed that the reluctance stemmed the historic sensitivity to the persecution of the Jewish people and the fact that the double standard in international law and morality actually works to Israel’s favor. An incensed Israel wants Falk’s mandate expanded to look into human rights violations by the Palestinians in order to deflect criticism from its own conduct. Otherwise, “the only democracy in the Middle East” will consider barring Falk’s entry.

Thanks to the BBC.

Land Day

Another article I wrote:




"Tel Aviv-Yafo-Over 1,000 Arabs marched through the port city of Yaffa to protest Israel’s plans to move 500 Palestinian families out of Yaffa and to commemorate the killing of of six people in 1976 over the confiscation of Palestinian land. The Palestinian families have been issued notices to prove that they own the land that they reside in or to leave it. Given the sensitivity of a large Arab demography in a Jewish state, proving one’s prior residence is a long and hard legal battle that can take time. Palestinians claim that they are being evicted to pave the way for Jewish immigration from other countries.

Across Israel were other rallies commemorating Land Day. Land Day takes place on March 30th which was the date in 1976 when six unarmed protesters were shot demonstrating against a decision by the Israeli government to confiscate land in the Galilee region which is home to many Palestinians who stayed in Israeli following the war in 1948. Although the Israeli government claimed the land confiscations were for security reasons, they were used to build a military training camp and Jewish settlements. Protests and general strikes were held the 30th of March and during the protests, six demonstrators were shot and 100 people were wounded as the Israeli Occupation Forces and police fired into the crowd.

Land Day is attended by both Israelis and Palestinians who wish to see and end to the land confiscations. Banners in both Arabic and Hebrew denounced the Israeli policy of land confiscations. Although Arab citizens of Israel are supposed to be guaranteed equal rights under Israel’s basic laws, widespread discrimination is common particularly in areas such as housing and education."

This one was accepted for the newsletter.

"Road Blocks"

This is an article I wrote for a school newsletter but who knows if it fits the format.

"East Jerusalem-I was with some friends of mine when we were going through a checkpoint outside the neighborhood of his friends’ house. It was a wooden shack with two soldiers standing guard. I didn’t really want to go into the neighborhood because I knew that we would have to deal with the checkpoint on the way out. As the soldiers were looking through my passport, one of them came back and explained to me with my friend translating that he couldn’t find my Israeli visa. I showed it to him and we then argued back and forth about whether the visa was still valid (it turned out that the soldier couldn’t read well). After pointing out all the dates on my visa several times and even showing my e-ticket to prove that I wasn’t going to over stay my visa. Later, my friends explained that for Palestinians incidents at the checkpoints get much worse than that.

Israel has today pledged to remove 50 of these ”road blocks” in order to advance the peace process while also pledging to upgrade checkpoints to reduce the wait time without compromising security. However, these 50 are only a fraction of the 500+ checkpoints in the occupied West Bank and the number of checkpoints have only increased from Annapolis until now. The World Bank has found that checkpoints are the main factor that is stifling the economy in the West Bank and the Palestinians claim they are collective punishment.

Although Palestinian officials welcomed the move, both Palestinians and Israelis are deeply skeptical of a peace deal being concluded before Bush leaves office. Condoleezza Rice is in the Middle East to try to invigorate the peace process and may use this opportunity to claim that progress is being made. In the meantime, Israel is using this opportunity to pressure the Palestinian government to take “greater security responsibility” in the West Bank by allowing 600 Jordanian-trained security officers to be deployed to the West Bank city of Jenin. However, there does not seem to be great expectations for an improvement in security for the Israelis or substantial concessions for the Palestinians."

On another note I was accepted the Arabic program at AUB so I am officially awesome.

Where is the humanity?

This is part 2 of a very beautiful movie series that I think translates to "where is the humanity?" It was nice that they included what happened on Sept. 11th as well as the events in Iraq and Palestine. I'm just glad that the concept of Arab unity isn't completely dead if various artists can come together to produce this. This is one of the big reasons why I want to go to the Middle East, to try to find where the humanity is in all of it. Unlike a lot of the hippies around here, I'm willing to work for the U.S. gov't if it gets me to the Middle East for awhile. Although some would say these actions contribute to the very things I'm working against, I don't buy into this mentality of "lets talk shit about the U.S. gov't and don't actually do anything to solve this." The only way this would actually help is if you moved out of the U.S. (which I don't see many of these people do which is odd because they talk about how the U.S. is such an evil country) and stop paying taxes (what do they think is aiding the gov't the most?). I really hate how U.S. foreign policy has been under both democrats and republicans (essentially the same really) and I know that there is no one electable who can really solve these problems with their current rhetoric. That's why it is important for me to go there any way I can and try to actively work against what the American and Israeli gov't is doing any way I can.

Middle East Whiteness explained

Ever wonder why some people in the Middle East look as white as Americans, particularly in the regions of Palestine and Lebanon? This may be why.

The Hussien connection...

Early I trash talked the conspiracy theorists who think Obama is a Muslim in disguise. Many of these people think that the Muslims are out to take over the world by putting up candidates in elections. It turns out IT'S TRUE...though not in the way we expect. It appears that men who began the infiltration are Bush and Cheney who are both distantly related to Obama. How could I not see it?!?!?!? Bush and Cheney were sent to screw up our economy and bog us down in a unwinnable war that would bring the U.S. down. Looks like an Obama presidency where he makes Mecca the new capital is the final inevitable step in this final scheme. The only way to stop this is to send myself back in time and warn the people before its too late. But alas, the new Muslim theocracy will ban science and time travel will never be invented without an enlightened western innovation WHAT CRUEL FATE. I'm worried quite a few people in this country would take this scenario seriously.

Sinbad strikes back...

Coming out from the shadow of obscurity is Sinbad with his account of what was going on in Bosnia while Clinton was there. If even Sinbad can take Hillary down, how can she stand up to John McCain? Although Sinbad deserves some respect. He dealt with some tough situations like when he was wondering whether to eat at the restaurant he was at or the place down the street. CLEARLY HE DID NOT KNOW WHERE HIS NEXT MEAL WAS! I think I have to take a nap now. Thanks to the Washington Post's blog for this one.

A simple no thanks anyone?

Looks like the U.S. container ship was a no smoking voyage. Too bad no one told these guys. I know its annoying when people try to sell you random stuff and you may want to shoot at them but still. I'm just wondering what they shot at them with if it was a container ship. Too bad this guy couldn't get rid of his unwanted guests. In the Israelis' defense, one of the guy's neighbors must have told them that his wife makes great maqloobeh.

Sami Al-Arian...

Over the spring break, I was talking with my father about the Sami Al-Arian case and found out that we knew someone who was working on the case. The case of Sami Al-Arian has been going on for about 5 years now. Despite being acquitted in 2006 he has still not been freed. When I wrote his attorney, he told me that the best way to help was to write letters. To find out who they need to be sent to click here. More about the case can be read here and here.

It really never ends...

Truly there is never a shortage of crazy news stories. Now Israelis can sue the PA for suicide bombers. Since state governments cannot be the target of lawsuits, this means that Israel does not recognize Palestine (yet they expect Palestine to recognize Israel but how can something that’s not a state recognize another state..argh...it hurts the mind). What is even funnier is when you remember Annapolis (does anyone?) about how everyone pledged to support Abbas’ government in the West Bank. How does this help him? Maybe it wouldn’t seem so truly insane if the Palestinians could sue the Israeli military for the death of innocent civilians. I’m sure there is someone out there who would say I’m anti-semitic for holding Israel to a double standard.

Report on Anti-Semitism may fuel anti-semitism...

The U.S. State Department released a new report today that claims anti-semitism is on the rise across the globe. This is actually not a surprise since the report defines anti-semitic activity as not only includes the usual hate crimes (like attacks and defamation against the Jewish people) but also has Anti-Zoinism and “demonization” of the state of Israel. Now aside from the fact that Arabs are also semitic, this is a pretty broad category. If you believe that Arabs and Jews should live as equals in one state, you are anti-semitic (Anti-Zoinist). If you talk about the evils of the occupation and ethnic cleansing committed in the formation of Israel, you are also anti-semitic (demonization of Israel).

Meanwhile, a whole race of people are considered “a demographic threat” just because they are Arab and not Jewish. This is in a state where 74 percent of people think Arabs are unclean (excluding Israeli Arabs). Almost 40 percent of the people in the lands Israel controls have no political rights but comparisons to Nazis are termed anti-Semitic by the report. This is part of the new anti-semitism that is “is common throughout the Middle East and in Muslim communities in Europe, but it is not confined to these populations (read: pro-Palestinian activists)." The report even goes so far as to say that criticism of Israel in the UN that does not mention other regimes is anti-semitic (although criticism of human rights abuses by other regimes need not mention Israel). With everything considered anti-Semitic, it is no wonder global anti-semitism is on the rise.

*Sigh

I know I should be writing my paper but this one from fox just got to me. Or maybe it was the straw that broke the came..er..donk..uh.. horse's back. Yea horse's back. I've heard many rumors going around like Obama is a Muslim who will not cite the pledge of allegiance or that Obama wanted to be sworn in on the Koran. Okay to the people who push this bull$#!^, I know you don't travel much but others of us do. And when we travel, particularly to Muslim countries, we have to answer for your BS. It's really annoying and I'd appreciate it if you would stop. Please. Anyway if this doesn't change your views, try this.

Welcome to Lebanon...

It's been a long day and I'm really tired. Enjoy. Here is the link.

False sympathies...

For one of my psychology projects, I had to rent the movie Uncle Saddam. Since the movie came out right before the invasion of Iraq, I knew there would be some pro-war comment somewhere. One of the people says "Anyone who has doubts about Operation Iraqi Freedom should try and view this film...It becomes clear that the Baathist/marxist policies of Saddam do nothing to elevate the lives of the average Iraqi and merely spread the misery equally among anyone outside Saddam's circle of influence in Iraq." Aside from the fact that he doesn't mention other factors about Iraq (the Iran-Iraq War, The Gulf War, and the sanctions regime), his sympathies for the average Iraqi seem feigned. It's not that Saddam wasn't bad for Iraq, but how does this guy feel about Iraqis if they ask for the American troops to leave? Suddenly I could imagine a different story.

And of course I see headlines like this that make me want to gag. It begs the question that if the U.S., the most powerful and influential country in the world, is so committed to the Palestinian people, why is this happening? It's because the U.S. doesn't care. The only honest people in their attitudes are the people in the streets of Gaza celebrating and the Israelis outside the school screaming death to Arabs. It is as one of my professors said, first we must admit that we utterly hate the people of the other side and then recognize they aren't going anywhere. Then we can talk peace.

Good God, Sderot awareness...

While the situation in Gaza is the worst since 1967, this video about a benefit concert from LA caught my attention. What I'm still trying to understand is Larry Miller saying "I've been to dodger's stadium and I've been to San Monica and that's how wide Israel is and that's why I'm here." WTF!?!?!? Not because of attacks on either side but because of how wide a place is. I see troubled times ahead as this country enters a new age of slim fast diplomacy. The solutions for Gaza: Starve more until you lose enough weight and then Larry Miller will attend a benefit concert for you. Yum.

It was also interesting that teenagers from Sderot were flown over to highlight the suffering and give them a break because that's not available to teenagers from Gaza. Oh yea and FYI to McCain, if your going to talk about a place, know how to pronounce it. I can only imagine Huckabee speaking at this event. One final note, the clip mentions that the organizers hope to raise awareness about the situation, but what do they propose as a solution? To bomb Gaza more or make a truce with Hamas?

phew finally...

Well I was going to post something but it's midnight so I'll leave it for tomorrow. Have fun with this in the meantime...