Running for Lebanon

Oh Boo Hoo Nathan.
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First, let's work with the Pakistan angle here. The surviving terrorist has already admitted to being trained in Pakistan by Lashkar-e-Taiba and call records from the cell phones and texting devices taken from the terrorists have been traced back to Yusuf Muzammil and other leaders from that group. http://www.dawn.net/wps/wcm/connect/Dawn%20Content%20Library/dawn/news/world/captured-gunman-reveals-14-others-to-attack-again--qs
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This would be the non-existent group that Pakistan supposedly dissolved. If you're going to scream hypocrisy, you should start there.
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As for your disgust, you should climb down off your pedestal and save it for evidence of real Muslim bashing. Friedman made an apt point comparing the rage that ran through the Muslim world following the publication of the Danish cartoons. Similar breast beating and violence followed other artistic and editorial commentaries over the years. The comparison was that while the Muslim community is apparently able to voice such outrage over art, finds itself unwilling to confront real violence taken in their name. Something both Karim, Nick, and now yourself seem support.
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For a moment let's compare this with what's going on in Israel. First the government's stand, which is a push for an independent Palestinian state. Second, with actions, now three and a half years since Israel pulled out every last Jew from Gaza by a center-right wing government then led by one of its harshest Hawk's. India, by comparison refuses to even budge on Kashmir. I'll point out that as for occupation, you feel free to ignore Morocco's occupation of the Western Sahara, but that's a point for another day.
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Next, we move on to Israeli NGO groups, which include everything from B'tselem to Women in Black, Rabbi's for peace as well as journalists such as Amira Hass, who was recently kicked out of Gaza by HAMAS. Then we go down to individual Israeli's from the physicians at Hadassah hospital, among others, who provide medical treatment for Palestinians, to other who provide protection during the recent olive harvests.
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Here's where the op-ed comes into play. Since 9/11, there has been a regular trend of Muslim violence against non-Muslim civilians. These attacks have occured in both the name of religious Islam and Arab/Muslim political causes. Yet, to date, there is nothing out there in either institutional, or even individual form protesting such violence. Rather, we get Karim's version of the dog ate my homework, or Nick's who us? Or your false hypocrisy.
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As for why this got projected onto all Muslims? Well let's see, perhaps because the selection of targets were global. India and Pakistan are in the middle of a long-running dispute over Kashmir. But now, we have general carnage, a military assault, on an entire city, focusing on non-Indians, at least at the up-close targeting, even as the majority of the deaths were Indians. In particular, the assault on the Nariman house shows that this wasn't just over Kashmir.
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Mumbai gets added to the list of: 9/11, Bali, Madrid, London, Istanbul and Casablanca. At what point, do we see any sort of community wide response?
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But beyond that, you have outrage over the intra-Muslim violence. Crowds came out for the assassinations of Lebanese PM Hariri and Presidential candidate Bhutto. But in terms of community wide changes? Silence.
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Asking a question of what it will take for the Global community of Muslims to raise their voice after this latest attack isn't bashing, its legitimate criticism.
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But then again, you know all this, and indeed, as you say yourself, fall right in line.

Or kind of like how some Jews enthusiatically promote rememberance of the Holocaust and yet do nothing to prevent genocides like Rwanda or Darfur.
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You mean Nathan like the Jews in the United States who organized a march on Washington DC to highlight the plight of those in Darfur? Or perhaps in Israel who have cared for Sudanese refugees (after they get past the Egyptian border patrols who shoot on sight, killing a number of them?

Try again.

Ethiopian runners shouldn't be allowed to participate in marathons. It's patently unfair to all the white people!
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I do not think this is because of repression. Not in Pakistan, not with the current government and it's welcome condemmenation of the attack. Not in the immigrant Muslim communities in Europe.
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I agree that its not because of repression, and its definitely not that a majority or even a "large minority" support the murder of innocents. Try not to be such a bigot.
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If I had to generalize or come up with an opinion on why you don't see massive protests against terrorist acts like the Mumbai massacre, I would say its because of a combination of these reasons:
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1) Muslims in western culture don't organize spontaneous protests for the same reason that other religious groups in western cultures don't organize spontaneous protests: they are too far removed the situation. We don't get daily massive protests in the US about Darfur, Climate Change, Tibet, or Zimbabwe either. Many people feel that protesting is not effective and have other things to do (work, watch TV, go to the movies, etc.).
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2) Muslims outside of Pakistan feel no obligation to protest because this isn't their fight (it's an India-Pakistan issue).
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3) Muslims inside of Pakistan aren't protesting because they don't know who they should be protesting against. Protest against the government? Protest against themselves? Protest against the group that was responsible and is probably now in hiding? That wouldn't be very effective.
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Culture reforms don't come in the wake of protests, they come from changes in behavior from within. You only protest to show solidarity against some external threat, not an internal
threat. The gay community in the US didn't protest against unsafe sexual practices during their HIV/AIDs epidemic in the 80's. They simply raised awareness from within and eliminated risky behavior. It wasn't necessary to let the rest of the world know they had decided to take it seriously just so everyone else could feel good about it.
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4) That leaves the victims in India, whom ironically are the only ones protesting. But they aren't protesting against Pakistan, they are protesting against their own government for failing to prevent the attacks. At least in India they aren't clamoring for blood and justice like Americans did after 9/11.

"Karim, let me counter with a page from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Soviet_dissidents
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Let me add a further page from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_dissidents
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as well the following:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989"

So, let me get this straight: providing me with two wikipedia links giving a list of soviet and chinese dissidents is your "counter" to my opinion that people living in a totalitarian regime do not even protest when they are being killed by their own government let alone protest against something else? (the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 is a rare exception, it was such a brave protest by the chinese...applause)
Where are the Russian protests against Stalin my dear Zionist friend? Alright, Stalin was very brutal, lets say organizing protests would not have been the greatest idea ever. What about protests against: Hitler, Franco, Mao, Castro, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, etc?
Hitler and Stalin, for your own information, even surpressed Christianity and both of them prosecuted and jailed many priests. Why werent there any protests against such acts? humm? Heck, why arent there any protests in Israel agaisnt the starvation of Gaza or for the occupation and terrorizing the Palestinians for the last 60 years? Humm?

"I hardly call political dictatorships friends of anybody and hardly consider the actions of any Arab administration to be considered 'pro Israel'."

Shame on you for saying that about Israel's friends. I really do not know where to start...humm...let me put it this way: Do you really think that Israel would have existed if the arabs were not ruled by oppresive dictators who do not have anything in mind except how to extent their rule despite the horros that they caused and still cause to their people? Lol, I just remembered what the late King Hussein of Jordan did to Israel. Do you know that the guy flew to Israel to warn her about the impending attack on israel in 1973?! I mean, what are you talking about Jacob?!!

"First, Jews purchased the land that they lived on in Israel. Rather than ethnic cleansing, I would point to the war with the Palestinians, and then subsequent invasion by Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon, that led to the flight of the Palestinians."

No no no..this is too good to be true. Let me get this straight: Are you really saying that there was no ethnic cleansing and that the zionists purchased the land that they live on now in Israel? Are you really, consciously and seriously saying so?! Btw, how old are you?

That leaves the victims in India, whom ironically are the only ones protesting. But they aren't protesting against Pakistan, they are protesting against their own government for failing to prevent the attacks. At least in India they aren't clamoring for blood and justice like Americans did after 9/11.
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Nathan, you obviously aren't reading much local press. There's plenty of anger towards Pakistan and the terrorists.

Karim, you claimed that people cannot protest in a politically repressive state. I provided several links pointing out to you where people have protested against politically repressive regimes. I'll toss in the protests by the Buddist monks in Mynnmar last year as well.
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Indeed, it was Krushchev who allowed works by dissidents such as Solichnytzen to be published.
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So we can see that protest is possible, even in a politically repressive climate. Is it possible in all? No, but across 22 Arab states and 53 Muslim ones, I would think that somewhere along the line you could start something rolling, somewhere. Indeed, there are the Muslim communities in Europe, the US, and India (which actually holds the second largest population of Muslims in the world, after Indonesia). So indeed, opportunities abound.
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As for Israel's existence, I say yes, it would have existed if the Arab states weren't ruled by dictators. In fact, things might be even better off between all concerned. As for the late King Hussein, this would be the same King who joined in during the 1967 war after Israel begged him to stay out of the fight? Or would this be the same king who Israel helped stay on his throne after the 1970 threat of invasion by Syria was blocked by Israel?
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As for the ethnic cleansing claim, well, let's see, up until the war of Independence, there was little if any ethnic cleansing. Although we do have the 1929 Hebron massacre. Then, at that point, we have repeated calls to wipe out Israel and kill all the Jews. At that point, you have a war of survival on Israel's hands. But that's a discussion for another topic.
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As for my age, I'm on the far side of 40. Yourself?

You mean Nathan like the Jews in the United States who organized a march on Washington DC to highlight the plight of those in Darfur? Or perhaps in Israel who have cared for Sudanese refugees (after they get past the Egyptian border patrols who shoot on sight, killing a number of them?
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Try again.
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Also like the plenty of Christians who do decry the loss of life in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and do preach about the importance of working to keep marriages alive. You clearly missed the point of my post entirely.
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There is plenty of hypocrisy to go around, including some for yourself. You project the blame for increasing global extremism on all Muslims yet when confronted by folks who unfairly claim that all Jews are responsible for increasing Israeli settler violence you call it anti-Semitic and unfounded. Pick one, Jacob. You can't simultaneously defend non-protesting Israelis while you condemn every silent Muslim.
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And see my post above for why you don't see massive protests on the scale of what happened during the Danish cartoons.
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This would be the non-existent group that Pakistan supposedly dissolved.
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That's not hyprocisy, Jacob, that's the nature of creating insurgent groups to fight your wars for you. Once you let the germ out of the vial you can't put it back.
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Are you claiming that the Pakistani government is somehow responsible for the actions of a group that they disbanded and no longer support? If that's true then the United States is directly culpable for creating the precursors to Al Qaeda and thus all of Al Qaeda's further actions.
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Mumbai gets added to the list of: 9/11, Bali, Madrid, London, Istanbul and Casablanca. At what point, do we see any sort of community wide response?
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There is always a community response, but the Muslim community is not monolithic and does not speak with one voice. This is equivalent to saying: where is the Christian response to Christian terrorism? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_terrorism
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Also, Islamic terrorism has been going on for quite a while. The end of the Cold War merely freed the eyes of world to see what was already occuring. Would it make you feel better if we all officially put out statements condemning terrorism in all its forms? Already done. I condemn terrorism and violence in all its forms.
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Others are doing the same. You are seeing Iraq coming together. You are seeing greater cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan. You are seeing Indonesia cracking down on terrorist groups. But you want arm flapping and horn blowing. You want loud voices and righteous anger. You want the Muslim community to kowtow to your version of a community response.
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When is the last time you protested, Jacob? When was the last time you pumped your fists in the air against injustice or persecution? Have you ever protested against the Israeli government actions or Israeli settlers? If you haven't, should I assume that you support their actions? Did all those who didn't dodge the draft or protest against the Vietnam war support the effort? Do all those that aren't protesting in the streets against the Iraq war support the occupation? I think you know the answers to these questions, and it is nothing short of hypocrisy to not extend the same courtesy to the "Muslim community", whatever it is.
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And if I wanted to talk about Morroccan occupations, or Chinese occupations, or Russian occupations, I would. Do you? You obviously feel a need to talk about these issues.

Nathan, you obviously aren't reading much local press. There's plenty of anger towards Pakistan and the terrorists.
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Yes but nobody is protesting against Pakistanis. There have not been reports (or at least I haven't seen any) of violence against Indian Muslims or Pakistanis living in India.
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After 9/11 there was quite a bit of violence directed at Muslim-Americans.

The major point I was making is that Friedman, and in turn Jacob and Yoni, fail to recognize that many Muslim officials did, indeed, renounce the violence, even though they had no particular duty to do so. So, what is the point Friedman was making? It was a pointless rant, already mooted by the fact that Muslims had, in fact, denounced the violence. Most Muslims feel as though the differentiation between extremists and real Muslims is not a point worth making anymore, having done so since before September 11 and since most of the Muslim governments are enemies with these same extremists.

"[His] comparison was that while the Muslim community is apparently able to voice such outrage over art, finds itself unwilling to confront real violence taken in their name."

Apparently Friedman is not aware that Iranians held spontaneous candle-light vigils all over Iran for the victims of 9/11 on 9/11/01 and 9/12/01. He does not mention that the government renounced the violence, gave condolences to the American people, and that the Iranian people wept for days for a country they, by majority, admire. Friedman does not mention that Iran helped the US target the Taliban and take out most of Al-Qaeda within Afghanistan, only to be shunned and put on a list of "evil" nations thereafter by a mongloid President.

"The surviving terrorist has already admitted to being trained in Pakistan by Lashkar-e-Taiba and call records from the cell phones and texting devices taken from the terrorists have been traced back to Yusuf Muzammil and other leaders from that group."

A capture and interrogation of this sort wreaks of coercion. Confessions are not credible at this juncture, and analysts agree with me that no particular group can be assumed to be the perpetrator here at this point.

An example of how Iran is subject to Muslim extremists (not just India) FUNDED, ADVISED, and ENCOURAGED by the US and Israel:
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http://www.presstv.ir/Detail.aspx?id=77364&sectionid=351020101
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Please read the article in entirety. Note that Jundullah is connected to Al-Qaeda. Makes sense given the clumsiness of US and Israeli foreign policy. The US attacking Iraq because of WMDs... Israel continuing to purchase Iran's biggest export besides oil, pistachios, despite crying bloody murder to the UNSC about a false nuclear threat...
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Oy vey.

Ah Nick, so ready to drink the Kool-Aid. I remember it was only a few short months ago when you claimed to reject the Iranian government, claiming that you too, were a dissident.
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And look at you now. Sucking down Iranian government news like milk from a bottle.
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Press TV is quite a production. I kind of liked the article where they claimed that Jews were "replacing mosques with synagogues". Then again, you've never let truth stand between you and some good hate-mongering.

Unfortunately give it time Nathan. The last ethnic dustup occured in Gujarat, where 2,000 Muslim Indians were killed several years back in a 48 hour spree of violence following the killing of 59 Hindu pilgrims on a train.
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Try reading some other papers to see some of the anger out there. Yes, Indians are protesting against Pakistan. You must be delusional if you think that there is lots of love to be found. These states were a handsbreath away from a fourth hot war just a few years ago.
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Zionism 103, send your "expert" think tank in targeted country for advocating pro-Israelis policies before a elected government of a targeted country can formulated a rational policy, basically kill the baby before she's born, ie chief Emanuel's and money mon Geithner and stay in tune, maybe Indyk or Ross or Metro Goldwyn Mayer next

Truman said can I be Cyrous and send them to their homeland, no, mind you he meant to say Koorosh, and he was from Missouri not Persia!

Jacob,
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You attack me instead of my argument. What are you frivolously waxing so poetic about? I dislike the Iranian government for its crimes against the Iranian people, yes, but for the time being I am glad they are successfully standing up to foreign aggressors with despicable intentions of gaining power and capital to the Iranian peoples' detriments, like Israel. Also, tell me why your speculation takes any credibility out of published statements by Ahmadinejad deploring the Mumbai massacre on the Iranian government's English mouthpiece, PressTV? Your beloved Jpost has even resorted to quoting the website as of late.
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The Iranian people are not stupid. They see a Bush Administration and Israel that says two things out of the same mouth: (1) we are against your government only (2) but at the same time we are engaging in a mass media smearing campaign to berate your culture and history (e.g., attempting to, in asinine fashion, change the proper name Persian Gulf to simply the Gulf).
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But that's besides the point. It has nothing to do with Mumbai or even the blog at hand. You made me go there. I suspect you just try to ratch up controversy here because you are bored at your job. It's pointless.

Joe,
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Fantastic post.
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Nick

Jacob,

"Karim, you claimed that people cannot protest in a politically repressive state. I provided several links pointing out to you where people have protested against politically repressive regimes. I'll toss in the protests by the Buddist monks in Mynnmar last year as well."

The links that you provided did not point anything. 2 links were showing names of dissidents in the soviet Union and China. Alright. So? There are dissidents everywhere, whats your point?
The third link was about a spontaneous protest in China that was indeed terrific yet protests like that are very rara. And in case you dont know, there were also protests and a few riots during the rule of Saddat. There was big protest agaisnt Mubarak last year. Anyway, my point is: people in dictatorship countries are usually being subjected to many hardships by the ruling regimes that include imprisonment and executions and people are afraid to protest against such acts in fear of the governments' punishment. There are thousands of political prisoners in Egypt and else where. Torture is very common in police stations. Dictatorship regimes are successful most of the time in installing fear into the hearts of their own people, so the people become passive and negative about things and usually fear to participate in any protest that the government did not organize. I even told you about myself, where I was caught during a protest and I was beaten up by the police and thank god I was only subjected to some beating. I told you that even the arab people did not go to the streets (except for few instances that the governments allowed) to protest against the Iraqi war and you are still questionning why the arab people do not protest against terrorist acts! Pakistan itself was hit by terrorism a few months ago and neither the arab nor the muslim world protested against that act. The fact that the arab and the muslim world do not protest against terrorist acts does not mean that they support or sympathize with such acts.

"Indeed, it was Krushchev who allowed works by dissidents such as Solichnytzen to be published"

what does that has to do with anything?! There are free writers in many arab countries. What is your point??

"As for Israel's existence, I say yes, it would have existed if the Arab states weren't ruled by dictators. "

Who are you kidding here Jacob?! The arab leaders destroyed their countries and therefore they are very easy to deal with by Israel. All of the wars that the arabs lost are mainly because of the corruption that destroyed the armies before the wars even started. I am sorry to break it out to you but Israel did not win those wars because you know...they are the chosen people and such. Sorry. While on the other hand, Israel did and still does benefit from democracy. Democracy corrects any wrongdoings and that is definitely not the case in a dictatorship regime. The arab leaders destroyed their countries' economy, army and their own people because of corruption and injustice that is rampant in the arab world. But I wont try to change your mind here. You can believe all that stuff about the superiority of the jewish race and the chosen people and such (even though this is pure racism btw) afterall you are an israeli and I presume you were babyfed with such nonesense. Now lets continue...

"for the late King Hussein, this would be the same King who joined in during the 1967 war after Israel begged him to stay out of the fight? Or would this be the same king who Israel helped stay on his throne after the 1970 threat of invasion by Syria was blocked by Israel?"

Yup! Same guy. Its also the same guy who was really contemplating going to war with Egypt and Syria in 1973 (so he told Assad and Saddat before the war started!) yet we later found out that he preferred to pay a visit to Golda Meir to warn her about the exact date of the attack. Isnt that wonderful?! C'mon, dont you just love the arab leaders? You can tell me, I wont tell anyone I swear

"As for the ethnic cleansing claim, well, let's see, up until the war of Independence, there was little if any ethnic cleansing. Although we do have the 1929 Hebron massacre. Then, at that point, we have repeated calls to wipe out Israel and kill all the Jews. At that point, you have a war of survival on Israel's hands. But that's a discussion for another topic."

Reading your quote above, it seems that we are facing one of two catastrophes and I dont know which one is worse. Here we have a Palestinian population made of hundreds of thousands of muslims and christians in early 1900s and few thousands jews (no more than 30,000) and yet you tell me that the zionists bought the lands that they are now living in from the Palestinians! While in fact the zionists occupied only 6% of Palestine before Israel "declared its independence".
And how did Israel force the Palestinians out of their lands, so that Israel shall have a majority of jews? By ethnic cleansing that even your own leaders acknowledged let alone order it.

So, the 2 catastrophes are: 1) That you really dont know the truth. Here we have a 40 years old man who simply do not know how his country was created and do not know about the horrors and terrorism that his country's military caused that led to the fleeing of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their lands and homes that they have been living in for hunderds, if not thousands, of years. Why is it a catastrophe? Because if that is really true, that you really do not know what had happened (which I do not believe btw), then it means that your father, your family and, worse of all, your country lied to you and brainwashed you into thinking that your country is an Angel and is surrounded by beasts who want to destroy it even though it just wants to live in peace side by side with them...how sweet.

2) You DO know what had happened. You do know that you are living on lands that are not yours and that they were raped by your government in order to create Israel. The so called promised land. And as it is the "promised land" then God wills it right? And if God wills it then f*** the arabs right? But, you know, in order to align the world opinion with Israel one must, you know, deny everything. You know what, I am not really surprised by that way of thinking. Afterall, how did the early jews take Palestine? I am sure it was not by "buying their lands" you know. I heard that the first time around was very much different right? Lets not go there...maybe some other time yeah?

Let me know Karim when you're done boo-hooing into your coffee because honestly, I'm not impressed.
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Let's start with the dissidents. The reality is, one can protest. That you're able to sound off here it here without any problem is just another example. That You continue to toss the lists of Soviet and Chinese dissidents shows again a clear example of abdication of any responsibility for yourself or the various Arab and Muslim communities around the world. Yes, dictators are ruthless, and those that stand up to them do so at real risk to their lives. But its done, repeatedly, throughout history and geography.
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The Warsaw Pact nations didn't collapse overnight. There was dissent and there were real struggles. But when the moment came, people stepped away from the USSR when the could. Furthermore, those changes came right up to the Soviet Union with Gorbachev and followed by Yelstin. Such changes of power include the Arab and Muslim world. One can point to no less than Libya, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan, and Iran, that have experienced regime changes over the past 50 years. In some cases, mulitple times.
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But let's step away for a moment from the idea of directly confronting a dictator. What my original comments, and link to Tom Friedman's article was about was the realization by the Arab/Muslim communities that the use of violence, especially in the form of an entitlement policy, not only is wrong, but in the end hurts them the most. As I previously pointed out, The same week that Mumbai was getting turned into a war zone, there were at least three attacks by Muslims, against Muslim civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, that killed almost 40 people. Included in these attacks was the bombing of a Shia mosque.
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Yet, over the miniscule idea of a supposed affront to honor via various artists, or the idea that honor has been stained, we see a large and public taking to the streets, with calls for everything from protests to direct violence.
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But rather than a sustained campaign against outright bloodshed, we get every excuse in the book. And we're not talking about marches or manning the barricades. It doesn't only have to be such a response. But from the Mosque, to the coffee shoppes to the marketplace, to the TV, radio, and right down to the family dinner table, there needs to be a frank discussion about how harmful this path has been, if not to the rest of the world, to Arabs and Muslims in particular.
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You're all gung-ho to complain about everyone and everything EXCEPT, homegrown violence. Take a moment to reflect on that.

The Qu'uran, which is the literal word of God as told to Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel, is the correct reference when questioning Islamic values. The Haditha (or quotes from Muhammad) or Shia/Sunni influences are not. These are "manmade" as opposed to the Qu'uran, which is "divine". The Qu'uran states that killing is strictly prohibited. To even kill oneself is a great sin, as it is said by the Qu'uran that God, or Allah, the Arab word for the same God Jews and Christians believe in, is the only one who can take life.
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So, someone who follows Islam does not associate or feel related to these extremists who misuse the religion to achieve political ends. Let me ask you, would you expect all Christians to apologize for polygamist Mormons who mistreat women like cattle?
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Additionally, who is Friedman (or you) to judge whether Muslims sit with their families and discuss terrorism that is committed in the name of their religion? Have you ever sat at a dinner table with a Muslim family to know what they talk about? Has Friedman?
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The Friedman issue was mooted 4-5 posts ago when I showed you how he was 100% wrong: Muslim officials came out immediately and spoke against the violence in Mumbai.
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As for quelling this violence: it's easy... remove the aggravating factors. Like I said, quite sarcastically, it's not like the Arabs were provoked into acting this way.
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I'll take you back to a hypothetical I threw out regarding Eskimos...yes, Eskimos. If Eskimos established a nation in the Middle East and drove hundreds of thousands of Arabs from their homes via terrorism, massacre, and violent coercion as a state policy, there would be a Palestinian-Eskimo problem. At the root of this is not a hatred for Jews, but a resentment of Zionistic policies, which are different than what many say Judaism teaches altogether.
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Consider that the UN has more resolutions against Israel than any other faction in the Middle East. These resolutions deplore the living conditions forced upon the Palestinians, bellicose Israeli strategies, and any other kind of bullying imaginable.
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Questions remain unanswered (and certainly I don't expect you to have the correct one unless you really have an in with the Israeli government): (1) Why aren't news reporters allowed into Gaza? (2) Why aren't UN inspectors allowed into Israel and Gaza (from the nuclear and human rights agencies)? (3) Why is Israel calling for sanctions on Iran for complying with the NPT when they have an arsenal of nukes and a far more belligerent history, including an invasion of a sovereign country for just 2 captured soldiers within the last 2 years?
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There are many more questions. It's going to get really hard playing this game of charades any longer. Sooner or later, Israel will have to deal with what it has done to the Palestinians.

Thanks Nick.

"As for quelling this violence: it's easy... remove the aggravating factors. Like I said, quite sarcastically, it's not like the Arabs were provoked into acting this way."
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Because the state of Israel was created, Muslim Pakistanis should go to Mumbai and kill indiscriminately? Ok. Sure. And I guess because the state of Israel was created, the WTC towers had to come down. Same for the Pan Am flight from Scotland and the nightclubs in Bali.
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You're argument is irrefutable and has persuaded me to take up the cause of disenfranchised Arabs and Muslims everywhere. But is it ok if I start small, Nick? Like stealing a DVD of a Hollywood movie. Lots of Hollywood studio execs are Jewish (and therefore Zionist and therefore adamantly pro-Israel and therefore anti-Arab and anti-Muslim), so if I deprive them of revenue for one of their products I'll be striking a blow for Hamas, Hezbollah, and all other Muslim freedom fighters.
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Gotta go. I'm on my way to Best Buy.

CGTX,
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You either took my quote out of context or I wasn't specific enough. In either case, I was referring to the Israeli-Palestinian situation. The conversation always goes that way on this blog regardless of the topic
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Also, please note that no group has yet taken credit for the violence in Mumbai nor has any nation 100% concluded that the assailants were, indeed, Muslim.
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And for your information, many studio executives are Muslim. It is Tehrangeles, after all.

This was a blog about the Beirut Marathon?
I wonder if I blogged about the Dallas White Rock Marathon this weekend what kind of Israeli-Palestinian talk that would generate.

[...] Running for Lebanon [...]

So, about the Dallas White Rock...A team of two girls ran together, trained together, and paced together to do the DWR Half Marathon Dec 14th. When one's knee started locking the other slowed down for her, walked with her, and took more breaks. One girl was Lebanese, the other S Afr Jewish who had lived in Israel. It didn't even hit us that we could have been running for peace. It didn't hit me till after it was all over.