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This is to thank all those who helped me get this blog started, Marwan, George, and Anees.
experimental postJune 27, 2007
Still Hoping for an Honest BrokerNovember 9, 2006
By Samia Khoury
Thursday, November 9, 2006
Amidst all the frustration, the anger, the sadness about the general situation, I have found it very difficult to write anything lately. Yet watching the U.S. Secretary of State hopping from one place to another and showing at our door step once again, made me realize that U.S. diplomacy seems like a "bad penny" — worth nothing, having failed dramatically in the Middle East, and yet still coming back again and again.
For many Palestinians, especially those who studied in American universities, the U.S. has for a long time been a symbol of freedom and democracy — both in short supply in the Arab world, where Palestinians had to take refuge after their dispossession of their land and identity in 1948. To them, the U.S.A. was a haven with great opportunities. The sad reality is that "U.S.A." evokes few of those feelings any more among Palestinians; instead, the phrase evokes hurt and pain for us as we see the double standard by which the U.S.A. continues to deal with the Middle East.
The rhetoric about freedom and democracy to justify the war against Iraq sounds so hollow now. The large sums of money that flooded the Palestinian Territories for training the population in democracy, elections, and statehood have dried up. Because we had a democratic election that surfaced a party not to the liking of the U.S.A. and Israel — not to mention some Palestinians — families do not have money to feed their children, and schools are closed because teachers are not getting their salaries. Even Eid el Fitr (the feast after the month of Ramadan) this past week was no celebration for the majority of people, especially in Gaza.
What, then, was the purpose of the visit of the Secretary of the State to the Middle East? She certainly did not pressure Israel to curb the aggression and to ease the siege on the Palestinians. If anything, it may have been intended to mobilize a moderate camp in the Arab World that would help impose U.S. policy in the region, and to coerce the Palestinians to topple the newly elected government, who already has a large number of its members in the Israeli jails.
Was all this hoopla about the results of the elections justified? The Palestinians had voted, and the will of the people for "change and reform" should have been respected, even though some Palestinians were worried about the effect of the ideology of Hamas on the shaping of the future Palestinian state. But the issues raised for the new government to endorse should never have been brought to the forefront. Why? Because already the Palestine Liberation Organization with the ruling Fateh faction have met all those conditions, including the recognition of Israel and the amendment of the P.L.O. charter, in order to get the peace process rolling. Yet despite that, and so many other concessions made on behalf of the Palestinians, nothing was achieved — except, that is, for further loss of land and rights, and increasing oppression, closures, and walls making life almost impossible. By the time the elections were to take place, all those agreements were practically dead with no hope of resuscitating them. So when Hamas won the elections, powers never supportive of a free Palestinian state seized upon the results as justification to impose sanctions against the Palestinians. To our misfortune, we never seem to have much choice; living under a military occupation, we are almost powerless over our destiny.
And still we are continuously urged not to blame the U.S.A. or Israel for our predicament. How can we do otherwise when the U.S.A. and Israel are blocking our liberation and independence despite U.N. resolutions condemning their actions? It is very sad to realize that in this era of international law and human rights conventions, the language of "might is right" still so often prevails, and our leaders are expected to accommodate endlessly — or else.
That is why we as Palestinians must not waste our energy on internal fighting which is absolutely unjustified and unacceptable, regardless of ideological differences between factions. It is bad enough to be oppressed and under siege. We certainly do not need anything more to placing a wedge between us on both the political and religious levels; doing so will only please our adversaries. Indeed, it may not have been wise in the first place to establish a Palestinian Authority or elect a legislative council with little power under Israeli occupation to make a difference — and now it has become more clear than ever that Israel has no serious interest in talking peace.
Shulamit Aloni, an Israeli from the Meretz party, writes in "Time to talk peace: Israel's leaders must change mindset, engage in dialogue with Palestinians" that "many peace-making windows were opened over the years. We hindered all of them, because we coveted the whole of the Territories. We had the Oslo agreements. Twenty countries, which in the past had no ties with us, recognized Israel. We had welfare, international ties were blossoming, peace was at our gates — but we didn`t want to make concessions."
To be a staunch supporter of Israel is one thing, but it is another thing entirely to utilize the power that the U.S. has as the only super power to run the world in accordance with Israel's interests while defying U.N. resolutions. Such a policy will eventually boomerang and hurt the innocent civilians of the U.S.A. and the Middle East. The effects of the war in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories under occupation testify to this, and I hope and pray that there will be enough sense to avert more destruction that would come from repeating these mistakes with Iran, Syria and North Korea. The drums of war and threat of sanctions are beating as if the U.S.A. had already achieved the freedom and democracy that it has set out to achieve in Iraq. Such provocations can only bring back the sad memories of the atmosphere that prevailed before the Iraq war. Despite tens of thousands in peace marches all over the world at that time, lust for domination prevailed, and the resultant suffering has been seemingly endless.
In biblical terms, "this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes" (Acts 28 :27). Is it possible that none in the administration have learned from the quagmire in Iraq? Are not the bodies of those young Americans carried home everyday not enough of a lesson to those in power and living comfortably, while so much suffering, deprivation, despair and hopelessness encompass the region?
It is high time that Israelis and Palestinians start searching for something innovative outside the box. In his new book One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse, Ali Abunimah, co-founder of Electronic Intifada, is suggesting a single state shared by Palestinians and Israelis. I always thought that would be the ideal solution. It was possible before 1948, and with good will it could still be possible if the people of the region are genuinely interested in ending the conflict and bringing peace to their home land. Such a single, secular state would be a place where Jews, Christians and Muslims can finally call home. And despite all of the discouraging developments, we continue to hope that the U.S. administration will be an honest broker to help make this dream come true.
Once Again, Double StandardsApril 21, 2006
By Samia Khoury
Friday, April 21, 2006
"No contacts with the Palestinian Authority." These were the instructions of the U.S. administration and the European governments. How brutal and unfair! Once again, the double standard by which the U.S. deals with the Palestinians vis a vis Israel creates more ill feelings and bitterness and pushes away the possibility of peace in the region.
This past week, "The Israeli Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," a study by Professors Stephen Walt from Harvard's Kennedy School and John Mearsheimer from the University of Chicago, was widely circulated. It confirmed what we have been saying for years. In the study, the professors conclude that the flagrant, longstanding pro-Israel bias in U.S. Middle East policy benefits Israel, but works to the disadvantage of U.S. national interests. One of their most significant conclusions is that the U.S. has a terrorism problem in good part because it is so closely allied with Israel. Indeed, Paul Findley in his article "Silence of the Poodles" quotes George W. Ball (1909-1994), the distinguished diplomat, author of The Discipline of Power, and champion of human rights who had served as Undersecretary of State and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.: "When Israel's interests are being considered, members of Congress act like trained poodles. They jump dutifully through hoops held by Israel's lobby. … The lobby's most powerful instrument of intimidation is the reckless charge of anti-Semitism."
It is no surprise, therefore, for the U.S. to take this stand. But for the Europeans not to have the moral courage to stand independently from the U.S. was the biggest disappointment. What happened to the "Liberty, equality, and fraternity" of France? What about the moral obligation of Britain, a nation that played a significant role in the root causes of our dispossession? By what moral values and sense of logic and justice can an occupying authority which has been oppressing a whole population for the last 39 years, flaunting U.N. resolutions with impunity, continue to be rewarded both financially and morally? Should the people of Palestine be oppressed further because they voted for change and reform in a democratic election after exhausting other options for achieving liberation and independence?
When Mr. Arafat was president, the U.S. forced him to relinquish his powers to the prime minister; but now that the prime minister is from Hamas, the demand is that he relinquish his powers to the president. What does the world community think we are? Pawns on a chess board to be moved by the U.S. and their European poodles as they may please? And will we be moved off the board entirely when foreigners declare a checkmate? This policy rife with double standards will not force the Palestinians to kneel and relinquish their rights. It will only lead the whole region into a disaster.
Yesterday we were at the YWCA to bid farewell to the General Secretary.
One of the women arrived so angry and frustrated after crossing the check point that she told us that we should not be surprised if she ends up a suicide bomber. I could not believe my ears, but this is a sign of how bad the situation has become, and it certainly will be a new phenomenon for Christian Palestinians. If a woman from a comfortable home feels that way, what do you expect from a starving population in Gaza, Nablus and Jenin and other refugee camps? Or the plan to make the situation so hopeless that either the Palestinian Authority will be forced to kneel and acquiesce or the frustration and violence of the jobless and hungry population will be directed against the occupation itself? Israel would then have the perfect justification for boosting its oppressive measures of ethnic cleansing to "face the demographic threat" and call it security.
All this is happening under the silent watch of the international community, which continues to demand that Hamas recognize Israel and stop the violence. Why has nobody ever demanded that Israel stop the state violence and recognize the rights of the Palestinians in accordance to UN resolutions? And besides, which Israel is Hamas supposed to recognize when Israel is constantly and unilaterally moving its borders by confiscating more land and by building more walls on Palestinian territory? Why were the results of the Israeli elections accepted with a blessing despite the new prime minister's stated policy of such unilateral shifting of borders? For heaven's sake, you good people out yonder, stop being naive! If Israel were truly interested in peace, Hamas would not be an obstacle. The peace process started with the Madrid Conference in 1991 when Hamas was only four years old, and was being encouraged by Israel as an alternative to the PLO. So Israel had plenty of time prior to Hamas' rise to abide by peace agreements if Israel were serious about peace. But instead it has deferred their implementation by claiming that it had no peace partner. Please help put an end to this disastrous situation that is killing us all! Is there any hope for your governments to serve as honest brokers and to speak out for justice despite intimidation so that peace will eventually prevail for all the peoples of the region?
Are You Surprised?: A Reflection on the Palestinian ElectionsJanuary 29, 2006
By Samia Khoury
Sunday, January 29, 2006
On January 25 — ten years after the first elections, which the Palestinians held in 1996 under the terms of the Oslo Accords — the Palestinians held their second elections for the legislative council. All went well, and 77% of the people who had the right to vote went to the polls. The Elections Central Committee was commended on its professional and transparent work, which guaranteed a smooth election day. The results were announced twenty-four hours after the closure of the polling stations with a landslide victory for Hamas, which won 76 seats out of 132. That Hamas would score highly in the elections was no surprise, but that Fatah, the ruling faction of the PLO and of the Palestinian Authority since its establishment in 1993, should get only 43 seats was shocking to many Palestinians, and certainly to Fatah itself.
Those results reflect voters' frustration at Fatah's failure to arrive at a political solution for Palestine's problems and disappointment in the performance of the Palestinian Authority. They furthermore reflect the will of the people to maintain their threatened identity amidst an onslaught of foreign hegemony. Religion, being an integral part of the ethos of any community, becomes a natural refuge under these circumstances.
Fatah should not be surprised at the results of the elections, since it is partly to blame for the disappointment and frustration prevailing in the Palestinian Territories. Everybody on the political scene realizes that we are still under a brutal Israeli military occupation, but people still were hoping that the Palestinian Authority would improve everyday life for Palestinians. They were looking forward for law and order, for discipline and security, for solutions to poverty and unemployment. And most of all, they were yearning for restored human dignity, respect, and public welfare which had been eroded and trampled upon by the long years of military occupation. Unfortunately, the nine other political slates besides Hamas and Fateh could not succeed in joining forces to run as single alternative to both Hamas and Fatah.
Before the results were out, we kept hearing official voices from the USA and Israel announcing that there will be no peace process if Hamas wins, and that there is no chance for the Road Map under Hamas. The Europeans sounded worried as well, realizing that a Hamas government in Palestine would force them to face serious change. Yet none of those official voices had the courage to admit that the peace process was already on hold due to the Israeli intransigence.
How ironic that Mr. Shimon Peres has joined the chorus of those expressing grave concern about making peace with Hamas. We all recall how as prime minister he dismally failed to carry out the legacy of peace for which he, the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and the late President Arafat got the Nobel Peace Prize. Peres and his woeful chorus pretend not to understand the source of the Palestinian people's frustration, but they have been witnessing Israel violating U.N. resolutions and international law as well as using sophisticated and extensive weaponry to wage a relentless war on the Palestinian civilian population, and they share the blame for Fatah's failure, as they stood by passively or offered resources and encouragement to Israel's attempts to erode Fatah's authority.
The Road Map that Israeli spokesmen said would not be possible to implement under Hamas was never fully accepted by Israel, which has consistently blocked its implementation and the establishment of a Palestinian State through means such as building an illegal concrete wall eight meters tall to divide the Palestinian territories. So let us not pretend that peace was around the corner before Hamas' electoral victory, which at most heightened the already astronomical odds against peace barring a major shift in Israeli policy.
Hamas was not part of the PLO when Oslo was signed, and it did not participate in the first elections in 1996. Neither did it participate in the presidential elections in January 2005 after the death of President Arafat. And though it is a resistance movement, Hamas agreed to a period of calm to give Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, the newly elected president, a chance to pursue his political agenda after Arafat, who had been considered redundant by Israel and the USA. But Israel did not appreciate that gesture and did not abide by any agreement, choosing instead to persist in provoking the Palestinians, raiding their homes and camps, targeting their activists, and doing so with impunity.
While the USA turned a blind eye to Israeli violations, it considered Mr. Ariel Sharon, the leader of the right wing Likud party of Israel, a man of peace despite his actions and bloody history. I am inclined to think that in claiming that they would not deal with a Palestinian government including Hamas, Israel and the USA were using a strategy of reverse psychology, secretly hoping that a Hamas win would justify whatever actions they wished to take against the Palestinians and their new leadership, and that members of the international community who endorse Israel's labeling of Hamas as a terrorist movement would support further crackdown on Palestinians under a Hamas government.
The Palestinian Authority has long experienced external and internal calls for reform. Hamas responded to those calls, and won the elections with a platform promising reform. Their victory at the polls demonstrates just how deeply voters wanted change. But how much of that change will happen — and how much of it will be positive — remains anyone's guess.
Dare We Hope?November 15, 2005
By Samia Khoury
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
The story of Ahmad El-Khatib, the 12-year-old Palestinian child who was shot and killed by the Israeli occupying forces, and whose organs were donated to Israeli and Druze children, hit the local and international media this week.
It's striking that this story of compassion is set in Jenin, the Palestinian town subjected to grievous atrocities from invading Israeli forces in April, 2002. Many journalists and witnesses reported the events of day as another massacre of Palestinians. Scores of people were killed; buildings were blown up before being evacuated, burying victims in rubble and leveling vast areas of the town. A United Nations team which was assigned to investigate the incident was barred by the Israeli forces from entering the area. The file was closed, but the scars remain. Jenin has yet to recover from that onslaught; normal and peaceful life has yet to return.
Again, one cannot help be astonished at the inequities in the Middle East. Although the UN team headed by Mehlis to investigate the assassination of Rafiq El-Harriri, the former Prime Minister of Lebanon, was welcomed in Syria, the team did not seem satisfied with the answers they got from the Syrian authorities. For that, the United Nations called an urgent Security Council meeting which ordering Syria to cooperate with Mehlis, or risk economic sanctions, among other possible penalties. It seems the UN can only find effective means to enforce its resolutions when the offending party isn't Israel, toward whom the UN either turns a blind eye or claims powerlessness. While Israel has repeatedly defied UN resolutions, I can't recall Israel ever facing the kind of ultimatum issued to Syria. When Israel resists UN mandates, the UN simply does what its fact-finding team, convened by the Secretary General in response to Security Council Resolution 1405, did when Israel turned them away from Jenin: they shrug their shoulders and comply with Israel's wishes.
The Israeli soldier who killed Ahmad claims that he thought that the toy gun the boy was carrying was real. But did he really think as well that the boy was a grown man and a soldier? Could he not have shot a warning in the air to deter the child? It was the first day of the Al-Adha feast after the month of fasting honoring the holy season of Ramadan. Young Ahmad was enjoying a gift he'd received for the holiday. Toy guns are popular, not only because of the influence of Western movies, but because their play with you guns helps them reenact and cope with harsh realities they face daily. My own eleven-year-old grandson often walks in the house like Gary Cooper in High Noon, pulling his hands out of his pockets and pointing his fingers at me in a gesture of drawing a gun.
Very recently he acquired a toy gun. I was very upset when I saw it, and I immediately told him the story of Ahmad. He looked at me in disbelief, but then he seemed touched and scared. Without hesitation he went to his room, got his toy gun and broke it into pieces throwing them in the dustbin. Perhaps Ahmad's story will inspire Abla, his mother, and other mothers and their children to campaign against toy guns, as well as violent games and movies which flood in from the West.
But Ahmad's story doesn't end there; it continues to defy both stereotypes of "Palestianian terrorists" and despair that peace is possible. In 1994, members of Hamas abducted and killed Israeli Erik Frankental, but his father, Zvi, became a peace activist rather than retreating into bitterness. Local papers now carry a photo of Zvi offering condolences to Ahmad's father, Ismail El-Khatib, and one grieving father's reaching out to another is a sign not only of the terrible toll the occupation taken on both Israelis and Palestinians, but also a sign of hope that peace is possible despite many and deep hurts. As much as I have been discouraged lately when peace seems unattainable, stories like those of Ismail, Zvi, and Ahmad encourage me with the hope that someday all peoples of the Holy Land, Jews, Christians, and Muslims, will create a safe and peaceful haven here.
But as I was reflecting on this meaningful and hopeful story, news broke of the suicide attacks on three hotels in Amman, Jordan, and my feelings turned to rage, frustration, sadness, and absolute shock. Who would want to do something so brutal to innocent people, and to a wedding party? Who benefits from such an action? And what kind of a memory would this young couple have of their wedding day, which claimed the lives of the fathers of both bride and groom? Hopes as well as lives died in the explosions that day.
For a long time now, the Middle East has been coveted and targeted, and its leaders manipulated and intimidated. Powerful forces seeking domination have colonized it, partitioned it, toppled its regimes and used it to barter as if it were their own. The people of the region look at shocking incidents such as the setting up of Syria and Iran as another indication that those who see their interests as vested in the region will continue to work to destabilize it. That is why we are very skeptical about anything that is being imposed by the military forces that Harvard political scientist Joseph Nye calls "hard power," in contrast to the "soft power" of moral influence. "Soft power" should deal with issues in the region justly, with one set of standards applied to all, and such treatment would be welcomed by many. However, no one will welcome a kind of "democracy" that must be imposed by force and devastates the country.
There is never a dull moment in this part of the world, and hope fluctuates wildly with every news cycle. The end of the era of Shimon Peres as Labor leader might bring about substantial change. Peres lost a great opportunity of forging peace after the assassination of Itzhak Rabin, and his lack of resolve also cost him the election victory won by Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud party. Peres accepted a seat in Sharon's government as deputy prime minister, but he made no substantial progress toward peace, and so the peace centres built in his name seem an empty gesture pointing more toward the difficulty of peace than the possibility. However, Corinne Heller of Reuters reports that Amir Peretz, used his first major public appearance since becoming Labor leader to tell the crowd that Israel needed to leave West Bank land it occupied in the 1967 Middle East War and move toward a permanent peace agreement to carry on Rabin's legacy. Dare we hope that at last an Israeli leader is speaking about ending the occupation? Only time will tell — and in the meantime, hopes will wither and rise again with every explosion and every act of compassion.
The Forgotten FaithfulJuly 25, 2005
By Samia Khoury
Monday, July 25, 2005
When I committed myself to writing a monthly column for The Witness back in the fall of 2001, I shared with my friend Cedar a deep sense of worry. How, I asked Cedar, will I be inspired to write regularly? She assured me then that the occupation and the Israeli measures would provide me with enough material. How right she was. Since then, she has seen each of my more than 30 articles before I have submitted them to The Witness.
But since writing my last article, "The Dough of Peace," I started to realize that the gleam of hope that had always prevailed in my articles was fading away. The situation has become more hopeless than ever, and I was beginning to feel that it was meaningless to write anymore. All that needs to be written has been written; all that needs to be said has been said; and all that needs to be shown has been seen, "though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand" (Matthew 13:13). More and more, I began to realize that our president, Mr. Abbas, will need that magic wand that I wrote about in my February 2005 article.
All those handshakes and agreements in Sharm El-Sheikh were a repeat performance of past agreements which Israel did not honor. Even the period of calm which Mr. Abbas was able to get the Palestinian factions to abide by was continuously violated by the Israeli army. Provocation has been one of the Israeli military policies so that the Palestinians will be forced to react, and then the Israeli military forces can justify retaliating by whatever measures they see fit. And strangely enough, the media does not see the provocation; it simply sees Israel defending itself. So the shelling of civilian areas and demolishing of homes and targeted killings are simply "collateral damage" in the process of self-defense. How long will Israel be allowed to get away with all those atrocities?
What makes the whole situation even worse is that the USA and Britain refuse to make a link between the oppression of the Israeli occupation, the Iraqi war, the continued presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan, and the rise of "terrorism." So maybe it is the leaders of those countries that I need to address.
To Mr. George W. Bush: Have you been listening to the voices of the American mothers who are losing their sons for your war? Yes, Mr. Bush, it is your personal war, and that of Tony Blair. The masses from around the world who demonstrated against the war could not possibly have been that stupid or naïve to misinterpret your intentions. You better start planning to get those soldiers back home.
And if you are serious, Mr. Bush, about the establishment of a Palestinian state, why have you not forced Israel to abide by the United Nations resolutions? On the contrary, you have encouraged it to violate those resolutions with impunity, and allowed it to continue to create realities on the ground that are complicating the so-called peace efforts. You have turned a blind eye to the continuous expansion of the settlements ( all of which are illegal) and to the separation wall; that evil wall that has disrupted the lives of a whole population. It is ironic to hear Dr. Condoleezza Rice reiterating the stand of the U.S. regarding the settlements and the wall. What good is the stand if the USA is unable to force Israel to abide by it?
May I remind you that "The High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the U.N. bodies and civil society each have their own responsibility in the aftermath of the ICJ [International Court of Justice] Advisory Opinion. This document serves as a timely reminder that international law requires implementation and that Israel is still being granted impunity by the international community." Having one set of laws for the whole world and a special one for Israel, you have turned the world into a jungle because you set the model of "might is right" and encouraged your allies to do likewise. It is precisely because you have the power that we expect you to use it justly with wisdom and compassion.
To Mr. Tony Blair: I would like to begin by expressing my deep condolences to the families of the victims of this brutal and irresponsible act. But then when you allied yourself with the U.S. administration, Mr. Blair, you acted just as irresponsibly as Mr. Bush. You both went against the will of your peoples and waged a brutal war under false pretexts. You said then, "You can only imagine what would have happened if I'd ignored the intelligence and then something terrible had happened."
Well, Mr. Blair, something terrible did happen now, but not because of weapons of mass destruction. It was because you went on board with Mr. Bush when you had no business doing so. What did you expect from desperate people? To be wiser than you, or act more responsibly?
Unfortunately, it is innocent people who will continue to suffer as a result of your double standards in dealing with issues of the same nature. The shelling of civilian homes in the Gaza strip by the Israeli air force is just as much an act of terrorism as the underground explosions in London. With your policies of supporting oppression and injustice, you have led more people to desperation. And you have made the world less safe by bringing an unpredictable war to every doorstep in your country.
If the mayor of London himself could see through the problem, why can't you? At least listen to what he had to say, for it might help you shake off the unnecessary burden of allying yourself with the White House. Here are some excerpts of what Mr. Ken Livingtone, the mayor of London, said:
You've just had 80 years of Western intervention into predominantly Arab lands because of the Western need for oil. We've propped up unsavoury governments, we've overthrown ones we didn't consider sympathetic.
He continued:
If, at the end of the First World War, we had done what we promised the Arabs, which was to let them be free and have their own governments, and kept out of Arab affairs, and just bought their oil, rather than feeling we had to control the flow of oil, I suspect this wouldn't have arisen.
On Israel and Palestinians:
[T]hose governments which use indiscriminate slaughter to advance their foreign policy, as we have occasionally seen with the Israeli government bombing areas from which a terrorist group will have come, irrespective of the casualties it inflicts, women, children and men.
On occupation:
Under foreign occupation and denied the right to vote, denied the right to run your own affairs, often denied the right to work for three generations, I suspect that if it had happened here in England, we would have produced a lot of suicide bombers ourselves.
However, it was refreshing to hear you at the G8 meeting sounding serious about finding a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. After all, your country is morally responsible for creating that problem. So we hope you will feel morally obliged to pursue justice and peace to solve the problem. But may I remind you, Mr. Blair, that this Holy Land is for two people of three religions, and not for two people and two religions, as you announced. For after all, this Holy Land is the cradle of Christianity, which the Western Christian world seems to have forgotten.
It is we who sent you the message of hope and peace — the good news which has been used and abused to justify all the oppression against the indigenous people of Palestine. And yes, it is we — the "forgotten faithful" — who are still holding the fort for the Christian world community, while struggling at the same time alongside our Muslim compatriots, for justice, peace and liberation.
The Dough of PeaceMarch 15, 2005
By Samia Khoury
Thursday, March 17, 2005
I remember the first time I heard of volleyball was in 1952, when I signed up for the sport during registration at Southwestern University in Texas. Every semester we had to have one course of physical education. I had no idea what it was all about, for all we had played in my high school was netball (for girls) and soccer (for boys). It was the influence of the British mandate, I suppose. Anyway, wearing shorts and tennis shoes, there I was in the gym.
I watched one of our team members pass the ball to another one, who passed it on to me, and then I proceeded to pass it backwards to another player on our team. It was only then, when everybody on the team started shouting at me for making such a stupid move, that I realized they had been setting up the ball for me to slam it over to the other side of the net. I learned fast, and could not afford another embarrassment, especially being a foreigner.
I thought of that volleyball experience as I listened to the news this past week concerning U.N. Resolution 1559. This is the resolution pertaining to the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon. It is right that Resolution 1559 should be implemented, for U.N. resolution should be implemented, in general. But the pressure put on Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, "or else," seems very ironic in a region where the Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian territories and the Syrian Golan Heights in 1967 still prevails. Israel has never been confronted or threatened with the similar possibility of sanctions or forced military action to end its occupation.
The USA has been setting up the scene for some time now to slam Syria. It has been accusing it of opening its borders for infiltrators, for harboring "terrorist organizations," for meddling in Lebanese internal affairs, and for strengthening its ties with Iran. We watched closely the U.S. prelude to the Iraqi war, and the many reasons it presented to justify that war despite all the protests and mass demonstrations. It started with the issue of weapons of mass destruction (which after all the devastation, turned out to be a fallacy). Then there was the need to abide by U.N. resolutions, and of course the need to topple a dictator and provide democracy to the people.
So Syria was aware of the repercussions if it was to defy U.N. Resolution 1559, especially after the assassination of Rafiq Harriri. It was perfectly timed to prepare for the final set-up before the slam — which makes one wonder who the real assassins were and what the real motive was.
A very similar situation came about with the events of September 11, 2001. How could the Americans have empathized with Israel and its security phobia if they were not made to get a taste of "terrorism"? Again, the timing was perfect, and indeed a blessing in disguise for Israel to justify its war against "terrorism." Not only did the U.S. administration give its full support to that "war against terrorism," it actually became its champion, and just as obsessed with the security of Israel.
Unfortunately, the whole issue of "terrorism" and security has been used to derail the peace process, and will continue to be used by Israel despite the many handshakes that have been taking place between Palestinians, Israelis, Egyptians and Jordanians. With every handshake Israel grabs more land, making it literally impossible to establish a Palestinian state, let alone a contiguous one.
Israel's actions certainly do not indicate peacemaking. We have a saying in Arabic: "The one who does not want to knead the dough keeps sifting the flour." It is becoming very clear now that Israel has been sifting the flour for too long, and might not be capable of kneading the dough of peace.
As a Jewish state with so many different ethnic groups, as well as different political and religious factions, it seems Israel cannot really survive as a state except based on the "lack of peace." Therefore it is high time for the international community to actually challenge Israel on its intentions for peace. The implementation of U.N. Resolutions 242, 338 and 194 could be a starting point.
Ironically, and impudently, Mr. Sharon is calling on the international community to pressure Syria to abide by U.N. Resolution 1559. Israel has defied 60 U.N. resolutions, and furthermore, it has been protected by a veto by the USA in the Security Council about thirty times. Maybe it would be appropriate for King Abdallah, who thinks "the ball is in our court," and Mr. Mubarak, who has been hosting so many meetings, to call on the international community to pressure Israel to implement U.N. resolutions and to abide by international law. After all, the peace agreements which each of those countries forged with Israel before its implementation of U.N. Resolution 242 encouraged Israel to continue defying U.N. resolutions and international law, and to get away with it.
Why 1559 and not 242? Why 1559 and not 194? WHY? Can Mr. Bush genuinely and honestly and morally — since he is so concerned about morals — justify why? And can Mr. Annan continue to turn a blind eye to Israel's defiance of U.N. resolutions and international law, and maintain at the same time his own personal credibility and that of the United Nations? Mr. Annan has graciously accepted the invitation to participate in the inauguration of the new Holocaust museum in Israel. Commendable, but unfortunately a visit to the new Palestinian ghettos trapped behind the apartheid wall, considered illegal by the International Court of Justice, was not worthy of his visit. Yes, the U.N. has a credibility gap, as some in the West argue, but it is for other reasons than they argue. Just as the Syrian occupation of Lebanon should end, Israel must cease its occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Will Abbas Need a Magic Wand?February 4, 2005
By Samia Khoury
Friday, February 4, 2005
Ever since 1948, when my family had to leave our beautiful cozy home in Upper Baka'a in West Jerusalem, my dream as a young person was to have a magic wand to carry me back there just to see what had become of our neighborhood. When I watched UN cars driving through the Mandelbaum gate, which separates the east side of Jerusalem from the west side at a point right behind the East Jerusalem YMCA, I wished I were invisible so that I could hide in one of those cars. I wanted so badly to see home again, especially since I was in boarding school at the moment that my parents left, and I did not get a chance to have a last look and collect whatever I thought was precious at that time.
How ironic that my dream was realized not by a magic wand, nor by the mystery of the "invisible creature," but by the war of June 1967, which created a new reality for us overnight. That war further dispossessed us of our rights and cut us off — through bridges and checkpoints — from the rest of the Middle East region. Yet at the same time, it opened up the borders that had been placed between us and the Palestinians who had stayed in Israel after the creation of that state on Palestinian land — and also opened up a path between the West Bank, where we lived, and the Gaza. These were bittersweet connections and it was ironic that the occupation made them possible, I thought, and comforted myself by thinking that it would soon be over and we would have a state for all the people of the land.
In the excitement of checking out the country and the different cities, the Palestinians who lived in the Galilee assured us that we were still in the "honeymoon" stage. They knew what they were talking about, since they had gone through all that before us. They knew what it meant to lose their property under the absurd and illegal "absent present law." They knew what it meant when property was seized for security reasons, and they knew how frustrating it was to try to get a permit to move from one town to the other. They knew how it felt to be strangers in their own country, due to the racist laws that were passed by the new state to legalize all action against them as aliens in a Jewish state.
Sure enough, it did not take long for our "honeymoon" to be over. The Israeli colonies started mushrooming all over the Occupied Territories, and my dream for one secular state for all the people of the land soon diminished. The so-called "security wall," which is still snaking through more Palestinian areas, has not only deprived people of more land, but it has made it almost impossible for them to have access to their basic daily needs and services.
Yet in spite of all that we have been subjected to, we seem determined to make the best out of a bad situation. One more time, the Palestinians wanted to give peace a chance, after the passing away of Mr. Arafat. Seven men ran for the presidential elections. Although it was very clear from the start, and from the polls, that Abbas was going to win, it was a democratic process, and the runner-up had a very professional campaign. Despite the occupation, and the obstacles imposed by the Israeli forces to disrupt the whole operation — especially in Jerusalem — the elections did take place as planned on January 9, 2005. Except for minor infractions, which did not spoil the excitement, the elections went smoothly. About 71% of those eligible to vote actually voted, and the newly elected president Mahmoud Abbas got 62.5% of the vote while the next candidate Mustafa Barghouti got 19.5% of the vote. The international observers were very impressed and vouched for the transparency of the whole process, and the ink on our thumbs, an added security against possible repeat voting, is still a reminder of that historic day.
The new president was determined not to let the people down, and he meant to make peace his business right from the beginning. He was elected shortly before Eid El-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, yet he announced that he would not be receiving people on that occasion. He was too busy reconciling the various factions of the Palestinian population and putting the Palestinian house in order. Another welcome gesture was a request not to publish congratulatory wishes on his election in the local newspapers. If he could set a model, it would be a blessing to do away with the over-exaggerated phenomenon of "congratulations, thanks and condolences" through the papers.
Will this round of talks with Israel be a repeat performance of previous endless talks, or will there be genuine goodwill gestures to get a serious process going, with the purpose of ending the occupation? The Palestinian people might be oppressed and might be helpless, but we are certainly not naïve. We have a saying in Arabic: "A person cannot be bitten twice from the serpent's pit." That is why the Palestinian factions are apprehensive about committing themselves to a period of calm. Yet after serious negotiations with the new president they did commit to this calming period, but Israeli aggression did not stop. Every night there is an invasion somewhere. Curfews continue to be imposed, and land continues to be confiscated for the wall and settlement colonies. It is probably part of a provocative plan, to foul up any possibility of peace talks.
Not only humans are being harassed, but lately the dead as well. Families who have relatives buried at the cemetery of Arab El-Sawahrah have been ordered to remove their remains because an Israeli company claims it owns the property of the cemetery. That should be just as embarrassing for Israel as the law that was passed in July 2004 considering the property of Jerusalemites living in the West Bank as "absentee property."
Indeed, it was not a wise step on the part of Israel to revive that law at this moment. Even the U.S. administration, despite its unwavering support to Israel, could not turn a blind eye to it when all the focus is on a new era of peace talks. So perhaps the Israeli Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz did not have much choice but to admit the error, to apologize and cancel the expropriation decision which he claimed had gone through the cabinet without being brought to his attention. Of course, we all know by now that Israel goes ahead and does what it pleases and gets away with it. I was inspired at one time by the famous song "Whatever Lola wants Lola gets" to write an article about Israel's attitude regarding UN resolutions and international law. Let us hope that this "land grab" incident will be an eye-opener for the U.S. administration and a starter to stand up against Israel when it defies international law. Dare we raise our hopes again? Or will Mr. Abbas need a magic wand to bring peace to the region and an end to the occupation?
Arafat and the Mirage of PeaceNovember 15, 2004
By Samia Khoury
Monday, November 15, 2004
It certainly was a new experience for me to have been in the U.S. during President Bush's reelection. I could not have envisaged the extent of the power of the media there until I read the papers and watched the TV during that period. What bothered me the most was when so-called "moral issues" seemed to have played an important role in such a close fight between the two parties — and I was especially bothered by what was not said or written about that theme.
As a Christian from the Holy Land, the cradle of Christianity, as well as Judaism and Islam, I was unable to relate to those "moral issues" because they actually lacked honesty, truth and justice. How moral is it to wage a war based on false information and in defiance of the international community? How moral is it to support an occupation when all the rhetoric focuses on democracy and the right of people to self-determination? That is why I have the feeling now more than ever that it is hopeless to look to the U.S. administration in search of justice and peace in the Middle East. As long as justice is not a basic "moral value," but going to church and judging others is, it does not necessarily mean that one's faith is being translated into honest and honorable action.
But then, soon after the elections, it was officially announced that the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, had died. Of course I spent all night listening to commentaries on his struggle and on the "missed opportunities, and failure to deliver a state to his people." Not once did I hear a comment pointing a finger at Israel for not implementing United Nations resolutions or for not abiding by the Oslo Accords. Never was it mentioned that despite all the concessions that Arafat made to accommodate for peace, including the amendment of the PLO charter, Israel continued with its oppressive measures of confiscating more land and of building more colonies in violation of the Oslo Accords.
"Arafat is an obstacle to peace" was the buzzword. As long as Israel thought so, then its master's voice — the U.S. administration — was bound to see it that way. And so this myth, just like all Israeli myths (the first one having been "a land without people for a people without land"), took root in the ground of politics and became the "de-facto" understanding despite all the Palestinian explanation about "Ehud Barak's generous offer."
Prior to that point, Palestinians had already relinquished their right to 78% of historic Palestine for the creation of the State of Israel. The "generous offer" from Barak called on the Palestinians to relinquish a further 30% of the remaining 22% of the land. That certainly was no generous offer, but because the Israeli and the American media played a big role in making that platter of peace look so sumptuous — when it was only a platter of pieces and crumbs – Arafat had to pay the price for the rest of his lonely and marginalized life. To add insult to injury, Arafat was blamed for all the "terrorism" in the Occupied Territories, when the state terrorism of Israel was justified in the name of security. It was that latter form of terrorism which was the root cause of the violence in the Occupied Territories, which erupted after 37 years of military occupation, when Palestinians had nothing more to lose.
I think Arafat genuinely believed that he could achieve his goal if he were to accept the step-by-step peace, and to settle for "Gaza and Jericho first." He was so anxious to have a foothold in Palestine that he could not, or did not want to envisage that Israel had no intention of relinquishing the land – that which was the basis for engaging in a "land for peace" peace process. Those of us who had been living in the Occupied Territories since 1967 were already aware that unless Israel was forced to withdraw from the Palestinian Occupied Territories no lasting peace could be achieved. Even when his peace partner Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by an Israeli extremist, and it was very clear that Israel was not interested in peace, Arafat still thought it would be possible to resurrect the already dead peace process.
Israel, which accuses Arafat of having been an obstacle to peace, could not have found a better partner to make all the concessions that were made under the pretext of peace. It has used the peace process as a steppingstone to the Arab World and it changed its image as an occupier, oppressor, and colonizer into a peacemaker. In the meantime, the biased media helped in developing that image and in creating the "terrorist" image of the Palestinian. For Israel, the events of Sept. 11, 2001, could not have come at a better time, as it forced the U.S. to empathize with Israel and to consider the security of Israel a top priority, irrespective of what it did.
It is too late now to say that Arafat should have resigned after Israel made it impossible for the peace process to go on. His pursuit of a mirage of peace was futile, and only his death has saved him by the grace of Allah from further humiliation. But now that Arafat is dead, let us watch and see what pretext Israel is going to come up with to avoid making peace, and how that pretext will be endorsed by the U.S. Of course, it is not beyond Israel to already start creating wedges between potential new Palestinian leadership, just as much as they have encouraged between Palestinian Muslims and Christians.
But if Israel is genuinely interested in peace, it does not have to look for pretexts. It can try, for a change, to abide by United Nations resolutions. It can accept the generous offer initiated by Saudi Arabia at the Arab League meeting in Beirut in March 2002, which guaranteed full acceptance of Israel in the Middle East if it were to withdraw from ALL the Arab territories occupied in 1967. That should be the test for Israel now, and it is a much cheaper one than the cost of Israeli and Palestinian human lives.
The WallAugust 12, 2004
By Samia Khoury
Thursday, August 12, 2004
"Good fences make good neighbors" is an old English saying. Unfortunately, the so-called "Security Fence" that Israel is building is neither good nor a fence. It is an evil barrier that will exacerbate the dehumanization of a whole population. Israel uses the word "security" because it has very skillfully put its security as a priority for the world's conscience. This way Israel averts being challenged under the pretext of security.
Humans erect psychological and legal barriers between themselves simply on the basis of looks, religion, race, or social class. The separation wall might be the first physical barrier which Israel has erected, but in reality the process of putting up walls and barriers started with the establishment of the Sate of Israel in 1948, and continued with the military occupation of the Palestinian Territories in 1967.
The decision for the Israeli state to be a Jewish state, rather than a state of all of its citizens, was in itself a decision to establish a wall between the Jews of the new state and the non-Jewish population, the indigenous Palestinians. Those Palestinians who were dispossessed of their land and identity found themselves to be either stateless refugees or second-class citizens. Through "legal" legislation many more walls were erected within the State of Israel — laws that tightly restricted Palestinian access to land and that limited the possibilities of developing Palestinian cities and towns – turning Israel gradually into an apartheid state with two different sets of laws for Jews and Arabs. Using biblical texts to justify confiscation of more land after the 1967 conquest to build exclusively Jewish settlements spelled another chapter in the building of walls and barriers. The separation wall now being built is but the latest, and most obvious, of Israel's discriminatory walls.
It is amazing how the world community can stand helpless against this new reality of the separation wall. Despite the fact that the European countries were critical of Israel for constructing the separation wall, they abstained when the UN voted to take the case to the International High Court of Justice at The Hague. How hypocritical! The UN resolution did pass, but its impact was watered down by those abstentions and by the usual American vote against any resolution condemning Israel.
Regarding the separation wall, I cannot help but recall the words of Edmund Burke: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing." For that is exactly the story of our dispossession as a people as well as the story of this wall. Good and responsible people can understand discriminatory realities, but are so often afraid to expose the truth for fear of being labeled anti-Semitic. The truth of the wall has nothing to do with anti-Semitism, and it is the duty of good people not to allow the triumph of evil. "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" (John 8:32).
Will the world community continue to be hostage of intimidation? Some refuse to be intimidated: think of the many activists, Israelis and Palestinians, as well as members of the international solidarity movement, who, with their relentless efforts, have been able to expose the truth regarding the separation wall. They have been putting themselves in places of danger to emphasize the gravity of building such a wall and its impact on the soul of the people on both sides of the wall.
Israel claims to want this "security fence" in order to separate the Palestinians from the Israelis, and to prevent the infiltration of Palestinians to Israel. This justification might have been acceptable if it were erected on the 1967 borderline in conjunction with a full withdrawal from the occupied territories in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. But as it is now, and with Israel defying all UN resolutions, the wall is actually separating Palestinians from Palestinians. It is also separating Palestinians from their land, work, hospitals, schools, churches and mosques; and from their families and the centre of their lives. The wall, in brief, makes normal life impossible for Palestinians.
I sincerely hope that Israel will realize that to guarantee its security, it has to see the other as a human being. It was the inclusive theology of Jesus and the face-to-face encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well that pulled down the walls between Jew and Samaritan when Jesus asked for a drink of water.
Putting up a barrier and excluding the Other might provide temporary security for Israelis, but it does not solve the long-term problem, and it increases Palestinian insecurity. Healing and reconciliation will not be possible from behind walls and barriers, for each will only see a monster on the other side, and it will only exacerbate the animosity and create physical ghettos for Palestinians as well as psychological ghettos for Israelis. It is ironic that Israeli power is leading the Jewish people back to psychological ghettos, when there would be other options. The Israeli soldiers who are refusing to serve in an occupying force have certainly made their choice rather than compromise their humanity.
"For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility" (Ephesians 2:14).
How can the two peoples destined to live side by side in this Holy Land overcome the wall of hostility and live in peace? Certainly not through a reinforced concrete walls eight metres in height or through barbed wire and electrified fences. Nor will it be achieved by military occupation, oppression, and harassment at checkpoints and roadblocks.
If only we could reflect on The Golden rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" (Matthew 7:12), a common ethical code amongst practically all faiths. If this code could be adopted as the principle for all human relationships, then no walls would be necessary and security and peace would prevail. Dare we hope! Or will power and greed continue to govern the actions of political leaders, losing all humanity in the process?
This article was originally published in the July-September 2004 issue of the Mennonite Central Committee's "Peace Office Newsletter." Republished with permission.


text:
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Why Was Google So Desperate for AOL
I don't get it. Here's a company that seems to have everything going for it, absurdly high revenue growth and profits and a $127 billion market cap. But according to this New York Times story:
Google will also provide technical assistance so AOL can create Web pages that will appear more prominently in the search results list. But this assistance will not change computer formulas that determine the order in which pages are listed in Google's search results.Why Was Google So Desperate for AOL? Linked by shanmuga Sunday, 18th December 2005 12:23PM
Google will also make a special effort to incorporate AOL video programming in its expanding video search section and it will feature links to AOL videos on the video search home page. These links will not be marked as advertising.
An executive involved in the talks said Time Warner asked Microsoft to give AOL similar preferred placement in advertising and in its Web index and that Microsoft refused, calling the request unethical.
Back to: PC Security, privacy news


text:
Once upon a time
the Jews were stuck in the land of Egypt
slaves to the
well, to the Egyptians
and the Jews
though slaves
were growing in numbers
because they were having sex
without wearing
yamulkas on their heads
and so they did flourish
to the point that Pharaoh though to himself
"There are too many Jews,
this isn't good.
If we don't do something about this,
we're going to have all these
comics making jokes about the peanuts
served on airplanes,
and doing parodies of Rome and Cavemen
and the History of the World
and one too many movies
about a neurotic Jew
who gets with women way out of his league,
and uhh…
it's just going to be a mess.
I really need to do something."
and so Pharaoh decided
the thing to do was to have all the sons
of the Jewish families executed.
Ch. 1 – Moses is born
Now, it just so happens
that one Jewish woman
refused to follow the decree of Pharaoh
to throw her baby boy into the Nile river
it wasn't that she was in de-nile
she was just a strong willed woman
who did not believe in throwing
the baby out with the bathwater
and so she put the child
Moses in a basket
and sent him down the river
Way down in Egypt Land
so that the baby would survive
though unfortunately
he would grow up
who knows where
and as it happened
the Child was picked
up down-stream by an Egyptian woman
a princess, the daughter of Pharaoh himself!
And so he was raised as an Egyptian
with the features
the portrait 2-dimensional standing positions
the hats and the cylinder-beards
and all that
and he fit in well
he didn't know he was Jewish
and he had all these cats
to play with and the ladies
they enjoyed his company
and he theirs
Ch. 2 – Cast but not Out
Anyway, one day Moses
sees a Jewish guy being struck by an Egyptian
and his Jewish blood flows through his veins
through his hands and feet and brain
through his other extremities
and he gets upset
he goes to the Egyptian slave-master
and he kills the guy
Yea, he kills him.
That's the way things happened back then.
Moses didn't mess around.
He was an OG, an original gangster, if you will.
Unfortunately, Moses soon realized
there was heat on the street
and he had to stay on the down-low
and even get out of town
so as not to be caught by the 5-0
and so he left Egypt
where he walked
around for a while
until ultimately coming across a burning bush
Ch. 3 – Burning the Bush
And in the wild,
Moses did see the bush burn
the flames rising
he may have been high at the time
but either way
God spoke to him there and said
"Moses, I am God."
and Moses, spoke back
"Hashem, my broheem.
How's it going?"
and God said,
"Oh, not bad, y'know.
Just watching over creation, the usual."
"Sure, I can imagine."
"Moses, this is what I want you to do.
When you're done with the bush burning
and the walking and the despondency
I want you to go back to Egypt
and I want you to talk to that Pharaoh guy."
"What? My God, are you crazy?"
"Moses, relax. OK, don't worry.
I got your back. I am God, I'm all power-ful
it's not a big deal.
I just want you to go talk to the guy
and ask him to release the Jews
from slavery."
Ch. 4 – The Conversation Continues
"God, are you serious?
Come on, you think Pharaoh's going to just
give up the Jews as his slaves?
Do you know how much money he's saving?
He doesn't have to report paying them,
it's all under the table,
it's under the pyramid. He has a whole
pyramid scheme going on there,
it's sphynxed, the whole thing is sphynxed.
You think he's just going to give that up?"
"Moses, Moses, listen. I'm not talking about
a rational conversation, OK, I don't expect
you to convince him. In fact, I'm going
to make him hard, harder than he's ever been before
when he sees your staff turn into a serpent
he will be hard and he will stay that way all through
the night, even into the next morning.
A whole week he will be hard!"
"Is that safe? I mean, should he see a doctor?"
"No, no. His heart! His heart I will make hard!
The point is, he won't listen to you, and then I will
punish him and all the Egyptians."
"Wait, Hashem, if you make it so he can't consent
to freeing the Jews, then is it fair to then punish
him for not agreeing?"
"Moses, don't worry. OK, you leave the thinking to me,
remember, I am God. I call the plays, OK,
you're just an actor. Your gesture is going to be symbolic,
I have it all worked out. Trust me."
"OK, whatever you say.
You're the boss."
"Yes, OK. Good Good, go, go forth to speak with Pharaoh!"
Ch. 5 – The Conversation with Pharaoh
"Hello Pharaoh, this is Moses.
You know the child your daughter raised
who was actually Jewish but didn't know it
and killed a guy, and had to leave, and all that?"
"Ahh yes, Moses, what are you doing here?
Are you hungry?"
"No, no I'm find. I had some kreplach in the…
over there, before, No I'm good. Don't worry.
But anyways, look, this is going to sound a bit weird
but I was smoking this cheefa and let me tell you
this stuff was strong.
Strong like bull.
I was seeing a burning bush, while I was burning the bush,
and God he spoke to me, he told me to come here,
he talked about your penis, it was somewhat confusing,
anyways the point is I have to ask you to let the Jews go
though I know you're not going to,
that's why I'm here."
"I see, well, Yes, OK… uhh No, right, I will not let your people
go, they cannot collect $200, but there is free parking over
there for your camel."
"I see, thank you Pharaoh, OK, we will continue with the next scene."
"Very good."
Ch. 6 – The Plagues
And so God did plague the Egyptians with
frogs and boils and locusts, which are insects,
and other things, to punish the Egyptians
for enslaving the Jews,
and he mis-placed various items in their houses
so that they couldn't find important letters
or a magazine, and with one family
he took all their forks and buried them in the backyard
and subsequently that family got mad at the dog…
and it was a whole ordeal,
but anyway,
its sufficient to say he made the Egyptians have a rough time
he just made a huge mess of the whole situation
and then he had Moses again speak with Pharaoh
and Pharaoh again was intransigent
and then God said "OK, now I'm going to kill
the first born sons of all the Egyptians"
and Moses said to God
"God, are you kidding me?
I mean, what the hell?
Isn't that a bit insane? I understand you're punishing them
but the first-born sons, first of all, isn't that a bit arbitrary?
Why first born? Why not the second born?
What's the difference?
and really, aren't we better than that?
Do we need to kill these people?
Shouldn't we turn the other cheek?"
and God said to Moses:
"Turn the other cheek? What are you crazy?
This isn't the New Testament, this is the Torah
that's how we do it, old-school baby."
"Alright, alright, listen, I was just making a suggestion."
"Yea, well, your suggestion has been noted
but I really do insist, don't worry I have a vision."
"OK, I'm sorry Hashem, I didn't mean to encroach
on your Creative Process. I understand, it's just a bit dramatic
that's all I'm saying, but OK OK i'll be quiet."
"Sigh, OK. Thank you. Can I go on?"
"Yes, of course."
Ch. 7 – The Matzah
So Moses tells the Jewish people
he sends a mass text message
and an alert on his facebook page
that they're all going to leave Egypt that night
Unfortunately, the Jews were baking bread
so they didn't want to leave before the bread
had risen
but Moses said to them, "Don't worry about your bread.
OK, so what it won't rise. It will be flat.
We will call it Matzah. We will make a holiday
where we pretend to like eating it,
we'll put apples and cinnamon on it
or bitter herbs which we can symbolically understand
to represent our suffering, ya-de-ya-de-ya-da… let's go."
And so the Jews left in the night
and they came to an unpassable Sea
and the people said to Moses:
"I hope you had a plan for this uncrossable Sea"
and Moses looked at them and said:
"Of course, I do."
uhhh but he didn't, however, he spoke to God
and God said
"here's what I'll do, I'll separate the waters
like an innocent girl's legs on prom night
and you will be able to move through
with ease, and then the Egyptians will be chasing
and so I'll have the waters
close on them drowning them
killing them, I know you don't like when I do that,
but what can I say, it works…
and you guys will be safely on the other side."
Moses thought
"I guess this will have to be the way we do it.
I'm telling you God, you really use the whole
killing thing way too often, I mean, if you're so wise
and omniscient, shouldn't you be able to find better
solutions to these scenarios?
I mean your implicating me in a murder conspiracy,
I'm a peaceful man!
But, OK, OK beggars can't be choosers right?
We'll do this thing."
Ch. 8 – The Crossing of the River
and so God parted the waters
and Moses lead the Jewish people across
the dry river-bed
and the Egyptians chased after them
with horses and chariots and they all died
because God drowned them in the Sea
and Moses and the Jews made it to the other side
safe, not even wet,
and Moses said to God
"Y'know, it was a bit messy, but you did it.
You, you're good you.
You're good.
You are good. You know what you're doing.
I uhhh I was a little concerned there, with them chasing me
and all that, but you you know what you're doing
I must say I'm glad you're on our side.
Really, with the water parting and us crossing
and them dying, it was a beautiful thing.
A masterpiece, I mean well it was no Sodom and Gomorrah
I mean that was totally un-believable
with the hail-stones and the lightning
and then you turned that woman into salt, I mean,
that was really un-believable
- my all time favorite,
but this was good.
I just wanted to tell you that."
"Well thank you Moses"
said God
"I will now leave you in the wilderness,
to doubt me and to build a golden calf
to worship other deities and to require me
to have to do more work i.e. the 10 commandments,
there will actually be 613 but whose counting…
but anyways don't worry about that,
that's my problem, not yours,
you'll eventually get to the holy land,
there may be millenia of wars
and persecutions and temple destructions
and getting kicked out of various countries
and genocide and so on and so forth
but again, you'll be dead by that point
and I'll cross that bridge when I come to it
you just go and eat like random-food
in the desert
which we'll call Mana and pretend tastes
good like some crazy Willy-Wonka
and y'know
the fairy-tales they end with the happy
the uhh the happily ever after
so let's pretend that uhh
I don't know
y'know what whatever
I'm tired.
You're probably tired.
Let's just go to bed
and we can figure out post-fact
rationalisms and mythology re-counts
in the morning.
"OK, goodnight.
I mean Laila Tov, we speak Hebrew
we should use it more, at least around
the house."
"OK, OK, goodnight! Laila Tov Hashem
geez for someone whose supposedly
not an anthropomorphic representation
of the human mind you really go on and on and…
well, OK Laila Tov."


text:
Vice president of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, Vice president of VDI - Brazil and professor at the Engineering School of São Carlos - USP.
He was president of the Institute for Technological Research (IPT) from 2008 to 2012, where he led a broad institutional modernization program.
In 2013, he co-founded the EMBRAPII - Brazilian Company for Industrial Research and Innovation where he coordinated the creation of the new innovation funding systems as its first chief executive officer.
He was coordinator of the Millennium Factory Institute and co-founder of Nucleus for Advanced Manufacturing of USP - São Carlos, from which they were formed 12 technology startups and many industrial innovations.
He was also a researcher / consultant in projects in partnership with global manufacturing companies like TRW, Chrysler, BMW, Hyundai and Mitsubishi, among others.
Graduated, PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of São Paulo and post doctoral fellowship by the University of California - Berkeley.
He is member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences - ABC, fellow of the International Academy for Production Engineering - CIRP and CNPq 1A Researcher.
He has 250 published works and 3 licensed patents in the area of Advanced Manufacturing.
Prof. Oliveira was awarded with the Grand Cross of the National Order of Scientific Merit, and also received the following awards: FCW's Conrado Wessel Foundation, Anisio Teixeira Award CAPES / MEC and SAP Americas Innovation Award from SAP Global. Currently he participates in the board of CAPES, CNPq, FAPESP, IPT, Butantan Institute, Insper and CNPEM.


text:
If you like a girl you can join and tip using Chaturbate's token system. You can also choose to go to a group show or a private show.The price of a private or group show is determined by the webcam girl that you are visiting.Back on September 12, a new webcam site from the same people who brought you opened at There are Free shows in the public area but there is no nudity allowed in the public area.To get a Nude show you must take the Webcam Host into private and that will cost tokens.
Hopefully we will have a good solution in the next couple of days.August 13, 2014 - On IOS devices we have changed the format so that the user will go directly to the live web cam host's room instead of trying to show a preview.This removes the clunkiness (yes that is a technical term) that IOS users were experiencing and will make visiting our live sex cams a more rewarding experience.Try Free Sex Chat camgirls right now for free, with no registration required to start chatting with the camgirl of your dreams!With com, you've never more than a click away from chatting, interacting and connecting with real live webcam girls.No matter what you're doing or where you are, there are always thousands of naked chat girls waiting to meet you.


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The video player could not be built.
Do you want to chat with a missionary?
We are happy to answer any questions you may have. Start a chat or call us at 1-888-537-6600.
Hi I'm Mindy
About Me
Hi, I am a wife of 11 years and a Mother to 4...two girls and two boys. I grew up a mormon. All my life I have been blessed with the gospel. I served as a full-time missionary in Uruguay and gained so many wonderful experiences there. I really hope to return someday. My husband and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple for all eternity. I am grateful that through a temple marriage my family is an eternal family. Even after we die we will still be together.
Why I am a Mormon
I know the church is true. As I look at the struggles of the world today I am so happy the church has given me wonderful guidelines to follow. With these guidelines I know I have avoided so many terrible consequences that come from making choices that the world says is normal. I have felt such an amazing spirit when I talk about the prophet Joseph Smith. I look forward to feeling this same spirit (the Holy Ghost) every day in my life. I am grateful that I can turn to Heavenly Father in prayer when I need help in raising my family. I love to see that sparkle in the eyes of my kids when I know they too have felt this same spirit of confirmation. The Holy Ghost confirms the truth. I know Jesus lives and that this is his true church on earth today.
How I live my faith
I rely on prayer. Life isn't easy and probably never will be but life is what we make it. I enjoy attending church every Sunday to feel the spirit, learn about the gospel of Jesus and feel the support of my neighbors and friends. I love the friends I have made through attending church. They comfort and care for each other without any question. I have had so many opportunities to serve. We are Gods helpers here on earth.


text:
Email Id Creation
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Course Map
Embee Open 2018
SDGC League
Jr. League
SDGC Ace Wall of Fame
Hole Sponsors
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Strathmore Disc Golf Club
Strathmore Disc Golf Club is a group of disc golf enthusiasts in Strathmore who wanted to further the sport and create a structured environment to build community and competition around disc golf. This club, originally led by Matt Byma and Aaron Peterson, took over from SAY at the end of the 2015-2016 school year and became a registered society in Alberta on October 14, 2016. The Strathmore Disc Golf Club works very closely with the Town of Strathmore to ensure the course works well for both the golfers and the many residents that line our course.
As a club, we try to teach proper disc golf etiquette to limit the number of discs that end up in yards and to speak with the homeowners when a disc needs to be retrieved.
The club has been active in holding tournaments, regular league nights, winter putting league, and even a Jr. league beginning in 2017. We currently have over 30 active members and many other players in the area who aren't yet members. Most up to date information can be found on our
Facebook page.
Our current board is:
President - Matt Byma
Vice-President - Jon Dirks
Treasurer - Randy Dirks
Secretary - Glen Van Bussel
Board Members - Pamela Seabrook, Todd Kennedy, Adam West, Michelle Buekert, Brad Lewko
The club can be reached at
A number of people have asked us where to purchase discs. There is currently a young disc golfer in Strathmore, Josh Kennedy, who is selling discs and gear. You can check out his inventory on his website at
. Also
Rebel Sports
in Strathmore carries some disc golf gear.
Other good places to purchase discs are online retailers such as
The Disc Cellar
In 2014 the Strathmore Assembly of Youth, a group of engaged teens, undertook the task of designing and building a disc golf course in the community of Strathmore, AB. Located 30 minutes east of Calgary on the Trans Canada Highway, our course opened on Canada Day of 2015 with a competitive tournament for experienced players, followed by lessons for newcomers to the sport.
The 18 hole course has cement tee pads, Mach 5 baskets, and signage at each hole. It is open for ANY ONE at ANY TIME (even in the winter!) and is completely FREE. All you need to enjoy it is a disc (a
will work). We are so excited to see people using the course - you make our hard work worth it!
The Town of Strathmore is responsible for course maintenance - if you notice any issues or damage, please call the Town at 403-934-3133.
Special thanks to
Makadiff Sports Foundation
for providing us with funding to begin the league!
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Home > Hike and Camp > Tents > Shelters & Tarps > Equinox Egret Nylon Tarp 6'x8' (Item #145774)
Equinox Egret Nylon Tarp 6'x8'
Our Price $39.99
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I live in Florida, it is generally really hot and muggy here, especially during the summer.
For the past almost two weeks we have had no air conditioning. Normally we have central air, which is attached/part of our heating system. We woke one day to a not cool house. The machine was running, but nothing cold was coming out. Turns out we had a leak. We had a service guy come out to check. He assured us it was a leak, but that he could not fix it that day. So he come back the next day, with a co-worker, and they fixed that leak. Then they found another one. In the condenser, outside. They would need to take the outside unit apart and replace the coils in the middle. Not a cheap fix.
In the midst of this, my part started leaking fuel. It was taken to the shop and they babysat and repaired my auto-baby. Thus said, since my darling love needed to go to work, and we are not on the same schedule, I was without car for a few days.
So Hubby and I thought about maybe just replacing the whole shebang, not THAT much more then the fix.
I called around for some appointments to get replacement estimates of local companies. I could do this, as I had no why to get anywhere. While sitting in my Florida room, which has an attached wall air conditioner. Nice little room, not well insulated, but MUCH better then the rest of the inside.
Finally got my car back, still no AC. Headed to work, did the work thing for the week, no AC. We had a guy come out ready to install, but he had not bothered to measure the air handler location and unit he brought was too big for our spot. (again I am cursing the previous owners…) The downpayment check was canceled, the guys sent away.
Finally, yesterday, I needed to be home in the morning for the service guy, who is now looking into getting a new system installed.
He measured the details, spoke to Hubby over the phone while measuring, and got us set for Saturday. Whew!
I then headed to work, felt very uninterested in work and quite concerned that I was slowing down on the sweater I am knitting. I was finishing a skein a day for the first four skeins. The fifth is so far on a day and half, but I am close to starting the bottom ribbing.
I picked out my Nerd Wars patterns (a fiber art centered challenge on Ravelry), and am hoping to finish the sweater before starting them.
I finally got home, and Darling hubby decided we should go to the movies. I knit a few rounds while watching the Olympics while he got a quick cold shower (no AC, remember) and we headed off. We saw the last Dark Knight film. It was OK, Bane annoyed me with his ovbious voice over speech and weird, not synced movements.
I must be kind of off, as I spent most of the movie very concerned for Alfred. Yeah. I'm the one in the action movie crying over the butler's feelings.


text:
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This week, the Senate voted to repeal the expanded Form 1099 reporting requirements that were part of last year's health care law. There are still many unanswered questions, and we'll keep you posted as we receive more information. Here's an article about the vote and current implications.
Tags: 1099, health care reform, Senate


text:
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A man fell into a vat of hot melted chocolate and died on Wednesday at a factory in New Jersey, a spokesman for the local public prosecutor said.
The 29-year-old man was among four workers on a platform above the vat who were dumping in pieces of solid chocolate to be melted down, said Jason Laughlin, spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.
"He somehow slipped and fell into the vat," Laughlin said. "Inside the vat, he was hit by a piece of equipment called the agitator that's used to stir, and that killed him."
Laughlin said the vat at the Cocoa Services Inc plant in Camden was around eight feet deep.
"At this point there's no suggestion of foul play," Laughlin said, adding that the man appeared to have died instantly from the blow to the head from the agitator.
Reporting by Claudia Parsons; Editing by Michelle Nichols and Eric Walsh


text:
Brand Names: US
DepoCyt [DSC]
Brand Names: Canada
DepoCyt [DSC]
- This drug may cause brain irritation (chemical arachnoiditis). Death can happen if this is not treated. Call your doctor right away if you have a fever, headache, upset stomach, throwing up, back pain, or neck stiffness or pain. You will be closely watched by your doctor.
- Dexamethasone will be given before this drug to lower side effects.
What is this drug used for?
- It is used to treat a type of cancer in the brain fluid.
What do I need to tell my doctor BEFORE I take this drug?
- If you have an allergy to cytarabine or any other part of this drug.
- If you are allergic to any drugs like this one, any other drugs, foods, or other substances. Tell your doctor about the allergy and what signs you had, like rash; hives; itching; shortness of breath; wheezing; cough; swelling of face, lips, tongue, or throat; or any other signs.
- If you have a brain infection.
- If you are breast-feeding or plan to breast-feed.
This is not a list of all drugs or health problems that interact with this drug.
Tell your doctor and pharmacist about all of your drugs (prescription or OTC, natural products, vitamins) and health problems. You must check to make sure that it is safe for you to take this drug with all of your drugs and health problems. Do not start, stop, or change the dose of any drug without checking with your doctor.
What are some things I need to know or do while I take this drug?
- Tell all of your health care providers that you take this drug. This includes your doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and dentists.
- You may bleed more easily. Be careful and avoid injury. Use a soft toothbrush and an electric razor.
- You may have more chance of getting an infection. Wash hands often. Stay away from people with infections, colds, or flu.
- If you have high blood sugar (diabetes), you will need to watch your blood sugar closely.
- Have blood work checked as you have been told by the doctor. Talk with the doctor.
- Talk with your doctor before getting any vaccines. Use of some vaccines with this drug may either raise the chance of an infection or make the vaccine not work as well.
- This drug may cause harm to the unborn baby if you take it while you are pregnant.
- Use birth control that you can trust to prevent pregnancy while taking this drug.
- If you are pregnant or you get pregnant while taking this drug, call your doctor right away.
What are some side effects that I need to call my doctor about right away?
WARNING/CAUTION: Even though it may be rare, some people may have very bad and sometimes deadly side effects when taking a drug. Tell your doctor or get medical help right away if you have any of the following signs or symptoms that may be related to a very bad side effect:
- Signs of an allergic reaction, like rash; hives; itching; red, swollen, blistered, or peeling skin with or without fever; wheezing; tightness in the chest or throat; trouble breathing, swallowing, or talking; unusual hoarseness; or swelling of the mouth, face, lips, tongue, or throat.
- Signs of fluid and electrolyte problems like mood changes, confusion, muscle pain or weakness, a heartbeat that does not feel normal, very bad dizziness or passing out, fast heartbeat, more thirst, seizures, feeling very tired or weak, not hungry, unable to pass urine or change in the amount of urine produced, dry mouth, dry eyes, or very bad upset stomach or throwing up.
- Signs of infection like fever, chills, very bad sore throat, ear or sinus pain, cough, more sputum or change in color of sputum, pain with passing urine, mouth sores, or wound that will not heal.
- Signs of high blood sugar like confusion, feeling sleepy, more thirst, more hungry, passing urine more often, flushing, fast breathing, or breath that smells like fruit.
- Feeling very sleepy.
- Not able to move.
- Feeling confused.
- Change in balance.
- Seizures.
- Very bad headache.
- Very upset stomach or throwing up.
- Feeling very tired or weak.
- Very bad dizziness or passing out.
- Memory problems or loss.
- Any unexplained bruising or bleeding.
- Swelling in the arms or legs.
- Shortness of breath.
- This drug may cause very bad and sometimes long-lasting nerve problems. Call your doctor right away if you have change in eyesight like loss of eyesight; change in hearing like hearing loss; not able to control bladder or bowels; burning, numbness, or tingling in your hands or feet; or muscle weakness.
What are some other side effects of this drug?
All drugs may cause side effects. However, many people have no side effects or only have minor side effects. Call your doctor or get medical help if any of these side effects or any other side effects bother you or do not go away:
- Dizziness.
- Feeling sleepy.
- Upset stomach or throwing up.
- Feeling tired or weak.
- Headache.
- Constipation.
- Diarrhea.
- Belly pain.
- Back pain.
- Not able to sleep.
- Shakiness.
- Not hungry.
- Joint pain.
These are not all of the side effects that may occur. If you have questions about side effects, call your doctor. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects.
You may report side effects to your national health agency.
How is this drug best taken?
Use this drug as ordered by your doctor. Read all information given to you. Follow all instructions closely.
- It is given into the spine.
What do I do if I miss a dose?
- Call your doctor to find out what to do.
How do I store and/or throw out this drug?
- If you need to store this drug at home, talk with your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist about how to store it.
General drug facts
- If your symptoms or health problems do not get better or if they become worse, call your doctor.
- Do not share your drugs with others and do not take anyone else's drugs.
- Keep a list of all your drugs (prescription, natural products, vitamins, OTC) with you. Give this list to your doctor.
- Talk with the doctor before starting any new drug, including prescription or OTC, natural products, or vitamins.
- Keep all drugs in a safe place. Keep all drugs out of the reach of children and pets.
- Throw away unused or expired drugs. Do not flush down a toilet or pour down a drain unless you are told to do so. Check with your pharmacist if you have questions about the best way to throw out drugs. There may be drug take-back programs in your area.
- Some drugs may have another patient information leaflet. If you have any questions about this drug, please talk with your doctor, nurse, pharmacist, or other health care provider.
- If you think there has been an overdose, call your poison control center or get medical care right away. Be ready to tell or show what was taken, how much, and when it happened.
Consumer Information Use and Disclaimer
This information should not be used to decide whether or not to take this medicine or any other medicine. Only the healthcare provider has the knowledge and training to decide which medicines are right for a specific patient. This information does not endorse any medicine as safe, effective, or approved for treating any patient or health condition. This is only a brief summary of general information about this medicine. It does NOT include all information about the possible uses, directions, warnings, precautions, interactions, adverse effects, or risks that may apply to this medicine. This information is not specific medical advice and does not replace information you receive from the healthcare provider. You must talk with the healthcare provider for complete information about the risks and benefits of using this medicine.
Last Reviewed Date
© 2019 Wolters Kluwer Clinical Drug Information, Inc. and its affiliates and/or licensors. All rights reserved.


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Friday, September 18, 2015
Recount Tree Structure (Not The Actual Writing)
This week for our writing task, in our literacy class, we have been working on writing a recount. This presentation is to show you what we've learnt about how to write a recount. In our literacy groups, we've used a word that helps us to write a perfect recount which is T.R.E.E. The T stands for title, R is Reveal, E is events and the other E is ending. We all are still trying to finish off our actual writing and I'll make sure to post it up whenever I can. Thank you for reading my blog!
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