Whoever did this is disgusting. From the Jerusalem Post: Rabin monument vandalized.

If there's anyone out there who's participated in one of those "US Out of Iraq - No Blood for Oil" protests, I hope you meet the poor souls in this video in the afterlife so that you can explain how you helped them by delaying the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. Oh yeah, and don't foget these people, and these.

And if you are so inclined to believe that this is some Fox News style right-wing propaganda, here's a link on CNN to the same story. (Although they seem to have pulled it from their U.S. homepage at cnn.com where it was earlier - it's on their international site). Must be that we Americans are too sensitive.

Will someone explain to me how you get $1.8mm in severance pay for doing nothing?

From the New York Times: "Boston University's trustees and Daniel S. Goldin, the former NASA chief they had chosen to be the university's next president, parted ways today, with Mr. Goldin receiving what amounted to a reported $1.8 million severance payment for a job he was one day away from beginning."

Remind me not to send my kids to the Boston U. Business School.

Howard

If you've got a couple of hours to spare, here's a link to Little Green Footballs that itself links to a videotaped session of a Senate Subcommittee hearing on the education of Palestinian children that was shown on C-Span earlier today. I don't think the concern deals with the debate on teaching creationism versus evolution in biology class... (it's more having to do with the debate whether the Jews are more like pigs or monkeys?)

Here's a wonderful site with suggestions for Muslim mullahs to use for their Friday sermons. I like the part about "The Jews, who are the nation of pigs and monkeys, are nothing but a source of evil, corruption, tribulation and war.". All from the Religion of Peace. Does this site look like it was put together by poor people who are living a desperate life? Hardly.

I swear that I want to believe that this is not the majority Muslim opinion, I really do. But if you think this is the only site like this, you just haven't been paying attention.

Just saw an article about another poll that shows that our friends in Europe do indeed hate Israel (I'm being careful not to say Jews). According to a poll taken of European residents, 59% of respondents said that Israel is the biggest threat to world peace. I don't know whether to be upset or proud that a little country of 6 million, 20% or so which is not even Jewish can create such a fearsome image in the world.

That doesn't mean they're anti-Semitic or biased you say? OK. What exactly makes a country the "biggest" threat to world peace. Support of terrorism against innocent victims? I think the that supporters of radical Islam win that contest hands down (see 9/11, Bali, African embassy bombings, etc.). How about massive military might and visible placement of nuclear missiles? I don't think Israel is quite on par with the US, Russia, China or NATO in general to name a few.

What singles Israel out then as the worst of the worst? Could it be bias?

The fact is that Israel has had to spend most of it's 50+ years taking in millions of immigrants from the rest of the world because everyone treats the Jews like crap. And then that same world community turns around and says that Israelis are horrible because they don't lay down their arms and die, or better yet just go away. As my grandpa used to say----feh!

Just a note to all you Dennis Miller fans - he's going to have his own show again - this time on CNBC at a reasonable hour.

Norm Geras has a great entry in his blog dealing with anti-Semitism, anti-Americanism and the poisoned atmosphere of left-wing political discourse in the U.K. Believe me, our Democrats are fascists compared to the left-wing of the Labour Party. I wish I had the time to write entries at length, as he and others do.

I actually have to go to London on business shortly - I hope that nobody berates me in the street if they find out I'm a Jewish American.

This picture of George Bush is hilarious. The Drudge Report has it up now on the top of it's site and it's even funnier there.

He is risen, indeed.

I'm willing to listen if anyone has a suggestion other than the Death Penalty for this guy - Man Plows Stolen Pickup Through Motorcyclists on Highway; Two Dead, One Critical.

What I love is the last line of the article:

"Police early Thursday said they had no information on whether Pilgren had been jailed."

If the police don't know, who does? And if he's not in jail, will someone please let me know where he is so I can get out of his way?

On PETA - the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals: I think any moral human being has to agree with their underlying premise - abuse of animals is horrible and abusing animals only to fulfill the human lust for pleasure is worse. Nevertheless I really dislike them. I dislike them even more for making me dislike them. It's hard to root for an organization that uses the Holocaust as propaganda and tries to indoctrinate middle-school children with a passion only the cigarette companies can match.

It's a damn shame.

If you think there needs to be a debate about the legality of radar detectors, how about the use of electronic traffic light changers. Hat tip to my brother-in-law.

This reminds me of a trick I've played on people once or twice (when it's safe to do so of course). If you find yourself in the passenger seat of a car while sitting at a red light, start a conversation with the driver. Before the light turns green, point to the light and say "it's green, go ahead". You'd be surprised how many people look at the light and because they trust what you said, start to cross the intersection even though they look up and see the red light themselves. Again, please don't do this in Times Square at rush hour.

Apparently there's a new sandwich chain that's expanding in the Dallas area called Cousin's Subs. According to the Dallas Business Journal, they're based in Milwaukee and are looking to open around 30 locations in the Dallas area. I didn't even realize that there was one pretty close to me - maybe I'll give it a shot...you can even get a coupon from their website. If you really like their food and are ready to quit that day job, they're having a franchising seminar in Addison on November 11th.

To me this is one of the funnier headlines I've read in the New York Times in awhile - "Permanent Government to Be Formed, Palestinians Say". It made me laugh not because of the oxymoron of a Permanent Palestinian Government, but it reminded me of a song from the old Broadway show Guys and Dolls about the "Oldest Establsihed Permanent Floating Crap Game in New York"

For those of you in the Dallas area, Mark Davis from WBAP 820-AM will be speaking this Wednesday at 7:30PM at Temple Emanu-El about his one week trip to Israel back in August. You can see his diary from that trip along with some photos at his website.

I didn't really pay much attention to his radio show until I heard he was going there. However, both before, during and after his trip he sounded so excited that it reminded me about how I felt (and in some ways still feel) about my first trip when I was 16 on USY Pilgrimage. Of course it costs two and half times more to go now than it did in 1982!

I'll let y'all know how his presentation goes (assuming the wife lets me out of the house).

You know, if Yasser Arafat can win the Nobel Prize, certainly the Committee will have no problem if I suggest Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt and Danny DeVito. Do you think this is serious?....After Tony and Kofi fail, Brad and Jennifer try Mid-East diplomacy.

OK, one more chauvinist comment. When I was younger, I would pray to see a naked woman. Actually, it was worse - I would pray to see any part of a woman naked. How does a nebbish like Spencer Tunick, get 450 women to say, OK not only do I want to get naked in front of you, I want to do it on a cold hard marble floor that has been walked on by millions of pairs of filthy footwear for the past 80 years. Austin Powers, eat your heart out.

When I was in Little Rock yesterday, I went to the Central High School Museum and Visitor Center. If you're not aware, this was the place of one of the nastiest battles to integrate the nation's schools. I learned a lot of interesting facts such as that Arkansas' public universities were already desegregated at the time...that Little Rock built a new "black" high school so that they could show that the blacks would want to go there and not Central.

After seeing newsreels my whole life of the National Guard troops, the taunting of the new kids just trying to go to school, etc. it was really strange being there in person. Also, growing up in New York, Arkansas was like another world - somewhere I'd probably never see and couldn't imagine wanting to. It also felt awkward driving through what is obviously a poor African-American community to take pictures of something that must bring back such terrible(?) memories. Maybe that's what it's like for a non-Jew to visit Holocaust museums and the like. You almost want to apologize even though you weren't born when everything happened.

By the way, the Arkansas Governor's mansion, where Bill Clinton lived, is pretty much within walking distance of Central High. It is also strangely located in the middle of a poverty stricken part of town.

Say what you will about Bill Clinton, but the man was GOVERNOR of a state when he was 32! And he looked only 25! Man, no wonder he got all the chicks.

One of the principal targets of the Texas Republican's redistricting plan is U.S. representative Martin Frost - Democrat representing district 24. Representative Frost is THE pro-Israel representative from Texas and should be supported in the upcoming elections. According to the Dallas News, Representative Frost is not about to give up his seat, even though his district will now contain a significant Republican majority.

I've seen this man speak at AIPAC events and he's received numerous awards from the Jewish community. Let's hope he stays around, even if he has to run in another district.

I should have known that our cabin by th elake in Arkansas wouldn't have a telephone line, much less hi-spedd internet access. Posting his from a cafe in Hot Springs - will hopefully get back on tonight in a more modern setting.

Hope I haven't missed much - heard something about the Yankees being behind but that's rediculous......

Paul Krugman of the New York Times publishes the usual garbage about them (i.e., "the Muslim world") hating us (Americans and Jews) because of the policies of George Bush. I hate to have to defend Bush, but just as I'll say that Bill Clinton was unfairly attacked for political gain, anybody who says that Muslim countries hate us because of George Bush is an idiot. Think back to the OPEC Oil Embargo, the Iranian Hostage Crisis and the Beirut barracks bombing and I think you've got a pretty good legacy of acts of war against this country (unanswered mind you) while George Bush was still deciding what he wanted to do when he grew up.

Personally, if there are people who feel they need to use hate to advance their political agendas, my goal in life would not be to appease them or understand their motives, but to hate them back and kill them if they ever came near by wife and children. There is no room in this world for prime ministers of countries of tens of millions of people saying things such as "Jews run the world" and must be defeated. No excuses. For crying out loud, the guy is retiring soon - there is absolutely no need to have made those remarks. Krugman thinks Mahathir's just a shrewd politician. Hitler was playing to his constituents also because they had a crappy economy.

You know what, now that I understand why Hitler used anti-Semitism the way he did, I don't hate him anymore. He was just being reasonable after all! What else could he be expected to do with a country to run and all those evil Jews running the world ?!?

I want to throw up.

Update: I am glad to see there are others as outraged as I am: Once again, the hard work is done by Little Green Footballs.

I can't believe that a second year has gone by and I didn't get a chance to go to the Texas State Fair which is a month long event. Last year it was because we had just moved and this year it was because we just had a baby. I'm looking forward to 2004!

Why the big fuss? Where else can you find such local delicacies as fried Snickers on a stick?

You've probably seen reports like this one, about how Germany's Jewish population is on the rise. What is more interesting to me is why these people are going to Germany, although in Jerry Seinfeld's words - "not that there's anything wrong with that".

The article says that many are fleeing from the Ukraine, Russia, etc. and going to Germany because it's close. If that were indeed the case, what makes these immigrants so different from those of 100 years ago like my great-grandparents who took an enormously more difficult trip to the U.S.? I'm assuming that it's because German immigration policies are much more open than our own nowadays. Based on recent reports, it seems that we here could use an influx of immigrants to bolster the American Jewish community.

It is also a sad commentary on the situation in Israel that having decided to leave their home country, many Jews prefer the colder climate of Europe to the balmy Mediterranean. I would like to think that if I ever felt that I had to leave the United States that Israel would be my principal option. Then again, the U.S. isn't the Ukraine where I'm sure almost anywhere else would make for a better life.

Then again, maybe there is hope for the Ukraine. I just read that a Holocaust Museum and Jewish Education Center is to be built there.

In any case, good luck to them all.

Apologies to those who've noticed a slowdown in postings. We just had a baby a month ago and now that grandma has gone back home, we're still trying to figure out what to do with the little one and her big sister. I'll be going on several trips soon which will actually give me more time to think and post. Please stay tuned.

By the way, if you don't go to shul regularly and were thinking about starting, now's a good a time as any...we read the very first parsha of the Torah this Shabbos - Breishit. You know, "In the beginning...., etc."

We're going to be in Arkansas this weekend doing some leaf peeping. Maybe we'll see if we can't find some MOTs (Members of the Tribe) for a little Shabbat action, even if it's Chabad in Little Rock.

Great post at a website called Jessica's Well. Look at the entry for October 16 which links to Life Magazine articles from six months after WWII saying things like - "We have swept away Hitlerism, but a great many Europeans feel that the cure has been worse than the disease." Sounds like criticism of our war in Iraq today, doesn't it? I'm now even more confident that things will work out just fine in the long run.

OK - think of the most bizarre thing that could possibly happen to you.

Now read about the Jewish couple in Minnesota that had the artist formerly known as Prince knock on their door to try to convert them....on Kol Nidre night!

You know, it's really sad that there is so much blatant, published anti-semitism in the world that I have to post a link to someone who's taken the time out to do a summary of recent anti-semitic events and comments made by public officials. Hat tip to www.jewschool.com.

As the author states at the end - "How can any self-repsecting Jew honestly be anti-Zionist? Really?"

At the Organization of the Islamic Conference taking place in Malaysia, the prime minister of that country told the attendees that "The Europeans killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million, but today the Jews rule the world by proxy," Mahathir said, opening the meeting of Islamic leaders from 57 nations. "They get others to fight and die for them."

He further urged the Islamic World to "unite, using nonviolent means for a "final victory." Sounds like Final Solution - doesn't it? Maybe it's OK to just try to starve all the Jews to death instead of buring them in ovens?

Our good friend Hamid Karzai, the leader of Afghanistan hand-picked by the US had this to say - "It is great to hear Prime Minister Mahathir speak so eloquently on the problems of the ummah (Muslim world) and ways to remedy them," Karzai said. "His speech was an eye-opener to a lot of us and that is what the Islamic world should do."

See the whole article from USA Today here.

With friends like Ann Coulter, who needs enemies? I really do despise most of what this woman writes, and to prove it I am including a link to an anti-Coulter site.

That being said, I have been a fan of Rush Limbaugh because I do believe that regardless of how egotistical he comes across in his show, he can be critical and funny without too much name calling - as opposed to Ann Coulter.

However, I do want to comment on some quotes pulled from the Coulter piece:

"Inasmuch as liberals have no morals, they can sit back and criticize other people for failing to meet the standards that liberals simply renounce." OK, I don't agree with the first part - that's the kind of thing that makes me dislike Ann so much. The second part though is important - we don't hear now how if we only ended the War on Drugs and decriminalized "recreational" use Rush and other innocents wouldn't be in this unnecessary predicament. No! It's "shame on him - he's as bad as a heroin addict driving a bus full of children!" Send him away!

Here's another interesting quote:

'Liberals can lie under oath in legal proceedings and it's a "personal matter." Conservatives must scream their every failing from the rooftops or they are "liars".' You know who she's talking about...and I'm sure this is too broad a generalization,..or is it?

No more Jews in Baghdad. Would you believe that 100 years ago a quarter of Baghdad was Jewish? Hmmm, now why would they all leave like that? We know that Islam is the Religion of Peace and Love....or is it, kufr?

TRAGIC. How do people go to work in this city, not knowing whether they'll come home alive or not? I think I'll start posting every time someone in NY meets a random, untimely death. Here's one from this weekend.

What is the price that people are willing to pay to live around here? How many millions put their lives in the hands of others every day? Who remembers the Brooklyn subway crash that lead to 100 deaths? How about any of these (which has not been updated and may not be complete)?

I swear that I love NY even though I left - but in a place where only the sky is the limit for people's dreams, the tragedies are all that more profound.

We're thinking of going to Arkansas next week to see what kind of autumn action they get over there in the Ouachitas. I know it's not Vermont but it's a heck of a lot closer.

Is it any wonder that innocent Palestinian children die when they do something so sensless as to provide background cover for their comrades with guns? It's been 3 years and countless dead and they still think it's a fun idea to hang around during a firefight? Hat Tip to Little Green Footballs.

I would never claim that individual Palestinians don't suffer due to Israel's hunt to destroy terrorists and their operations. However, it's hard to react to those claims when the reporting of their extent vary so wildly and in many cases fallaciously.

One report in the left leaning Ha'Aretz claims that 2,000 Palestinians were left homeless by this past week's actions by the Israeli army to destroy tunnels used for smuggling arms, people, etc, from Egypt into Gaza.
Today a report by the Associated Press with a headline of "almost 1,500" homeless actually uses a figure of 1,240 in the body of the article. If 1,240 is almost 1,500, then 200 is almost 500.

This reminds me of Operation Defensive Shield in Jenin in 2002 when Palestinian cabinet member Nabil Shaath claimed hundreds of civilians killed in a massacre perpetrated by the Israel Defense Forces. A more sober accounting by the U.N. determined that almost as many Israeli soldiers died (23) as Palestinian civilians (maybe up to half of the 52 Palestinians killed in the fighting). This of course does not mention the 29 Israelis killed at a Passover Seder just before that.

Update: Now the Associate Press is reporting "hundreds" of homeless. So we've gone from 2,000 to "hundreds". Anybody willing to bet on a drop to "dozens" in the next 24 hours?

We're in for a lunar eclipse on November 8th.

Emma Thomson is one of my favorite actresses. Maybe it's the accent, or maybe it's just that she's one of the few actresses that seems to have a brain - again this may be an illusion based on the accent, but I don't think so. Anyway, that's why I'm so excited that she's agreed to take the role of Professor Trelawney in the upcoming movie version of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban".

This blog is starting to need a serious dose of silliness after so much discussion of serious topics. It's good to see that there are people who have so few cares in the world, and so much free time on their hands, that they spend the majority of their life grooming their cats.

The LA Times has printed a report claiming that Israel now has sea-based nuclear missiles. I guess Israel needs them to protect themselves from followers of people like NYU professor Tony Judt, published yesterday in the same newspaper who calls for an end to the Jewish state.

This is my latest e-mail to Ray Hanania. Here I am responding to a request of his to comment on a pro-Israel readers' irate and personal attack on him based on what he had written in his column, also posted below:

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Here are my thoughts as you have requested:

First of all, even if this person had a good point, there is no room in civilized discourse to say things like, "As any educated person would know..." and claiming that your words incited anti-semitic acts. That's just not right. Now, I'll try and get into the mind of this person and explain what made him so irate.

When I read your article and saw that you said "Zionism...declares that Israel must be exclusively Jewish" that got my dander up too. In fact, I would say it was that one line that sparked this whole conversation we're having. Let's say that I and the other writer disagree with your statement...why does it upset us so, instead of just making us shake our heads? Your statement brings to mind, unintentionally I'm sure, the litany of prejudices about Jews setting themselves apart from everyone else because they feel they're better than non-Jews. This is often a false impression that is given by religious Jews who refuse to eat other's food because it's not kosher, or promote marriage within the religion. (I can't claim that there aren't Jews who feel they are better than others, but what society, race or religion doesn't have such people?)

It hurts us (moderate to liberal Jews in particular) deeply to hear that people think that we're exclusivists when one of our principal laws teach us to "love thy neighbor". Our patriarch Abraham is famous for inviting strangers into his tent - and they sure weren't Jews because there weren't any others! The Jewish trend to want to live together in tight-knit communities is primarily due to the desire for a more comfortable life such as being close to kosher food sources and within walking distance of synagogues since travel is prohibited on the Sabbath and other holidays - not because we think of others as inferiors who we don't want to mix with. In Israel in particular, there is the additive desire to live together as a defensive stance in front of the outside world which I have described in prior e-mails. It is indeed this misunderstanding of Jew's desire to "hang together" that many of us believe allow people to begin down the slippery slope of hate - "those Jew bastards don't think we're good enough for them...we don't need 'em here" - therefore the harsh, angry reaction to your words.

(As an aside, remember that just as radical Muslim militants distort the world's views of the Muslim community at large, so the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community presents a false impression of the mainstream Jewish community, 90% of which are not Orthodox, but are Conservative, Reform or otherwise affiliated.) I am Conservative (not too religious, not too secular) myself although I did choose to live in an area that is more Jewish than most based on the general reasons cited above.

As to some of the reader's other comments, he seems to want you to apologize for everything that people claim is wrong in Palestinian society. I don't think you should have to do that every time you write a column criticizing a particular policy or action. I don't remember where I read it, but I did see an interesting comment somewhere that an Arab that condemns Arab actions must also include a condemnation of Israel somewhere in the article lest they be perceived of as an "Uncle Tom" of sorts. Similarly, any Jew who criticizes Israeli policy has to include a comment about those policies not justifying Palestinian militancy.

I'm sure you won't mind if I comment that it seems that even you succumbed somewhat to this standard by stating that the government of Israel has murderous ways. Assuming that's a correct and fair statement, what does that have to do with the suicide bombings, unless you're saying that one leads to the other and is therefore understandable? If it's understandable, it's a natural reaction - and how can we possibly condemn Hamas' natural reaction to Israeli murders? Suicide bombing is either a good tactic or a bad one, a moral use of force or an immoral use of force, wholly independent of what caused that person to want to engage in that activity in the first place.

Here's what may be a bad analogy (which my friends know I have a tendency to dream up). If a vigilante kills someone to exact his revenge outside the court of law, it doesn't matter whether that revenge was for stealing a bottle of milk or for having had his wife raped and murdered. It's just wrong. What led the vigilante to murder another human being has no justification. End of story. I believe that's what you wanted to say about suicide bombings, but the criticism of Israel lessened the argument you were making, just as calling the robber or rapist a criminal above would have weakened the argument that what the vigilante did was 100% wrong.

Now it's time for me to go to bed! Forgive me if the late hour has made me slacken my attempts at impartiality.

Respectfully,
Howard

Ray Hanania and I have had a very heartfelt e-mail exchange on the plights of our two peoples. See below for the latest. Maybe we can figure this thing out eventually amongst ourselves.....
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Thanks Howard for your comments.

I appreciate them and recognize your sincerity to be fair, which is probably the only thing we can ask of each other. Rather than say you are right or wrong, or vice versus, Palestinians and Israelis need to engage in a constructive dialogue of understanding.

As a palestinian, here is how I view things (very summarized, of course).

I don't agree that they should have divided Palestine into two states that crisscrossed illogically. The Partition was flawed and made to fail. But, since Israel was established and because events have changed so much over the past 50 years, I don't believe that Palestinians should continue to argue about whether or not the creation of Israel was right or wrong. It's there. Deal with it. Most Palestinians agree with me.

Most Palestinians do accept the ability to create a state in the West Bank and gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capitol. If that were ever really offered, we would take it.

The problem, as I see it, is that while some Israeli officials say theys upport the concept of a Palestinian state, they don't offer a vision of what that state will be like. It's almost like they have a precondition: Palestinians accept Israel and its security, then we negotiate about the borders. Palestinians fear that Israel will whittle the "state" down to small strips of land, divided by Israeli roads and settlements. And, while they negotiate, they continue to build and expand new settlements.

It's makes it hard for even the most supportive of the State of Israel to feel comfortable that Israel willdeliver what it implies but does not really say.

I'm not saying that Israel is right or wrong. Just trying to help you understand what themajor problem is on our side.

Add to all this on both our sides, extremism. Settler extremism which results in violence and death. Hamas/Islamic Jihad extremism which results in violence and death. Israeli military excesses that result in the killing of innocent civilians. Palestinian police excesses that encourage Hamas and Islamic Jihad rather than undermining them.

You need to recognize that the real fight is between extremists and moderates. The moderates on both sides don't have to agree on every detail, just the hard core principles. And they need to work together, even when we find ourselves angry and emotional over events. There isn't one Palestinian or Israeli, Arab or Jew who hasn't said something they should regret. On both sides.

I'm not Muslim but I am discriminated against as if I were a Muslim. Arab buildings are vandalized. We had seven Arab newspapers in Chicago and six have been forced to close because of bigotry and no one is doing anything about it, except saying it's part of the Arab community "extremism" against Israel.

I fear for both of us, but again, I recognize your feelings, hear what you are saying and genuinely wish we could all arrive at a settlement that is fair to both sides. I think it is possible. I'm just not sure we have a situation where both sides are fairly positioned to achieve it or are being treated in a fair and balanced manner.

best regards
Ray Hanania

On October 8, I posted regarding a column written by Ray Hanania. I told him that although I disagreed with some of his positions, I felt he was unfairly treated when the Dallas News edited his column, taking out entire paragraphs that I thought changed the tone of his column somewhat. I also sent him an e-mail to that effect and he very kindly wrote me back immediately. Here is his response:

Thanks Howard for your comments.

Newspapers have the right to edit for a lot of reasons. I am sure you know that most people who read my columns find something they don't like and focus on that, rather than looking at the bigger picture. Or, they ignore the positives and always focus on the negatives.

I think that I have an obligation to speak fairly and try to define a moderate middle voice which means that I can criticize both sides with equal enthusiasm and passion, don't you think. When the otherside recognizes that this is good -- not bad -- to have someone criticize in a genuinely middle of the road way that is balanced and fair and recognizes many of their issues, then maybe we might be all able to better understand each other.

One reader attacked me saying that this was the "first time" or that I "finally" condemned suicide bombers, instead of standing with me and saying I am glad there is a voice of reason in the Palestinian community even though I don't agree with all of his points. The fact is, the criticism was even worse because it wasn't the first time and, as you may know, I posted the articles I have copies of dating back to 1994 where I have publicly denounced suicide bombings in strong terms and without qualifications. I have tried to be consistent.

Sure, I make a few mistakes or have let my emotions get the best of me,m like in April 2002 the time of the worst fighting between Palestinians and Israelis and many people died (on both sides) including friends and relatives of my friends and relatives in Bethlehem. Comparing Sharon as "Nazi-like" was out of bounds and the result of my failure to reason at that difficult time. My wife explained that it's not whether or not Sharon is a Nazi, but thatusing the term offends all Jews who see the Nazi crimes and the Holocaust in a special light and using it outside of that context is wrong. Okay, Sharon's politics are terrible and offensive and encourage more conflict and death. Am I not allowed to criticize his politics?

best regards

PS ... please reprint the entire email. A guy named Al Barger at another blog engaged in an email discussion with me and then edited the emails and posted them and by the time I realized he had distorted things I said, it was too late. I thinkw e can have a fair debate without exaggerating that which we disagree with in each other, don't you think?

Ray Hanania

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Since I don't get many chances to correspond with members of the Palestinian Arab community, I decided to send back to him a reply from the heart about what I feel about "the situation":

Thanks for your response - I promise to post the whole thing and I look forward to reading your future columns.

Since you were kind enough to respond so quickly, I would like to tell you what I think is the basis of all Israeli policy and of Zionism in general. I believe this because it is something I feel deep in my soul and I don't have the chance to share it with too many people of Arab descent. Many Jews, and not just Israelis, fear that if Israel is ever lost, they will not be safe anywhere in the world. Sure the U.S and Europe are pretty comfortable places to live now, but that's what Jews have thought throughout history in every country they lived comfortably in, until of course, it wasn't.

In recent generations we have seen one third of our population wiped out by one of the most "enlightened" societies of Europe. Before that it was pogroms in Russia and Poland, expulsions from this or that country, etc. For two thousand years, if we were kicked out of one place we moved to another and so on, and so on, for centuries. There were always open, tolerant countries for us to migrate too. It may not have been the best of situations, but we always made do.

At the end of World War II, things changed - there was literally nowhere to go for hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Jews. Palestine was the only option for them (and even that was technically illegal). Boatloads of refugees were literally turned back to sea everywhere in the world, even from the United States.

It was not, and is not, the Palestinian Arabs' responsibility to feel sorry for, or provide refuge for, the Jews of that era and their descendants. One could say though, that there are really only three options that the Palestinians had/have given that Jews had no other choice but to force themselves onto Palestinian society. One would be to welcome the Jews, accept the influx of new people (is it too flippant to compare them to the Mexicans moving to California and Texas?) and integrate them into the local landscape. The second would be to declare all out war and accept the results of that war. The third is to have constant conflict hoping that the someone will eventually be sick of it and leave. Without placing blame on either party to the conflict, numbers one and two were tried for awhile and didn't work out. It also appears that neither side's leaders want to try those options again - not the first for lack of trust and not the second for fear of losing everything.

So here we are stuck with option number three, at least until there is a major change in "the situation", as the Israelis like to call it. Whatever that change will be, I believe it will come from the Palestinian side, whether it's a mega-terror attack or the development of a true democracy in Palestine. Something that will tip the balance to all-out war (G-d forbid) or all-out peace. I believe this because the only real significant action that Israel can take, unilateral withdrawal, has not led to peace on the Lebanese border due to the same groups that operate freely within the West Bank and Gaza, therefore Israel will never take that step.

As I finish writing this to you, a story just appeared on my local TV about swastikas being marked on someone's car here in the Dallas area. In the year since I've lived here, swastikas were painted on my synagogue's doors. That's why the Jews need Israel. That's why I need Israel - just in case. Somewhere where Jews can dream of being left alone to have control over their own lives and live in peace for a long a time as we can imagine. No matter what the cost.

Respectfully,
Howard

I imagine he is a very busy man who will not be able to keep up a daily conversation with one of his readers, but I promise to post his reply should he choose to provide one.

Here's another of the many articles out there written by our brave men and women who have seen action in Iraq. The Dallas Observer is produced by New Times, which is about as liberal as news organizations get in this country. (Not that there's anything wrong with that - my best friend actually works for them.) Couldn't they find a soldier or reservist to talk about how they were forced to rape and kill innocent women and children? Hmmm, maybe we ARE the good guys after all.

As an aside, I haven't read it yet, but I unsderstand that Front Line Voices is supposed to be an excellent collection of work by those who were "Over There".

Everything you wanted to know about the new $20 bill, but were afraid to ask.

If I knew how, I'd put up a poll. Do you think Yasser Arafat is suffering from cancer, the flu, a heart attack, or nothing at all?

Please check out my brother-in-law's site listed under my new Interesting Stuff section (it's the one called Weird is Relative). If you like cool science stuff and a good sense of humor sprinkled in, this is a link for you. I do think he posts Ted Rall cartoons just to aggravate me, but I can't be sure.

Here is a very detailed article about the only boy on an otherwise all-girl's drill team here in the Dallas area. You do have to see the related pictures to believe them. The only question the reporter failed to ask was "why"? Don't they teach that any more in journalism school? I'm neither for, nor against what Geroge is doing, but I'm dying to know.....why? Was this his dream growing up? Did he want an easy way to meet girls? Or guys? In a way it's not fair to George that he's not asked, becuase although he comes across as an amazing person, joining the drill team still seems like a totally irrational thing to do.

By the way, Cedar Hill's own website still refers to the Highsteppers as "lovely, talented...."

Come on, admit it - you want one just for fun even though it's a little late...Arnold Schwarzenegger for Governor bumper stickers.

Someone should call Webster's and just have them add this article under their definition of ironic: Bear Mauling Kills Grizzly Advocate, Friend

In today's Dallas Morning News, a column attributed to Ray Hanania, a Palestinian Arab-American, has these wonderful insights into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Zionism...declares that Israel must be exclusively Jewish." There is nothing in Zionism that declares that Israel must be exclusively Jewish - just that it has a majority of Jews and that it remains place of refuge for Jews all over the world. There's no way to guarantee that unless there actually is a majority of Jews in the country. From the Encyclopedia Britannica entry for Zionism - "Jewish nationalist movement that has had as its goal the creation and support of a Jewish national state in Palestine , the ancient homeland of the Jews." It is hard to define whether Jewish here refers to the people or the religion, but there is nothing mentioned about exclusivity. Plenty of Muslims and Christians live in Israel proper - about 20% of the population.

"Israelis won't condemn their government's murderous ways until Palestinians condemn their own". - I was about to argue that there are plenty of Israeli peace activists and organizations that condemn the Sharon government - everything from Peace Now which gathers tens of thousands for it's demonstrations, to those helping the International Solidarity Movement, to the two dozen or so air force pilots who recently vowed not to fly missions in the territories as it was against their conscience. The problem is that THIS IS NOT WHAT RAY HANANIA WROTE!

The Dallas Morning News edited Mr. Hanania's column which I didn't think newspapers could do. I can't even link to what was printed in the newspaper because there is no link for some reason to this column on their website.

What he actually wrote was the following:

"Israel's fanatic government continues to exploit this void in leadership by conducting its own acts of outrage and horror. But until Palestinians can dim the glow of the suicide bomber, they will never be able to stir the fundamental sense of fairness and desire for compromise that I believe is in the hearts of the majority of Israelis.

They won't condemn their government's murderous ways until Palestinians condemn their own."

The whole first paragraph was not published in the newspaper! While I still don't agree with certain things in the column, here he seems to be addressing the fact that the MAJORITY OF ISRAELIS back Sharon with which I would agree. Without this paragraph, he appears to claim that no Israelis speak out against Sharon which is untrue. Also, how the Dallas Morning news can remove the line about the hearts of the majority of Israelis is beyond me. It changes the whole tone of the article from moderate to hard-line.

Honestly, I'm going to write an e-mail to Mr. Hanania to tell him how he has been misrepresented to the Dallas community.

I haven't seen this reported anywhere except NY1 - 35 cars owned by Jews had their tires slashed in Crown Heights on Yom Kippur.

It makes me incredibly angry that this kind of thing still goes on in the 21st century. No, it's not a suicide bomb or the firebombing of a synagogue, but can someone please tell me why can't Jews live in peace anywhere? I mean, if we all went to live in Antarctica, would people leave us alone, or would they blame us for the Ozone hole and chase us down even there (and slash the reins on our dogsleds on Passover)?

Scientists hard at work, but still no cure for cancer.

Perhaps Yasser Arafat was not inscribed this year in the Book of Life?

One other thing - I wonder if all the Israeli peace activists protecting him held Yom Kippur services in the Muqata? Click on the link that says "Human Shields at the Mukat'a 07/10/03" for an update.

My rabbi mentioned in tonight's Yom Kippur service that he heard of sign in a pizza shop in Florida that says the following:

"Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people."

(Further surfing credits this saying to either Unknown, Eleanor Roosevelt or Admiral Rickover).

I think I know where the staff of the E! channel fits in. That's not to say that I don't enjoy Howard Stern. I just have to learn not to. Actually, Howard does discuss events on his show, so I guess that makes him a small-to-average mind.

Here's a talmudic style follow-up....Does talking about any upcoming Jen-Ben wedding plans count as talking about events or people?

It's definitely getting late..I better get to sleep.

I know that there isn't now, nor has there ever been, any logic to the world's treatment of Israel, but could there be a clearer case of double standards than what happened in the Middle East this weekend?

Palestinian kills 19 innocent people in Israel (Jews and Arabs). Israel retaliates by killing no one while striking a base inside Syria of those who openly claim responsibility for the suicide bombing. World reaction - outrage and special UN sessions.

Israeli soldier patrolling inside Israel killed by fire directed from Lebanese territory. Innocent child also killed in attempt to strike into Israel. World reaction - I don't know, did you hear anything?

I could write about the horrors of the most recent suicide bombing, but what remains left to be said? Instead I will direct you to a disturbing sight closer to home. I have to say that in general I do agree with the backers of the First Amendment who say the only way to fight "bad" speech is with "good" speech - not to eliminate the right to bad speech. And I guess you can't really have laws against purely hateful speech or acts when no person or property is physically harmed. If that's so, why does it bother me so much that this type of activity is not punishable?

OK, OK, I just have to print this lovely quote from a brother of today's suicide bomber...

"They were shocked to hear she was responsible for the bombing, "but we are receiving congratulations from people," Thaher Jaradat, her younger brother said. "Why should we cry? It is like her wedding today, the happiest day for her," he said."

And I'm supposed to get upset if an Israeli soldier wants to give this man and his friends a cavity search every time they want to pass near a Jewish town? Pardon me, but I'm about to donate a gross of the longest surgical gloves I can find to the Israeli Army and see if they can't put them to good use.

I also just bought a book called "Right to Exist: A Moral Defense of Israel's Wars" by Yaacov Lozowick. I assume that it's similar in content to Alan Dershowitz' "The Case for Israel". In any case, I feel much better about myself after reading these types of books and actually become hopeful that the world would be on our side if they only knew the truth.

I now take back my comment about the surgical gloves. Can't we all just get along?

"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line."

"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."

"I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force if necessary to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security."

Disgusting how those Republicans followed that idiot Bush so blindly - we should be ashamed of ourselves as a nation. Oh, but wait a minute - did I mention that these quotes are from Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and John Kerry. And yet, there's much, much, more.

If I'm ever interested in finding out whether a movie I want to see is any good or not, I go right to Roger Ebert's site at the Chicago Sun-Times. I could probably count on one hand the number of times over the years that I may have disagreed strongly with his review of a film.

Another place that I tend to read for reviews is the New York Times. While I don't always agree and often don't understand what their critics are even talking about, there is no doubt that they treat film as an art and take the medium very seriously. So when you read a Times review with the following comment......

"Jimmy Markum is not only one of the best performances of the year, but also one of the definitive pieces of screen acting in the last half-century, the culmination of a realist tradition that began in the old Actor's Studio and begat Brando, Dean, Pacino and De Niro."

......you have to be interested. The movie is "Mystic River" starring Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon and Tim Robbins - directed by Clint Eastwood. Go here to read the entire review. Go here for the trailer.

I just had to copy this part of Bill Whittle's essay on Power, mentioned in yesterday's bloggage for those who don't have the patience to read what they must:

"There is loose in the world a cancer, a cult of death and destruction, a force that loves nothing but destruction and pain and revenge for slights real and imagined. We face people whose hatred and rage sends them into fits of ecstasy at the thought of their own children being blown to bloody shreds so long as they can kill as many innocents as possible. And the higher we build the more fervent and hardened their desire to bring us down.

It is a sickness, it is a disease – it is, in fact, the last animal howling of rage and impotence at a new idea of humanity that is, at a long, bloody and terrible price, fighting and winning a war against racism, sexism, religious extremism, tribalism, conformity and slavery.

It is a war for and against the liberal freedoms of the West, for and against the idea of self-determination, personal liberty and responsibility, human creativity, diversity, and freedom of expression.

It is a fight to the death for and against a culture that can build marvels like skyscrapers and airliners, acts of technological and creative daring, and fill them with individuals of every nation and religion and color united by their desire to work hard and get along with one another, people who have traded in machetes and blood feuds for letter openers and water-cooler gossip. We are fighting a nihilistic force, a force that creates nothing and would destroy this entire world for their place in the next if given the means, a force that hijacks – both literally and figuratively -- these miracles of industry, creativity and compromise and brings them down in blood and fire and ruin.

It is a fight that we cannot avoid. Despite the bleats of terrified apologists and appeasers, this is not a fight against what we have done, but rather a war against who we are and what we believe and represent. That is why we must remind ourselves, daily remind ourselves, that all these miraculous things we take for granted are not the natural state of man, but new and terrifying ideas for millions of people shackled to the past, ideas that must be fought for and maintained by force if need be. Maintained by power, the vast power generated by freedom and creativity and cooperation.

And yet, we woke up on the first day after the world had changed, woke up to find the plainest evidence possible that we are at war with yet another enemy of civilization and progress, and what did we see?

We saw the rest of the Western world cowering in fear and self-hatred, awash in the disease of self-doubt and myopia that comes from decades of success and luxury – the same disease that brought Rome from the stability and growth of the Pax Romana to the decadent and self-loathing horrors of Caligula. We saw a few friends – pitifully few; painfully few -- ready to stand and fight this disease, this death cult of Terror. And of the rest?

They have traded in their power, their means of self-defense, for 35 hour work weeks and months of paid vacations and pre-paid health care and covered it with a patina of moral superiority that masks a rotten and tottering foundation. They have become cultures unwilling to pay the price to defend themselves, cultures so pessimistic and cynical that they have – literally and without rhetorical flourish – lost the will to live to the degree that parents outnumber their children and birthrates plummet through replacement levels and into the basement of collapse and ruin.

And so who is willing, who indeed is even able to fight back in the defense of skyscrapers and bridges, of jetliners and miracle drugs? Who will stand and fight the forces that wish to tear down our cities, shroud our women, burn our science, execute critics, torture the different and destroy our new and alien ideas of personal freedom and responsibility, ideas that have lifted billions from the perpetual fear and horror that have been the lot of the Damned Human Race since man walked upright?

Who will fight for that? Who?

We will fight for it. America. Fallible, human, flawed America will fight. Australia – another tough and proud nation of free men and women will fight. Great Britain, that ancient champion of decency and fair play. Poland, who knows more about war and horror than perhaps any place on earth – she has shown she will fight. Israel. Israel who has borne this burden alone for decades…"

If you have the time, you must read Bill Whittle's essay on POWER. This is the 13th and possibly last of his essays on such things as LIBERTY, COURAGE, FREEDOM, ETC. These are must reads for anyone who thinks that we should be proud of our country, warts and all, and believe that we're the luckiest people on the face of the Earth.

Which we are.

A new link to all of Bill's essays at ejectejecteject.com can be found at the right.

I guess since this is local news for me, I have to comment on the use of the Nazi flag and playing of "Deutschland Uber Alles" at a high school football game. OK, it's not quite as sinister as it sounds, but it did kick up a minor fuss in the local press.

Honestly, I would have surely gotten a sick feeling in my stomach had I been in attendance. Of course, I never would have attended since they did this on Rosh Hashana! Ok, back to the point - I really don't think what the band director did was all that bad. I would question the use of a World War II celebration for a halftime show, but as long as the Nazi flag was shown with the other Axis Powers and winds up defeated in the end, isn't that the lesson we want to teach?

Also, I imagine that one can expect that a band director in New York City (if such a thing does actually exist) would know when Rosh Hashana comes out each year - if only because it's on the "Alternate Side of the Street" parking calendar. However, I don't expect that everyone in every town across America would have it marked on their calendars. I mean, seriously, how many of us know when Ramadan is, even with the greater publicity it's been getting in the last few years. The US even issues a stamp now for the Eid - their break-the-fast. Well there's as many Muslims as Jews in the U.S., so maybe we should know.

Between this band director, Rush Limbaugh and Arnold Schwarzenegger we could fill our newspapers with dumb, offensive thing that people do or say. Aren't there more important things going on in the world? Maybe I should think about the fact that all this is news because such great offenses are so rare - and that indeed is a good thing.