Khaled Abu Toameh: Bombings and Kassams hurt support for Palestinians
A|ME exclusive - 10/11/2004 12:00 AM
The wide-scale Israel Defense Forces operation against Kassam rocket
squads in the northern Gaza Strip -- and the terror bombings in Sinai
-- have served as a reminder to the Palestinians how they are
continuing to lose the sympathy and understanding of the international
community.
A senior Palestinian official told me that when he contacted different
governments to complain about the Israeli "massacres" against the
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, he was surprised to hear that there
was almost full understanding for Israel's motives for the operation,
which began two weeks ago after two infants were killed by Kassam
rockets in the Israeli town of Sderot.
"Before you call us to complain about Israeli atrocities, why don't
you tell [Palestinian Authority Chairman] Yasser Arafat and Hamas to
stop firing rockets at Israeli cities," a senior European diplomat
reportedly told the Palestinian representative.
Some foreign diplomats stationed in Ramallah and Gaza City reportedly
reacted similarly to appeals from the PA to intervene to halt the
Israeli military operation, which, according to Palestinian sources,
has lead to over 100 Palestinian fatalities. "My government is not
prepared to interfere this time with Israel unless the Palestinian
Authority starts taking practical measures to enforce law and order,"
one ambassador told a top Arafat aide.
Many Palestinians have long been complaining that the "militarization"
of the intifada was costing them the support of the international
community. Former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) was one of
the first to speak out in public against the use of suicide attacks
and rockets in the war with Israel. "These methods have caused us
grave damage," Abbas said in a recent interview. "The world is now
against us because we are being portrayed as ruthless terrorists who
blow up buses and use rockets and guns."
Hassan Asfour, a former cabinet minister, is the only legislator who
has dared to condemn Hamas's rocket attacks on Israel. Most of his
colleagues in the Palestinian Legislative Council have been indecisive
on the issue. Instead of issuing a direct call to Hamas to stop the
rocket attacks, the council, in a laconic statement to the media,
urged all Palestinian parties "to refrain from practices that harm the
higher national interests of the Palestinian people."
According to a senior Palestinian official in Ramallah, many countries
have turned their back on the Palestinians because of the continued
suicide bombing and rocket attacks. "I would say that many governments
are simply fed up with us and are accusing us of losing control," he
added. "Even worse, we have lost a lot of sympathy among the world
public opinion, which is beginning to equate us with al-Qaeda and
other terror organizations."
A Palestinian legislator said if anyone was to blame for the apathy it
was Arafat, who has fiercely resisted demands for reforms and an end
to widespread corruption. "Most countries don't want to deal with
Arafat because they don't trust him," he said. "Not to mention the
fact that the majority of Arab leaders have long been boycotting
Arafat."
A series of articles and cartoons in the Palestinian media reflect
growing anger with the world's "apathy" towards the Israeli operation
in the Gaza Strip. But only a few columnists have dared to call on the
Palestinians to embark on a process of soul-searching. Others
attribute the world's indifference to the fact that Israel had managed
to place its campaign against the Palestinian armed groups on the same
side as the US-led war on terror.
The Palestinians are now worried that the Sinai bombings would be
exploited by Israel to divert attention from its offensive in the Gaza
Strip. Moreover, representatives of the PA and armed factions are
expressing concern that the international community would link them to
the Sinai terror attacks. That's why Arafat's spokesmen and leaders of
all the Palestinian factions were among the first to condemn the
attacks and deny any link to the terrorists.
Yet while they have condemned the attacks, the majority of
Palestinians, including several senior officials in Ramallah and the
Gaza Strip, insisted that the bombings were the result of Israel's
"continued occupation and aggressions against the Palestinian people."
Some went as far as floating conspiracy theories according to which
Mossad and the Jews were behind the attacks.
Commenting on the Sinai bombings, respected Palestinian columnist
Ashraf Al Ajrami wrote: "By accusing al-Qaeda, Israel is trying to
portray itself as a yet another victim of Muslim terror. This gives it
a chance to be part of global war on so-called terrorism. Now Israel
is trying to take advantage of the new climate especially after Russia
decided to join the war on terror and the UN Security Council endorsed
a resolution to combat terror organizations and individuals.
"By accusing Islamic groups, Israel is also trying to divert attention
from the occupation of the Palestinian territories and show the world
that the terror campaign is not linked to the situation in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip, but is in the context of a Muslim war against
Jews and Christians. These attacks cause grave damage to the Islamic
nation and Islam. There is an urgent need for all the Arabs and
Muslims to reconsider their position towards these actions, which may
justifiably be termed terror."
>
>
>
Was he facing the legal torture chambers at the time ? Or were you pointing
to them as you spoke?
he was surprised to hear that there
> > was almost full understanding for Israel's motives for the operation,
> > which began two weeks ago after two infants were killed by Kassam
> > rockets in the Israeli town of Sderot.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/38317000/rm/_38317611_mideast01_cheallaigh_vi.ram
You mean he rang Ariel Sharon?
What a load of shit. You have still not answered in any way thet reasonable
men and women can accept?
You have the South African mdel, so put aside you sister state solutions
from Sudan and Equatorial Guines and try some standard western democracy
justice? If it is even possible to grasp such an idea?
> >
> > "Before you call us to complain about Israeli atrocities, why don't
> > you tell [Palestinian Authority Chairman] Yasser Arafat and Hamas to
> > stop firing rockets at Israeli cities," a senior European diplomat
> > reportedly told the Palestinian representative.
And that is straight from Ariel.
No doubt about this guy, and the rest of them I suppose? Live in world of
their own?
Ahhhhh yes .If you'rer going to tell a lie ? Tell a big one? It's like
robbery, go for the big kill?
> >
> > Some foreign diplomats stationed in Ramallah and Gaza City reportedly
> > reacted similarly to appeals from the PA to intervene to halt the
> > Israeli military operation, which, according to Palestinian sources,
> > has lead to over 100 Palestinian fatalities. "My government is not
> > prepared to interfere this time with Israel unless the Palestinian
> > Authority starts taking practical measures to enforce law and order,"
> > one ambassador told a top Arafat aide.
Sorter lines up against the 6000000 killed in the holocaust and the 100
million killed in Russia?
Who Joe is always claiming wants to wipe out Israel? But I think Joe's a
wanker?
http://www.joevialls.co.uk/myahudi/sunburn.html
>> http://www.joevialls.co.uk/myahudi/sunburn2.html
> >
> > Many Palestinians have long been complaining that the "militarization"
> > of the intifada was costing them the support of the international
> > community. Former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) was one of
> > the first to speak out in public against the use of suicide attacks
> > and rockets in the war with Israel.
Trying to screw poor old Palestinians again? Or just screwing around?
Reparations
"No one was expelled from Morocco. Jews had equal status there and they
came [to Israel] willingly.
Retrieving property left in Arab lands should not become a Sephardi
issue."
http://vancouver.indymedia.org/news/2003/11/83583_comment.php
But President of the World Sephardi Federation, Nissim Gaon, seems
determined otherwise. In the
speech he delivered at the Congress' opening at the Jerusalem Theater this
past Sunday, Gaon said that the Federation must work at ensuring "that all
the wealth and treasures of our Sephardi heritage" are retrieved. Gaon also
said that the reparations initiative will effectively "counterbalance" the
claims of
Palestinian refugees from 1948.
But President of the World Sephardi Federation,
Nissim Gaon, seems determined otherwise
"These methods have caused us grave damage," Abbas said in a recent
interview. "The world is now
> > against us because we are being portrayed as ruthless terrorists who
> > blow up buses and use rockets and guns."
Keep dreaming , the longer it goes, the more exposed you become?
We all know you dont want peace, not when land acquistion and genocide is
such a breeze against a poorly armed enemy?
> > Hassan Asfour, a former cabinet minister, is the only legislator who
> > has dared to condemn Hamas's rocket attacks on Israel.
The only defence that has Israel thinking about more than genocide and how
much more land they can filch?
Reparations
"No one was expelled from Morocco. Jews had equal status there and they
came [to Israel] willingly.
Retrieving property left in Arab lands should not become a Sephardi
issue."
http://vancouver.indymedia.org/news/2003/11/83583_comment.php
But President of the World Sephardi Federation, Nissim Gaon, seems
determined otherwise. In the
speech he delivered at the Congress' opening at the Jerusalem Theater this
past Sunday, Gaon said that the Federation must work at ensuring "that all
the wealth and treasures of our Sephardi heritage" are retrieved. Gaon also
said that the reparations initiative will effectively "counterbalance" the
claims of
Palestinian refugees from 1948.
But President of the World Sephardi Federation,
Nissim Gaon, seems determined otherwise
More lies Deb? dont you ever give up on the lies?Heres what the papers had
to say back about you back in 1988 when you had already been screwing these
poor people since you landed there 50 years previous?
No training, no suicide bombers, no Jewish children being killed? And look
at what you did?
Why you cannot govern a country without lying?
THE JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT HIRSH GOODMAN - they have not received any
terrorist training, nor are they members of a terrorist organization. Rather
they are members of that Palestinian generation that grew up knowing nothing
but
occupation
Israel Judge Promotes Her Court As a Model
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/weather/6797129.htm
strikebreaking
If people go on strike simply because they cannot put up with the power for
perversions and cruel demands from employees that the government has handed
the employers, the Christian Evangelical Church/s has given their stamp of
approval for all the following?
These people rose up as one not because of God, but because of the treatment
by God's chosen people in not following God's laws. Secular laws.
On that day, - wrote John Kifner in The New York Times, - the vast army of
Arab labourers who wait on tables, pick vegetables, haul garbage, lay bricks
and perform virtually all Israel's menial work, stayed home.
Is it part of the Christian Evangelical Church/s beliefs that this is the
actions God would approve in the case of strike or protest? Shooting
selectively?
And this statement of Rabin has never been criticised or questioned by the
Christian Evangelical Church/s? Yeah or any other Christian institution for
that matter?
And as far as anybody can ascertain, is still fully accepted by the Israel
government and the churches have never raised an objection to this as a
legitimate action against protestors?
The San Francisco Examiner cited Rabin as openly advocating assassination.
"They can shoot to hit leaders of disorder," Rabin said in defence of the
army's practice of using marksmen with high-powered .22-caliber rifles to
shoot indiscriminately at Palestinian youth
The modern churches and the Christian Evangelical Church/s apparently think
that this is God's law that was imposed, the victims not the Israeli
government's inhuman and ungodly persecution at fault, and the ignoring
of god's law in the process?
Well we can understand the Catholic Church, they always blamed the victims
( kids) , and the Christian Evangelical Church/s apparently contributes to
that type thinking?
THE JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT HIRSH GOODMAN - they have not received any
terrorist training, nor are they members of a terrorist organization. Rather
they are
members of that Palestinian generation that grew up knowing nothing but
occupation
All these churches and the Christian Evangelical Church/s apparently
support this as a fair and equitable application of God's law against 12
year olds? And fully supports these actions? Well they have not publicly
widely opposed this?
12-YEAR OLDS IS OK FOR JEWS?? Still perfectly acceptable practice in Israel
today.
This type of government is accepted as the norm to this day, and mind you
Rabin was supposed to be one of the good guys, Yeah how bad can it get?
And does any of the christian churches representatives allowed to see the
christians they pick up in these sweeps, dead or alive, or dont they even
bother?
Rabin ordered house-to-house searches, first for young men and later for
anyone of whom an example might be made. By December 27, over 2,500
Palestinians were seized, many of them as YOUNG AS TWELVE ; by the end of
January the number reached 4,000 and was rising
Is this some sort of cultural difference that God apparently accepts from
Jewish persons backed by the Christian Evangelical Church/s and our other
Christian institutions?
The protestant and catholic churches in Ireland and England certainly did
not advocate this, nor did any politician publicly endorse breaking the
culprits hands, and the Irish kids were throwing Molotov cocktails in
exactly the same situation?
The first priority is to use force, might, beatings. [This] is considered
more effective than detention ... [because] he may then resume stoning
soldiers. But if troops break his hand, he won't be able to throw stones
The protestant and catholic churches in Ireland and England certainly did
not advocate this, nor did any politician publicly endorse this type of
behaviour as God's law given to the chosen people? God would approve
according to the Christian Evangelical Church/s and our other Christian
instructions? And the Zionist supporters say that is ok? Zionist supporters
cheer them on?
And this fits neatly into the type of law that God would approve according
to the Christian Evangelical Church/s and our other Christian instructions?
"Deborah Sharavi" <dsha...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3cf157c1.04101...@posting.google.com...
> Khaled Abu Toameh: Bombings and Kassams hurt support for Palestinians
> A|ME exclusive - 10/11/2004 12:00 AM
>
> The wide-scale Israel Defense Forces operation against Kassam rocket
> squads in the northern Gaza Strip -- and the terror bombings in Sinai
> -- have served as a reminder to the Palestinians how they are
> continuing to lose the sympathy and understanding of the international
> community.
>
> A senior Palestinian official told me that when he contacted different
> governments to complain about the Israeli "massacres" against the
> Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, he was surprised to hear that there
> was almost full understanding for Israel's motives for the operation,
> which began two weeks ago after two infants were killed by Kassam
> rockets in the Israeli town of Sderot.
>
> "Before you call us to complain about Israeli atrocities, why don't
> you tell [Palestinian Authority Chairman] Yasser Arafat and Hamas to
> stop firing rockets at Israeli cities," a senior European diplomat
> reportedly told the Palestinian representative.
>
> Some foreign diplomats stationed in Ramallah and Gaza City reportedly
> reacted similarly to appeals from the PA to intervene to halt the
> Israeli military operation, which, according to Palestinian sources,
> has lead to over 100 Palestinian fatalities. "My government is not
> prepared to interfere this time with Israel unless the Palestinian
> Authority starts taking practical measures to enforce law and order,"
> one ambassador told a top Arafat aide.
>
> Many Palestinians have long been complaining that the "militarization"
> of the intifada was costing them the support of the international
> community. Former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) was one of
> the first to speak out in public against the use of suicide attacks
> and rockets in the war with Israel. "These methods have caused us
> grave damage," Abbas said in a recent interview. "The world is now
> against us because we are being portrayed as ruthless terrorists who
> blow up buses and use rockets and guns."
>
> Hassan Asfour, a former cabinet minister, is the only legislator who
Susan
How to run an oppressive government with use of torture and genocide as a
government policy? Supported by a bunch of Nazi haroies and harridans,
apparently threting for blood and burning with sadism?
NO! How else do you explain the following? Before suicide bombers? Just
wanted more as always?
The below are from a newspaper of the time? Not my words? Not a protesting
voice raised in Israel? And remember like our Jewish friends dont like to
mention, there were christians as well as muslims ? Christians dont believe
in suicide so we are going to just let them scream in pain?
THE JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT HIRSH GOODMAN - they have not received any
terrorist training, nor are they members of a terrorist organization. Rather
they are
members of that Palestinian generation that grew up knowing nothing but
occupation
strikebreaking
They entered the house like animals, shouting," the 22-year old student at
Bir Zeit University said. "They took us from the house, kicking us in the
head, beating us, all the soldiers with their rifle butts."
This action by soldiers is not preverted, considered normal by who?
By April 1988 over 150 Palestinians had died. The Israeli government had
admitted to the arrest of 2,000 people, bringing the acknowledged total to
4,000. The real figure was far higher.
Sources in the West Bank and Gaza established that the number detained by
the weekend of March 27 had exceeded 13,000. Bassam Shaka'a, deposed Mayor
of Nablus, placed the total held solely in a hastily constructed barbed-wire
encampment at Dhariyah at 10,000.
And under these conditions people have no chance of being molested? Children
and parents would complain loudly about paedophilia, rape, forced incest,
sadistic and perverted against them? Of course and the church, there are
christians in thie crowd that your jewish brothers dont like to talk about,
did the church race to check the wellbeing of there followers, were they
even allowed? God would approve according to the Christian Evangelical
Church/s and our other Christian institutions?
In the Balata camp outside Nablus, and in the Casbah - the old quarter -
l, 000 people were arrested in a period of 48 hours. The discovery of people
in ditches in the fields - shot in the back or with their heads caved in -
has been reported from villages throughout the West Bank and Gaza
These actions are not on their own not considered perverted actions by the
Israeli army, that is practised till today, so to the Christian Evangelical
Church/s and our other Christian instutions feel this is God's law and are
sitting back without any criticism?
This is normal behaviour not breaking God's law and religious teachings? The
Christian Evangelical Church/s and our other Christian institutions feel
this is God's law and is sitting back without any criticism?
Army units go from house to house pulling youths from their beds at 3 a.m.
As the buses fill, the soldiers beat the youths viciously around the head,
shins, groin and back. Shrieks fill the air.
These so called soldiers arent sick perverted human beings by these very
actions alone.And is this a sign of closet paedophilia or simply a sadistic
type of paedophilia or sadism that we feel God would overlook?
TWO OF THE CHILDREN, AGES 9 AND 11 , WERE TAKEN BY THE SOLDIERS IN THEIR
night clothes, frog-marched in the streets and beaten as they were forced by
the jeering soldiers to clear debris.
And of course no chance of rape, paedophilia or sexual perversions, they
have so many avenues to complain, the churh is ensuring that? The Christian
Evangelical Church/s and our other Christian institutions feel this is God's
law and are ensuring support at least for the christians? Or sitting back
without any criticism?
And god's chosen have not shifted way out of the path one would consider the
way of God and are still the chosen people by the judgement of the Christian
Evangelical Church/s and our other Christian institutions?
The Good Samaritan story has been declared redundant apparently by the
Christian Evangelical Church/s and our other Christian institutions feel
this is God's law and are sitting back without any criticism?
NEW YORK TIMES
Fleets of helicopters fly over Nablus at night dropping a dense, green toxic
gas over the city. The smell pervades every house. Armed units fire
canisters of the substance into houses at random. Doctors at Ittihad
Hospital reported several deaths and severe lung injuries from this as-yet
unidentified asphyxiating chemical, totally distinct from tear gas.
Among the victims was the grandmother of the Da'as family and the
100-year-old father of noted Nablus attorney Mohammad Irshaid. Soldiers had
entered the house at 2 a.m., smashing furniture and firing a canister of the
dreaded green gas while preventing the family from leaving.
Simultaneously, the Israeli army targeted the hospitals. Army trucks rammed
ambulances and blocked them from reaching the homes of those overcome by the
gas. Soldiers entered the Ittihad Hospital in Nablus numerous times,
arresting the wounded and those waiting to give blood to family members.
EVEN THE OPERATING THEATRE WAS INVADED WHILE SURGEONS WERE OPERATING ON
PATIENTS.
DOCTORS WERE BEATEN AND EQUIPMENT SMASHED. FAMILY MEMBERS WERE PREVENTED
FROM ENTERING THE HOSPITAL AND THE CARS OF DOCTORS AND NURSES WERE DESTROYED
BY SOLDIERS.
Meanwhile, all of Nablus was paralysed by a total strike. All the streets in
every quarter of the city were without open shops or business activity. As
gas permeated the city, cries and chants filled the night.
Gas canisters recovered by Bassam Shaka'a, Yousef al-Masri [chief of Ittihad
Hospital] and American author Alfred Lilienthal bear the markings "560 cs.
Federal Lab. Saltsburg, Pa. USA MK2 1988." Biochemists are studying their
properties as casualties mount.
JOHN KIFNER reported on April 4 that "Hundreds of refugees were treated in
United Nations clinics for gas inhalation." On April 15, Kifner wrote,
"...gas has been thrown inside homes, clinics and schools where the effects
are particularly severe."
This is still going on today, as the Christian Evangelical Church/s and our
other Christian institutions do not find this as going outside the teachings
and laws of God?
And they will be happy to learn that they will no longer be bothered by it
on regular news channels.
Why is it AP and Reuters no longer report the atrocities against unarmed
citizens in Israel?
http://www.honestreporting.com/?404;http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/critiques/AP3_Reiters_Omit_Terror_in_Israel.asp
And why are we supporting these people in this mad uncontrolled frenzy of
extreme ill treatment?
In the case of Rachel corrie
http://www.thenausea.com/elements/thenotforgotten/rachel/index.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/16/rafah.death/
As far as I am aware from the numerous Jewish organisations that claim to
represent opposition to these ungodly and inhuman practices, was there not
one beside Rachel Corrie? Because if you were not beside her, clearly you
were all behind the bulldozer.
I have not heard of one lawyer acting against the Israeli government in
support of her civil rights in that country overflowing with lawyers?
And the Christian Evangelical Church/s and our other Christian institutions
are still of the opinion that this is perfectly proper action for the chosen
people and not in contravention of god's teachings.
And God is going to back you whatever you do? Or do you people believe you
do not have to take notice of God, nor do you need his backing
Children tortured
http://www.israel-state-terrorism.org/KhiamTortureBBC.html
Massacres Special Section Home
http://www.alkhilafah.info/massacres/index.htm
Great post, Deb, thanks.
my oh my ... your a little testy today. what gives heine?
Let's hope so. See also the following two articles. I haven't heard
anything else about these Israeli/Palestinians efforts, though. I wish
them all the best.
Deborah
Israeli and Palestinian Children Try Conflict Resolution through
Martial Arts
by Daphna Berman
A group of Israeli and Palestinian children left for Greece on July
22nd as part of a new initiative aimed at building peace through
martial arts. The program, which ran for 3 days, is aimed at teaching
conflict resolution through the principles of movement and respect, is
the first of its kind.
"Martial arts is about creating harmony within one's self and that is
the first step toward creating harmony with another person," said
Danny Hakim, who founded the Budo for Peace organization in November
of last year. "In budo [martial arts] your opponent is not called an
enemy, but rather your partner."
Hakim, who immigrated to Israel from Australia three years ago, has
been practicing martial arts for 34 years. He studied under Steven
Seagal in Japan, where he lived for ten years, and has represented
both Australia and Japan in international competitions. Most recently,
he coached the Israeli Shotokan Karate team in Durban.
For Hakim, a sixth degree Black Belt who now holds the highest rank
for Shotokan Karate in Israel, this week's Budo Festival for Peace is
a natural extension of martial arts principles. "`Budo' in Japanese
literally means `the way of stopping conflict' but it is falsely
translated as `martial arts,'" he explains. "When you go to a dojo
[budo club], you go in and bow as a sign of respect. You bow to the
place, you bow to the instructor, and you bow to your partner."
The Palestinian and Israeli competitors, he adds, will have to bow to
each other, despite the language gap that may separate them, because
communication is through movement. "It's a new idea, but it makes a
lot of sense," he insists.
The participants, aged 10 to 15, are all martial arts students. They
included six Palestinian children, six Israeli children - four of whom
are Jewish - and participants from other areas of conflict, such as
Kosovo and Cyprus.
The Palestinian and Israeli contingent met once last week at a
get-together in Tel Aviv's Dizengoff Centre.
"Everyone was really nervous," recalls Hakim, "and budo was what broke
the ice."
Participation for the program was highly competitive, and Hakim, who
interviewed 60 youngsters from Issawiya, only accepted six. Their
flights were subsidized by the Peres Center for Peace and the Japanese
government, but the Israeli children were responsible for their own
transportation costs.
Upon arrival in Greece, the children had four days of intensive budo
training. Top masters from Japan arrived for the event, and so the
participants had a chance to fine tune their martial art specialty,
whether it be karate or judo. They also learned a new martial art,
such as aikido, kendo, or shorinji kempo, a mix of several more
practiced techniques.
Representatives from the Washington DC-based Institute of World
Affairs, a non profit organization that urges creative approaches to
international conflicts, also taught lessons in conflict resolution.
The retreat was hosted by the municipality of Delphi, the mythical
home to the ancient Greek Oracle that first urged warriors to put down
their arms and show their athletic ability. "The real spirit of
competition through respect and the Olympic games comes from Delphi,"
Hakim adds.
The program is still in the pilot stage, but Hakim is convinced that
the weekend gave the children tools to become ambassadors for peace
when they returned home. "It sounds funny," he admits, "but you've got
to see it."
Source: Ha'aretz, July 23, 2004 haaretzdaily.com
An Olympian Ideal
by David Horovitz
The Jerusalem Report
August 23, 2004
We weren't certain, at first, that we should be sending Adam, at 10,
off to Greece, and a two-and-a-half hour drive from Athens at that, in
the company of people he barely knew. But it turned out that Danny
Hakim, the organizer, is the cousin by marriage of our rabbi's
sister's husband. Almost family!
So off we went, my karate-loving blue-belted son and me, to meet the
other five Israeli children, and the six Palestinians from the
northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Isawiyah, and the various
accompanying adults, for a pre-trip briefing next to the swimming pool
on the roof of the Dizengoff Center in Tel Aviv. Evidently I wasn't
the only one who didn't know, and barely believed, that there was a
pool up there at all. The Palestinians arrived an hour late, having
apparently been waiting at a more conventionally located pool at
ground-level nearby.
It was a little awkward at first -- not just unfamiliar faces, but
unfamiliar faces from across the great divide. Two of the Israeli kids
were Arabs, from the Neveh Shalom "peace village," but they were too
shy to say much to the Palestinians, few of whom seemed to know much
Hebrew. We all introduced ourselves, standing briefly in turn; that
barely broke the ice. But then Danny suggested they do a well-known
"kata" -- a carefully choreographed series of moves -- side by side.
They lined up, Adam and three of the Palestinians, gave the
deliberate, respectful bow that precedes blurring karate action, and
then, astoundingly to me, proceeded to perform the sequence with
absolute synchronicity -- first-time colleagues who looked for all the
world as though they had been training together for years. And when
they had finished, the quartet grinned at each other in shy
appreciation: They did have a common language after all.
A week afterwards, they set off for Delphi together -- pioneers in
what Hakim hopes will become a much larger "Budo for Peace"
initiative, designed to bring together young white-suited
practitioners mainly but not only from war zones, in the hope of
instilling in them the budo values of personal stability and
self-discipline, courtesy and respect, and the ability to live in
harmony and balance with the rest of the world. (Forget the TV images
of black-belted brutes whacking, chopping and kicking each other:
Budo, the Japanese group term for martial arts, translates literally
as "the way of stopping conflict.")
This first, trial event was not without its hiccups; a group from
Kosovo never made it because of complications over their visas. But
three kids and their trainer from Cyprus did arrive. Three budo
masters traveled from Japan at their own expense -- to teach technique
and philosophy. Another coach came over from Beirut. The mayor of
Delphi greeted them. The Japanese ambassador sent a letter of support.
They made positive headlines.
The timing and location were anything but coincidental. This was a
trailblazing effort to promote mutual understanding, as envisaged by
Pierre de Coubertin, reviver of the Games, in his 1896 Olympic
Charter. And it was presented at the ancient home of the Pythian
Games, forerunner of the Olympics, just before the commercialized,
drug-debased extravaganza of their modern reenactment. In ancient
times, under the "Olympic Truce," warring parties would lay down their
weapons two weeks before the Games, and concentrate for an all too
brief a period on peaceful prowess and competition. Nowadays,
notwithstanding Yasser Arafat's recent disingenuous pledge to rekindle
the tradition, even a two-week respite is too much to reasonably hope
for.
When they emerged into the arrivals hall at Ben-Gurion Airport four
days later, they were easy in each other's company. On both sides,
they'd been surprised at "how nice" the Israelis/Palestinians were,
and how good at karate. Reunions are being tentatively planned, and
other, bigger, possibly Japanese-government-funded, international budo
festivals.
And yes, it is pathetic that it required a determined initiative by a
relatively new Australian immigrant, Hakim, and an independent-minded
Palestinian counterpart, Abdel (who runs his hugely popular karate
club in the entrance hall of a school and who stepped in when another
Palestinian coach got cold feet), and outside sponsorship, and fairly
complicated logistics, for Adam and Daniel and Fady and Asmaa and the
rest to learn that there are nice Israelis and nice Palestinians and
that they share plenty of common interests and concerns.
But after almost four years of this bitter, futile round of conflict,
with near-total physical separation having replaced almost every
opportunity for casual coexistence, the sad truth is that isolation
and ignorance have revived the worst stereotypes and hatreds, on both
sides. And these minor, modest, efforts at interaction, the kinds of
small-scale, grass-roots dialogue we thought we had outgrown 20 years
ago, are among the only means currently available to counter the
trend. Several residents of Isawiyah have been arrested for alleged
terrorist activity in recent years. Now, at least, there are 12 small
untainted children who will not easily be led down the path of
ignorant viciousness. May it be 120 next year. And 1,200 the year
after that.
Face it, Heineken, more and more Europeans are waking up to the fact that
the Palestinians, as they exist today, is nothing but a fraud and a death
cult. If you really cared about them you would be trying to convince them
that their methods are NOT working instead of beating up on those who have
to defend themselves against their criminal activities.
>
>
The bloooody stupid alex didn't get it, that the fucking arabs (even
antisemitism is popular) could not persuade the majority that the
cruel murder of innocent people is positive factor. Murder is murder
even if this accepted
by 100000000000 islamo-primitive tribes! They are to much stupid to
take on
western civilisation! For the first they have to lernen how to use
toilet paper, and than litle by litle in 250yr maybe they come to the
undestand the advantage of western economy culture to human being!
"Ed" <do_not_...@nospam.com> wrote in article
<EaWdnX_oL_P...@comcast.com> :
>Prove it.
Sheesh, Ed, give Dianne a break. She hasn't even proven her claim that
Rabin headed the "Stern Gang".
Deborah
testy. what gives?
> i did
how come?
> through the door
out the window
> a good spanking
never happen
Prove it.
I suppose you're right. The silly cow doesn't even understand that your
recipe for "Palestinian Kid" is a GOAT dish, not cannibalism.
Kid is a real word for goat. It has nothing to do with Palestinian, Jew or
anything else.
>
>
Matzo balls, you mean? Norma
>
>
And here I figured it was a morality tale that was going over torresD's
head.
Silly me!
Susan
>
>
>
>>>"Ed" <do_not_...@nospam.com>wrote in article
>>><EaWdnX_oL_P...@comcast.com>:
>>>>Prove it.
>>>Sheesh, Ed, give Dianne a break. She hasn't even proven her claim
that
>>>Rabin headed the "Stern Gang".
>"Ed" <do_not_...@nospam.com>wrote in message
>news:FO2dneP1NrK...@comcast.com...
>>I suppose you're right. The silly cow doesn't even understand that
your
>>recipe for "Palestinian Kid" is a GOAT dish, not cannibalism.
"Susan Cohen" <fla...@verizon.net>wrote in message news:<jRncd.5460$232.5273@trnddc09>...
>And here I figured it was a morality tale that was going over
torresD's
>head.
>Silly me!
>Susan
It was deliberately vague. Not so the cribbing from Swift's Modest
Proposal, though. I had a feeling both would go straight over the
dessicated pea-sized heads of the ignorant antisemite contingent.
Their phoney self-righteous indignation was worth the laugh.
Deborah
snip!
Don't bank on it. Western Europe is becoming Islamic very quickly.
More then a few people are calling Europe - EurAbia.
Kerry sees the change and is offering Iran (Hamas) nuclear fuel for
their nuke power plant.
Bobby Fischler wrote:
> dsha...@hotmail.com (Deborah Sharavi) wrote in message news:<3cf157c1.04101...@posting.google.com>...
>
>>Khaled Abu Toameh: Bombings and Kassams hurt support for Palestinians
>>A|ME exclusive - 10/11/2004 12:00 AM
>>
>>The wide-scale Israel Defense Forces operation against Kassam rocket
>>squads in the northern Gaza Strip -- and the terror bombings in Sinai
>>-- have served as a reminder to the Palestinians how they are
>>continuing to lose the sympathy and understanding of the international
>>community.
>>
>
>
> snip!
>
> Don't bank on it. Western Europe is becoming Islamic very quickly.
> More then a few people are calling Europe - EurAbia.
>
More than a few people? Maybe you and rush boy.
"Don't bank on it. Western Europe is becoming Islamic very quickly.
More then a few people are calling Europe - EurAbia..."
________________________________
Yeah, but they have more experience than anyone else in solving little
population problems like that.