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.