Comments on: Running for Lebanon

By: scottelliso

scottelliso — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 01:05:50 +0000

I pray for all this mideast madness to end one day. We live in the 21st century and yet we fight with each other like animals. I just can't get it. Quality articles and reviews

By: bsaber

bsaber — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:39:19 +0000

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.

By: Globale/Locale » Blog Archive » Running for Lebanon

Globale/Locale » Blog Archive » Running for Lebanon — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 11:27:45 +0000

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

By: bsaber

bsaber — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 22:48:50 +0000

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.

By: persianadvocate

persianadvocate — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:58:19 +0000

CGTX,
.
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
.
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.
.
And for your information, many studio executives are Muslim. It is Tehrangeles, after all.

By: cgtx

cgtx — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:20:24 +0000

"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."
•
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.
•
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.
•
Gotta go. I'm on my way to Best Buy.

By: 1joe

1joe — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:43:30 +0000

Thanks Nick.

By: persianadvocate

persianadvocate — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:38:39 +0000

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.
.
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?
.
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?
.
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.
.
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.
.
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.
.
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.
.
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?
.
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.

By: jacobblues

jacobblues — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:26:54 +0000

Let me know Karim when you're done boo-hooing into your coffee because honestly, I'm not impressed.
.
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.
.
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.
.
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.
.
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.
.
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.
.
You're all gung-ho to complain about everyone and everything EXCEPT, homegrown violence. Take a moment to reflect on that.

By: karim0cairo82

karim0cairo82 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:17:10 +0000

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?