Hers is a name to remember. Nadia Abu El Haj is a Professor of Archeology at Barnard College in New York City. She is on a tenure track and is currently being reviewed for tenure.

There is a growing concern among some activist Jewish organizations to oppose her being granted tenure. Ms. Abu El Haj’s claim to tenure is based on her single published work; Facts on the Ground: Archaeological Practice and Territorial Self-Fashioning in Israeli Society. The book claims various “Proofs” that the Jewish Kingdoms in the Land of Israel never existed. The Jewish activists are in arms against her and her “Work” on the grounds that it is not only a flat out lie, but that it is a lie of the magnitude and scope of Holocaust Denial. This is a justified argument, as is the claim that her “research” includes unattributed quotes to unnamed “experts” in the field. These are the Red Flags in Academia. I will say it simply: Nadia Abu El Haj is a liar!!! (come sue me).

What you must know about her claims in her book, is that they are not an attack against the Jews. The Islamic Lie, which Nadia Abu El Haj is expounding includes a claim that there never was a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem; that the Haram-esh-Sharif never was the site of a Jewish Temple. The concept that there was no Jewish Kingdom is an assault on Christianity. Dwell on this thought: If there was no Jewish Kingdom, what did the Romans conquer? If there was no Temple, where did Jesus pray? If there was no Jewish Kingdom, there could not have been a Jesus.

The Islamic Religion and philosophy, while claiming common ancestry with Judaism, and Christianity, concurrently denies the existence of either in any historical context. This is a part of the de-ligitimation of any Religion but Islam.

I call on all true Christians to join the opposition to the granting of tenure, and even to the continued employment of Nadia Abu El Haj. Liars are not good role models for our children.

The proper decision in the tenure case of Nadia Abu El Haj is dismissal. Make your opinion known to the administration of Columbia/Barnard University, in New York City.

You may not know who Genarlo Wilson is. If you don’t recognize that name, you probably won’t recognize the name of David McDade either. Allow me to fill in some blanks.

Genarlo Wilson is incarcerated, sentenced to ten years in prison for having engaged in consensual oral sex as a seventeen-year old. His partner in that act was fifteen at the time. Genarlo has been in prison for three years less one month.

Since Genarlo’s conviction and sentencing, the case has become famous in Georgia. The case has become such a cause célèbre that Georgia passed a law which would make Genarlo’s crime punishable by no more than one year in prison. This new law failed to explicitly include Genarlo Wilson, and thus does not cover him.

Now it is time to be introduced to David McDade. Mr. David McDade is the Douglas County, GA District Attorney, prosecutor of the Genarlo Wilson case, and a distributor of Child Pornography.

According to a report published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Mr. McDade claims that he had to release the video: “McDade told the Associated Press that he was required to release the tape under the state's Open Records Act because it was introduced as evidence at the trial.”

“The tape” was a home video made at the [party] where the incident occurred, by one or more of the participants. Perhaps it was originally a “tape” but according to reports, including a report by Neal Boortz on his syndicated radio program, the CD was mailed to nearly everyone in the media. What this means, IMHO, is that the District Attorney should be arrested as a prime suspect in the Federal Offense of Production and Distribution of Child Pornography, including whatever offenses were committed by “mailing” [if that is how they were distributed] that same child pornography.

Again, IMHO, it is unconscionable that the District Attorney should be allowed to skate on this act. I also suggest that all members of his staff and/or whatever outside contractors who had a hand in the production also be indicted, and arrested if warranted for participation in the violation of Federal Child Pornography Laws.

The Talmud teaches us: If justice is not applied to any one, then justice is not being applied to anyone.

I know I could do a better job. The first thing I would do is hire Steven Spielberg. We won World War II because of Popeye and all of the rest of Hollywood working for us. We did it at a time when Hollywood had nearly one millionth of the technological power it has today. Today we really could win the war very quickly, and here is my two part plan on how to do it.

As I began, first hire Steven Spielberg and have him produce films for the War Effort. Not Popeye again, though. This time I want to produce films of Zawahiri and Bin Laden. It should be a cinch to make a film of Zawahiri conceding defeat. A film in which we see and hear him in his own voice say that Islam and Al Qeda are both the wrong path. We can see him come forward and admit that Democracy and Freedom are what Allah really decreed. To cap it off we can have him standing in his camp and slicing of a piece of roast pig from the Bar-B-Que and eating it. Spielberg can do it so convincingly. He can do it so well that Zawahiri will believe he did it. I remember Forrest Gump.

A short “smuggled video” in which Zawahiri calls some of the leaders to come to visit him in which he gives the location and time of the meeting, would do wonders. I can see it now, in my mind’s eye. Why not? Are we afraid of offending him?

We could leak the “secret tapes” of Bin Laden in Guantanamo, where he has been since the first days of the Afghan war, to the New York Times and NBC. If we chose those outlets, they wouldn’t even have to be faultless. Those two sources never check for authenticity. We could easily prove that all the tapes, audio and video that have purportedly been released by Al Qeda were falsified and we can raid the studios in Afghanistan and arrest the actors.

Finally, Mr. Chertoff, I thought that you were on the right track when you said “I have a gut feeling.” When pressed, I would have given some raw meat to the dogs. I would have told them that we have infiltrated five Terrorist cells in Chicago but we are not arresting them yet, as we are building our cases against them. If pushed, I would tell the press about the six cells in Los Angeles and the five cells in Brooklyn. As an aside, I would then offer leniency to any cell members who were willing to come forward and turn “state’s evidence” against the other members of these cells. I would reply to further questions, that we have other cells in other location that we are aware of and that we are currently monitoring them closely.

In six to nine months the war would be over and Steven Spielberg could go back to hugging Lefties.

Secretary Chertoff, in war it is ok to lie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuI2tjJxlv8

The link above is to the first part of a six part series of YouTube® submissions. The six comprise an authored documentary, by journalist Richard Littlejohn in which he investigates the rise of anti-Semitism in modern Britain. I urge you all to watch all six. Each episode is near ten minutes run time, so we are talking about an hour of well spent time IMHO.

I watched the six episodes one after the other this morning. I couldn’t tear myself away from it. Part of why I was drawn so deeply into it was my experience as a substitute teacher in the Duval County Public School System, where I was abused by students on an almost daily basis and never supported by the administration.

I wear a “kippa” and therefore it was clear to many students that I am Jewish. In nearly every class the first words addressed to me were, “Are you Jewish?” In a way, I considered it a teaching opportunity, and that is what I tried to make it at all times. Some times it was easy, but some times it was not, as the question was posed with open hostility by one or more of the students. I was never quite sure why my religion was important to the students, and occasionally asked them point blank why it mattered what my religion was.

Those questions were not as troubling as the shouts in the hallways of “hey you got the Jew Teacher today,” or the couple of absolutely excessive incidents which happened in two separate schools, but which summed up the “welcome” given a visibly Jewish person by students in the schools. The first of the two incidents culminated with a student leaving the classroom shouting at me claiming that he had nothing to learn from a @#$@#ing Jew, and that I should get my butt [edited by townhall] to church. I reported him and nothing else happened to my knowledge.

The second incident occurred in the schoolyard of a school named after a prominent Jew. From nearly three-quarters of the way across the yard, a student shouted at me, “Hey Mister, you a Jew?” being inured to such incidents, I responded with a simple “Yes.” The student then proceeded to shout from that distance, “You are going to burn in Hell! I know, ‘cause my Pastor told me so! You are going straight to Hell!” No teacher, student, or administrator of what amounted to nearly the entire school, attempted to intervene or interfere.

I say all of this as a preface to what is really burning my gut today, after watching that documentary. What really burned me was the lie that was accepted so broadly that it did not need to be spoken! What is that terrible lie that is so widely accepted that clearly it is accepted even by Jews about Jews?

The BIG LIE is that there is something about Israel that we should be ashamed of. Over and over, the discussion moved to the dissociation of Jews from Israel as a way to protect the Jews from anti-Semitism. The clip in which Galloway associates Israel and Apartheid left his bigotry exposed, but also left his claim of Israel’s culpability by virtue of his association of Israel’s actions [unnamed, of course] with Apartheid standing. Over and over the message was clear. Jews should not support Israel! Jews should not support the actions of the Israel government!

I saw two professors from Israel, in Britain trying to stop the Academic Boycott of Israel. They sat there and admitted that Israel has done, I don’t know what, which should not be supported. They were in a long line of Jews and non-Jews who preached this terrible message against Israel with no specific accusation, and with no documentation.

What has Israel done wrong?! Israel’s greatest sin before the rest of the world is its existence. Its sin is its tenacious grip on some semblance of sanity while engaged in its original War of Independence for nearly one hundred years. Yes, I did say nearly one hundred years. The War, Cold, Hot, and Luke-Warm began with the Balfour Declaration, in which Great Britain declared the Jewish State’s right to exist on or in Palestine. Since that date the Jewish State has thrived against all odds, and against all comers.

Israel has done demonstrably less against its enemies than the United States, England, Argentina or the U.S.S.R. to mention a few. Israel’s courts are among the fairest in the world with regard to minority rights.

Israel stands alone in having welcomed boat people from the American debacle in Vietnam, and Black African Moslems from the ravages of Darfur. Israel is the first to ship medical supplies, doctors, heavy equipment and enhanced technology to disasters around the world. This is done with no litmus test as to the politics or religion of the government in power where the disaster occurred, or the wealth or “alliance” of the government. This includes shipments of Medical aid and disaster relief to victims of Hurricane Katrina, which was promptly refused by the U.S. Government.

When Israel assumed control of the disputed territories as a result of Arab aggression against Israel, conditions there were appalling. The Refugee Camps were indeed Refugee Camps. There were tents; no potable water system; no electricity; no sanitary sewage; no medical infrastructure, and; as Sheikh Jaba’ari used to cry – no colleges. Israel built all of those things. There was no economy in the disputed territories. Israel built that too. The standard of living steadily rose for “Palestinians” under Israel. It plummeted when the PA was given autonomy to administer the disputed territories.

I am proud of the actions of the government and people of Israel for the most part. Where Israel failed, is with its own Jewish population. Israel displaced thousands of Jews from their homes of over thirty years to unilaterally realign Israel’s borders and has not yet resettled most of them.

The problem with my problem is that the Lefties and the Righties both aren’t crying about the Jews. They are crying about the “poor Palestinians” who are oppressed by the State of Israel. They are crying about the treatment of Terrorists by Israel’s courts which sentence them to jail terms and not death. They are crying over stupid Rachel Corey who committed “suicide by tractor” to make a political statement, as the tractor was razing the home of a terrorist. They are whining about how Israel is standing in the way of Peace, not only in the Middle-East, but in the entire world, by not “allowing the Palestinians to govern themselves.”

I know that the world is not fair. I know that I will be called an [expletive deleted] Jew until I die. I choose to do it as did Daniel Pearl, who with the knife on his throat said: “I am Jewish. My Mother is Jewish. My Father is Jewish.” Yes, I would rather die beheaded like Daniel Pearl than castrated like Steve Centanni.

I am having a hard time understanding what is going on in this world right now. There are several different issues which are fighting to get into this computer from the tips of my fingers. I, for my part, am mostly fighting to keep these ideas in some semblance of order.

To start at the beginning, we are at war! It does not matter if we are prepared to declare war against our enemies; they have declared war against us!

We claim to support the spread of “Democracy” throughout the world and especially the “Middle East.” We do this as we support such noted “Democracies” as Bahrain, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Iraq, and most recently, the defeated Fatah-led PA in the “West Bank.” When we do not support such “Democracies” we rant and rave and wring our hands while in the amazingly difficult position of sitting on them. Among these, we must include, Lybia, Algeria, Syria, The Sudan, The Lebanon, and Afghanistan. As is common when someone stands to express thanks to various organizations, I find it necessary to apologize to those states, (rump or otherwise), whose names I didn’t mention despite how much they deserve to appear in the list, if not at its head.

Officially, the government of the United States, and a remaining few other states, for whatever motivation, would like to “end the Arab-Israel conflict.” While they express this idea, and thereby take what they assume to be the “moral high-ground,” they think that the way to moderate this conflict is through a policy of “moral equivalency.” Still, they ask Israel to show its sincerity by “giving” and it doesn’t matter what, to the sworn enemy. It also doesn’t matter what the enemy does in response. Historically, each time the Arab side has not responded to the “gifts” which Israel has been forced to give, Israel has been asked to “give” more.

I am aware that some of you are looking at the list of our “friendly Arab Democracies” and wondering why Iraq is on that list. All of those states practice anti-Semitism as public policy. Iraq’s new constitution, which we helped write, grants the right of return to all Iraqi expatriates, whatever, except for those who are Jews. Saudi Arabia does not allow American Jewish servicepersons to enter their country. None of the countries listed or not allow for citizenship for Jews. The so-called Palestinians refuse to allow Jews to live among them, but require that Israel, (for as long as it exists), allow Moslem Arabs to remain in Israel and have full rights of citizenship, as well as a “right of return” which remains mostly undefined.

Jews, as well as Christians, (usually said in a mumbled whisper), are subhuman sons of dogs and pigs. All of the world which is not under Moslem (read Sharia) controlled rule, is considered as Dar El-Harb or Land at War. And yet, in Darfur, Moslem Arabs are wantonly killing Moslem Africans; in Malaysia, Moslems are killing Christians, and others; in England Moslem Arabs are attempting to kill whoever happens to be near; in Pakistan, Moslems are revolting against the “friendly Democratic government;” in Iraq, Arab Moslems are fighting and killing Arab Moslems, and not just on grounds of “collaboration with the Crusaders,” (Crusaders meaning us); in France, Moslem youth are regularly burning cars and attacking other people, notably Jews, but not exclusively, and; The United Nations, Human Rights Watch, the Red Cross, Amnesty International, British Academics, British Doctors, various Christian Churches and various other NGOs and activist organizations are boycotting, divesting, excoriating, and blaming Israel.

Where have I gone wrong?

What is the mission of a Jihadist? To understand this we must understand a little more about Islam than most non-Moslems do.

As non-Moslems, most of us consider our Religion as a framework for our own personal actions. Christians, I have been told, desire to do their best to emulate The Christ as they understand the life he lived, (through the filter of time and translation). Jews also are instructed to live their lives in accordance with rules and directives which they believe have been transmitted to them by The Creator in a lineage which they consider to be both traceable and unbroken across more than three millennia. Both of these religions focus on individual commitment to self-improvement as a path to individual redemption and salvation. Even the Christian, sometimes coercive, proselytizing efforts are theologically and philosophically based in the idea of “passing on the Good News” and allowing others to “benefit” from the message. We know that at times these efforts extended beyond arm bending, but the philosophical cover was always one of “sharing” the “Good News.”

Other religions throughout the world are even more inwardly directed than these two, though not all religions share the definition of “good works,” which is at least similarly constructed in Judaism and Christianity.

Islam also views itself as a framework for one’s own personal actions. Additionally, however, Islam views it a communal imperative to conquer the entire world in an effort to bring the “rule of Allah” to all humankind. Not only is redemption and salvation in question, but in most views of Islam even elevation to human status is dependant on one’s acceptance of the “only true religion.”

Islam takes the very long view of this world conquest. The requirement which each devout Moslem has is to advance the conquest by his own actions. Symbolic of this is the “stoning of Satan” which is a part of the ritual of the Hajj Pilgrimage to Mecca. The pilgrims throw stones at a pillar representing Satan in this ritual. They know, as we do, that their stones will not topple the pillar, but they also know that they are “wearing it down.” Some day the pillar will fall.

Did it matter that the car bombs in London didn’t explode? Did it matter that nobody was killed in any of the three incidents in Great Britain this weekend? Of course, in the Islamic view it didn’t matter at all. They caused great havoc and fear among the Infidel. They succeeded in creating “terror” in the hearts of the unworthy. The pebbles which they threw against Satan hit the mark although they didn’t topple the pillar.

Expect that there will be more pebbles cast at the Great Satan and the Little Satan, and that they may or may not hit, but in the Moslem view, the Satan pillar must eventually topple.

We, the non-Moslem World must realize that this is the nature of the war that we are in, whether or not we wish it. We must understand it, and we must develop a way not only to rebuff the attacks of the Moslem world, but also to devise a way to win this war.

The title of this piece consists of the names of five captives whose status can be defined by the Hebrew phrase “Assirei Tzion,” which means literally Captives of Zion, but refers to those being held in captivity for the sake of Zion.

Gilad Shalit was a corporal in the IDF at his post in Israel when he was abducted by a group of terrorists just over a year ago and dragged into Gaza where he is now being held in a pit. His captivity is almost Biblical. His brothers came to free him, but it was too little and too late to save him. Perhaps he will be brought to Egypt and will save us all.

Eldad Regev, and Ehud Goldwasser aka Udi, were abducted on the Northern border when a group of terrorists crossed into Israel territory and kidnapped them. They too are still being secreted after nearly a year and after a war which was supposedly fought to free them.

Jonathan Pollard sits in a federal prison in the United States where he has already served more time than any other convicted spy. Jonathan Pollard spied for Israel while working for the U.S. Government, and has been sentenced to life in prison. As I already said, spies for other countries have been freed or exchanged in less time than Jonathan Pollard has already served. He should be freed; he should be free, having been already freed.

The last prisoner on my list is the Prime Minister of the State of Israel, Ehud Olmert. Mr. Olmert is a prisoner of the Peter Principle. Under ordinary circumstances, if there is such a situation ever, in Israel, Mr. Olmert would never have become Prime Minister. He was put into this position by the circumstance of the stroke which did everything but kill the former Prime Minister, Gen. Ariel Sharom. Be that as it may, how he got there is not as important as how he does and what he does while he is there. Jonathan Pollard was already a prisoner when Mr. Olmert took office; he will still be there when Mr. Olmert leaves office. Mr. Olmert has done little to free the three other named Prisoners of Zion, and what he did was hampered by his own captivity. Ehud Olmert is NOT made of the stuff that Prime Ministers are made of. He is a party hack, not a real leader or innovator. He doesn’t even have sense that Levi Eshkol had before the Six Day War, (now forty years ago), when Eshkol gave up his position as Minister of Defense, which he held in addition to his position as Prime Minister. Under pressure, Levi Eshkol gave up the position to the best man for the job at the time, Moshe Dayan.

In Mr. Olmert’s defense, I must note that there is no clear individual or group of individuals who CAN do what needs to be done in and for Israel today. What is clear, to those of you who know something about Israel is that I left names of my list. If I were to add the names of the other captives of Mr. Olmert’s lack of any idea of what to do, I would have to add the names of all the citizens of Sderot, and all the displaced persons who were removed from their homes and livelihoods when Arik promised them the world and Israel peace.

Free all the Prisoners of Zion before you free a single convicted Arab Terrorist. Don’t meet with the minor, defeated terrorist in the West Bank. Don’t give Abbas money or guns or even the time of day until you have liberated the Prisoners of Zion.

Earlier today I was reminded of a particularly nasty case in which I was the only witness for defense. I proposed a single, and in my mind simple, question to the prosecution. Although I never received an answer per se after a brief pause from the prosecution’s side, all charges were dismissed. The question I posed then is the same question I pose now: “Where is the rule/law that requires this?”

In Gaza the fighting is still going on between various “Palestinian” Terrorist groups. The absolute truth at this time is that we, the West, the U.S., Israel, and the EU have no dog in this fight. Simply put, I already know the outcome of the fight and am willing to give odds to anyone foolish enough to bet. The winner will be a group of Terrorists. Further, whichever group of Terrorists wins their agenda will include the “liberation of all of Palestine” which is Arabic for “destroying Israel.” Their agenda will also include attacks on “the Great Satan” which is Arabic for “the U.S.” but you already knew that, I am sure. The third part of their agenda is to bring “peace to the entire world.” Although I list this as third on their agenda, it is actually first, and the other two points are steps toward achieving that final magnificent goal.

The only acceptable translation from the Arabic for “peace in the entire World” is bringing all of mankind to accept Allah as expounded in the writings of Muhammed and his successors. Repeatedly we have received instruction and warnings that unless we all accept Islam, and worship Allah as prescribed we will be killed by believers, who are given full and absolute rights to do so whenever and however they choose.

The blood hasn’t dried on the streets of Gaza; the items looted from Yasser’s home haven’t yet been sold on Ebay; the smell of gunpowder and the wailing of widows has not abated, but George W. Bush knows what Israel has to do now. Israel has to support the terrorist who has been vanquished from Gaza, as his defeat has proven that he is “moderate” (whatever that means), and a worthy “partner for peace” (whatever that means). Israel has to give Abbas money, and weapons, and “wide-ranging concessions” which include promises to dismantle established communities, and freeing an as yet unknown number of duly tried and convicted prisoners from Israel’s jails on the grounds that they are Arabs. The only good part about this whole thing is that Abbas lost, since it is obvious that the President of the U.S. would do the same for Hamas if they had lost.

What are the rules applicable to international treaties and agreements today? Here they are:

Rule 1: At the end of any conflict, no matter what the outcome or who the participants, Israel must cede land to Arabs.

Rule 2: Any agreement between Israel and any Arab organization, or Arab dominated organization, (including but not limited to any Arab State, the UN, and the Red Cross), or any agreement between the United States and any Arab dominated organization, as above, is only binding on Israel. Any items in such agreements which appear to be binding on the non-Israel side to the agreement are to be considered at most to be recommendations.

Rule 3: Israel must understand that Israel is to blame for every death to anyone who claims blood ties or even friendship with Arabs within a radius of 20,000 Kilometers from the center of Tel-Aviv. This rule specifies Tel-Aviv since the BBC has been recently forced to apologize for reporting that Jerusalem is the Capitol of Israel. It offended too many of the LOYAL British Terrorist Spawn in Londonistan.

Rule 4: It is required that any negotiation must include the phrases, “freedom for Prisoners” (although this may be switched to “prisoner Exchange” from time to time), and the phrases “dismantling of settlements” and “liberation of Palestine,” within the first paragraph. Any deviation from this rule would make the agreement null and void upon the non Israeli side, although any punitive (toward Israel) sections would still be enforceable even if no agreement is reached. This is above and beyond the application of Rule 2 above.

A very long time ago; longer than I care to remember, though I remember it as if it were yesterday, I attended Stuyvesant High School in New York City. In biology, (a required class), we occasionally amused ourselves by trying to sell unwary students a specimen which we assured them contained “the oldest amoeba in the world.” The trick is that every amoeba is the oldest amoeba in the world. Amoebas multiply by division, (a thought we carried over to math class).

I still like riddles and puns and other amusements for the educated, and so I pose this to you, “what is the different between a radical terrorist and a moderate terrorist?”

Clearly, the difference is that the “moderate terrorist” hides his explosive belt under a suit jacket, a clean white shirt and a tie.

Over the past weekend, we witnessed the political version of amoebas multiplying on two fronts:

In the first instance, Hamas threw El Fatah out of Gaza. Almost immediately, the world adopted the poor orphaned Fatah, and decided that giving money to El Fatah to “stabilize” the West Bank, was a good idea. I warn you, any version of such an action is the de facto recognition of TWO independent “Palestinian” States. I think that you need to have your eyes closed, plugs in your ears and a very large clothespin on your nose if you want to give El Fatah and/or Mr. Abbas any of my hard earned money. Mr. Abbas, as you know is a “moderate terrorist.” And YES, it IS MY MONEY!! Mr. Abbas is the heir to the late Yasser Arafat (Y”S), who first promulgated the idea of a “moderate terrorist by addressing the UN in New York with a machine pistol tucked into his waistband under his military style jacket. He also is one of the first to promote division as multiplication, as well as “plausible deniability” as the CIA would call it. When any members of El Fatah “went too far” in fighting the “war of liberation” and incurred the wrath of the West, Arafat would cut them loose and give them special funding. Suddenly there was “another group of terrorists, worse than Fatah” doing things that made Arafat look like a statesman.

And now the United States is “urging Israel” to send money, and open the borders with Mr. Abbas’ State on the “West Bank.”

The second incident over the weekend was the firing of “only 2 Katyusha” rockets into Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel. According to Hisbuller sources, they didn’t do it! Wow! Another previously unheard of group of (I guess), “Extremist Terrorists” did it, and the ever-trustworthy HizBull(S___)ers had nothing to do with it. Let’s look at this another way. Who is the real government in Southern Lebanon? Do you believe for a nano-second that some other group could have brought in a Katyusha launcher and fired it? Let me go to the closet and try to find my gullible face.

I urge the President to stop all aid and encouragement to ALL Terrorists and Terrorist facilitators. Don’t support the less terroristic! Support Israel! Israel supports the U.S.

And one more thing, according to the Balfour Declaration, and the League of Nations proclamation, it is ALL to be used as a Jewish National Homeland. How many slices do you wish to give away, when it isn’t even your cake?

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Or, what is a terrorist?

I find it interesting, though not amusing to watch the news these days. It seems that there is a problem with two words in common usage in the news; these words appear to be interchangeable, although not quite. These two words are, of course, “terrorist” and “militant.” To some degree, I am in favor of making the two synonymous. Its most favorable effect is that as these people blur the line between the words, they undermine their own attempt at soft-pedaling terrorism and/or terrorists. On the other hand, there is some perfidy in the use of “militants” when speaking about “terrorists.”

Why do they do this? The CNN answer is self-preservation. CNN has repeatedly stated that they self-censor their reports from the “middle-east” because to do otherwise would endanger their reporters. I give them some credit for their honesty (at least in reporting their dishonesty). Of course, jeopardizing the security and safety of the rest of the world is what they are trading for the safety of their reporters, and I am not happy about that at all.

That they (CNN) have admitted their censorship, however, puts them ahead of FOX, which can’t quite decide what to call the people in the “camps” in Lebanon who are, it seems, in open insurrection against the legitimate Lebanese government. FOX often flips and flops even in the same sentence. Is this the doing of the Saudi Prince who holds a minority share of FOX? FOX of course has the distinction of having on its staff a “knife-point Muslim” reporter as well as a “knife-point Muslim” cameraman. Steve (Muhammed) Centanni is no longer reporting from the “Middle-East” but he has not taken any public steps to disavow his conversion.

All of this leads to an interesting situation. Reporters and camera crews are shepherded and their output is managed in areas where the “militants” control their safety, but are allowed to roam freely, speak to and report on what they choose from the only true democracy in the “Middle-East.” The reason that they have this freedom is that Israel is a FREE Society, and FREE Societies don’t usually put lots of restrictions on the FREE Press.

I don’t think that I can do anything to help or “fix” these “so-called” news outlets that place the safety of one or two or even ten reporters ahead of my safety, or that of the entire rest of the world. I do have a piece of advice for them though. It is advice which relates to an observation by one of the founding fathers of this great country. Ben Franklin is quoted as opining that a stopped watch is better than an inaccurate watch in that you can be sure that it is telling the exact time twice a day. From that piece of wit and witticism we can deduce that news which may be tainted by considerations for the safety of the reporter(s), has no value, in that we never know when we can trust it.

We worry about hostages. Our thoughts move to the edges of darkness and we try to understand what hostages are going through in their captivity. We think immediately of torture and discomfort. We mortify ourselves dwelling on our inability to release our comrades from captivity. We, in fact, are the hostages!

That last thought is the reason for taking hostages. When I first joined the U.S. Army I learned that on a battlefield a wounded soldier is worth between four and five [dead] soldiers. A wounded soldier cries out to his/her comrades. A wounded soldier needs immediate attention. A wounded soldier often needs to be evacuated from the field of battle.

A final contribution of a wounded soldier to the enemy effort is a little more complicated, in that it deals with the complicated psychology of soldiers. A wounded soldier effects what psychologists call “the cloak of invincibility,” which, psychologists agree, is what allows people to function on a battlefield. Every soldier must believe in personal invincibility to function. While others may be killed to the right and to the left of him/her, (s)he must continually be reassured of their own invincibility. Another soldier, among his/her comrades being killed or injured can either bolster this feeling or weaken it. The soldier not hit will either say, “You see, even when they are hitting people all around me, I am unscratched,” or “They are picking us off one at a time and I must be next.”

A hostage is just like a wounded soldier on the field of battle. A hostage differs significantly from a “prisoner of war.” A prisoner of war has certain rights guaranteed by international convention(s). Hostages are a distinct category in that armies don’t take hostages; nor do civilized governments. Hostage taking is the civil crime of kidnapping by another name. In wars or other military actions, hostage taking is done by paramilitary organizations, and not by armies.

In a kidnapping it is common to “make demands” on the family for something that the kidnapper(s) want. Even in the Middle East, the earlier hostage takings were preludes to demands for some form of ransom from the families or governments interested in the release of the hostage(s). Today, however, it seems that hostage takers have become a bit more sophisticated in their demands.

Let us look at two current hostage situations:

1. In a roadside attack, three American soldiers were taken hostage by person or persons unknown. This, in itself, is an interesting development in the Mid-East, as perpetrators have regularly boasted immediately after each and every action either as a part of a recruiting effort or merely for publicity. The ransom demand, in this case also was delayed at least several days. When it arrived, the ransom demand was that the “foreign invaders leave,” which is a demand very unlikely to be met. This demand may, in fact, be considered to be fictitious but presented as a means to continue publicity of the incident. The U.S. military has not only stated, but also taken action in line with its resolve to find the kidnapped soldiers. The military is conducting broad search sweeps into areas where they suspect that the hostages might be being held.

After the military began the large scale actions to find and liberate the kidnapped soldiers, the kidnappers announced that unless the search was called off, they “would not be able to guarantee the safety” of the hostages. This is an interesting statement, but note that it translates to “if you get close, we will kill them.”

After nearly two weeks of U.S. operations searching for the hostages, a body was found. The purpose of this dead body was to remind the American military (and the American people), that the hostage takers are in absolute control of the fate of the hostages. It is obvious that the “wounded soldier” effect of hostages is only a working analogy as long as we are unsure of the fate of the kidnapped soldiers. Secondly, the lack of any videos or sound recordings of the hostages indicate the precarious position of the hostage takers; they fear the identification of hide-outs by sophisticated analysis tools available to the Americans.

Let us subject this situation to a “cost-benefit analysis.” What is to be gained by the hostage takers continuing to hold these American soldiers, and what is to be lost?

Gains:

1. 1. Diversion of American/coalition forces.
3. 2. Diversion of American/coalition attention from other operations which the hostage takers may be planning.
5. 3. Anguish to not only the troops in the field, but also to the citizenry, who are not too sure about this war.
7. 4. Possible negative effect on the “cloak of invincibility” among the troops.

Losses:

1. 1. Concentration of American/coalition forces on areas where the hostage takers are active.
3. 2. Diversion of American/coalition civilian attention from the debate as to the nature/purpose of the war.
5. 3. Reinforcement of the perception that the “enemy” is bad/evil/wrong/barbaric chose which you will.
7. 4. Increased protection of American/coalition forces in the area; “hardening of targets.”
9. 5. They only have two hostages now, and can only use each once as a dead body.
11. 6. So far, the forces engaged in the search operations have captured/killed nearly one hundred anti-Iraqi fighters as a “collateral benefit.”

2. Over a year ago, a group of terrorists attacked an Israel Defense Force post and captured Corporal Gilad Shalit. As in the case above, the group responsible has not identified itself definitively. In this case, though, that is merely a technicality. Who kidnapped and is currently holding Corporal Shalit is well known, at least to the Palestinian Authority. Despite repeated disavowals of complicity, the PA; both Hamas and Fatah have repeatedly had contact with the kidnappers, and have advised Israel of the safety and health of Corporal Shalit.

With the Shalit kidnapping, initially there was no ransom demand, although a ransom is being negotiated between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority in a mode called “back channel.” What Corporal Shalit’s kidnappers want is all the benefits of a kidnapping. In Israel there is an added factor, in that on some levels Israel functions as an extended family. Gilad is every Israeli’s son, as are the other two hostages, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser (who were captured later by the Huz’ballers). This is visible in that while the American soldiers are anonymous and will remain so until they are freed or found, Gilad, Eldad and Ehud are all known throughout Israel and a large part of the world. Israel is a society with very little anonymity.

In the earlier example I built a “Cost-Benefit Analysis” for the terrorist action of kidnapping. It was not by any means extensive nor comprehensive, but just using the points made above, let us see how that matches up with the situation in Israel.

Gains:

1. Diversion of IDF forces is not happening. In fact the IDF’s forces and attention appear to be concentrated on attempts to effect the release of the hostage(s).

2. Diversion of IDF attention from other operations which the hostage takers may be planning is not occurring. IDF actions against all flavors of Palestinian terror activities as well as military threats from Israel’s neighbors continue as in the past.

3. Anguish to not only the troops in the field, but also to the citizenry, who are not too sure about this war. While Israel has been in a state of war with its neighbors for even longer than it has existed as a Modern State, there is much doubt in Israel as to the conduct of the Government and/or Military Leadership.

4. Possible negative effect on the “cloak of invincibility” among the troops. This also exists in Israel. It is being felt at a National level, beside the individual level common on the battlefield, it is also being felt on the political front as a threat to the Olmert coalition government.

Losses:

1. Concentration of IDF forces on areas where the hostage takers are active. While this is a possible losing outcome, the IDF has not conducted the type of search operation that the American/coalition forces are conducting in Iraq. This type of sweep/clearing operation might be in the works for the near future though it would come under the banner of an operation to stop the missiles being fired into Sderot on a daily basis.

2. Diversion of Israel civilian attention from the debate as to the nature/purpose of the war. Actually, in the case of Israel, the kidnappings and their consequences have driven public debate on the affectivity of the Government/Military Leadership. The attention to this debate in Israel is the equivalent to the diversion of attention from the debate in the U.S.

3. Reinforcement of the perception that the “enemy” is bad/evil/wrong/barbaric chose which you will. This remains true in Israel, although Israel is a very special case in that in all polls from the earliest, in 1948, Jewish Israelis consistently bear less animosity against Arab Israelis and/or Palestinians than do Arabs/Palestinians against Jews/Israelis.

4. Increased protection of Israel positions in the area; “hardening of targets.” Although the government has been loath to protect Sderot and other targets within Israel, it seems that the government is now coming around to some organized “hardening” in response to public pressure and Hamas demonstration of newer longer range rockets which have landed close to Israel’s major power station in Ashkelon.

5. They have three hostages now, and can only use each once as a dead body. In Israel, a live Israeli is always important to the government and to the public in general. There are many other Israeli soldiers in the hands of the enemies of Israel, and Israel has had a policy of trading large numbers of convicted felons for very small numbers of Israelis held captive. In addition to this, the bodies of dead Israelis are historically traded in prisoner exchanges at the same (extremely unbalanced) rate as live Israeli captives.

6. So far, the forces engaged in the search operations have captured/killed hundreds of anti-Israel fighters as a “collateral benefit.” In fact, the combined operations in Lebanon and in Gaza have caused large numbers of casualties on the Palestinian side and relatively (numerically) fewer casualties on the Israeli side.

My solution to the situation with regard to the taking of hostages and dealing with hostage taking is simple to state and difficult to effect. When I served as a prison chaplain in Arizona, and in Georgia, one of the first documents I was required to sign was a simple statement of policy by the respective prison systems. The document stated clearly that if at any time I were to be taken hostage no effort would be made to affect my release. All efforts would be directed toward bringing the perpetrator(s) to justice, and if that lead to my release, that would be OK. In short, hostages must be accepted to be dead from the moment that they are taken, and all efforts must be directed toward the capture and punishment of the hostage taker(s). This is sound policy from a law enforcement viewpoint. While on one level we must continue to consider that all hostages are still alive until it is proven otherwise, we must not allow our concern for the safety of the hostages to limit our efforts to capture and punish the hostage takers.

This is what we must do and how we must act for our own sanity. This may to some degree dissuade hostage taking, but considering the social-religious-political background of the hostage takers in these two incidents, we cannot hold out a lot of hope that we can cause these specific groups to stop engaging in practices which are not only condoned from the pulpit, but are encouraged. We may eventually win if we maintain our strong will, but we must realize that this enemy is a massive international NGO. They are at war with us and we must be at war with them. It is a war for our own survival.

One of the favorite arguments of the people in favor of “Immigrant Rights” is puzzling at least, and a very good example of faulty reasoning. Here it is:

“These are just peaceful, hardworking people who are doing the jobs that Americans won’t do.”

Many years ago, I heard a great motivational speaker who was recruiting for a Multi-Level Marketing organization. He opened the meeting by holding up a toothbrush and asked “Who among you would be willing to take this toothbrush and clean bathrooms with it as your full-time occupation?” Not a single hand went up, although some nervous giggling did break out among some of the people in the room. His second question was “Who among you would be willing to take this toothbrush and clean bathrooms with it as your full-time occupation,” he paused, and then added, “for $100.00 per hour?” The hands shot up across the room so fast that some people might have hurt themselves. Americans will do any job for reasonable pay; or as above, for outlandishly high pay.

What does it mean that “these people only do jobs that Americans won’t do?” It means that these people are in fact, stealing jobs from Americans by “underbidding” them. As an employer, would you hire a field worker for $5.00/hour whom you could fire at will, who would have no recourse against you if you don’t provide sanitary facilities, clean drinking water, and provide for their safety from agricultural chemicals, or would you prefer to pay $10.00 or more per hour with benefits, and guarantees of other rights under U.S. and State laws? The answer that the growers give when confronted by this question is simple and I have heard it often enough to believe that they believe it. The growers say, “If we had to hire Americans, lettuce would cost $10.00 a head.” What they are asking for is a permanent underclass. In their minds, they need cheap labor to succeed in their business. Cheap labor is by [their] definition labor under the rate at which an American would agree to work. What the growers want is “slavery;” what the “illegals” “want is to become Americans.” What is so important to the “illegals” about becoming Americans? In part, it is the ability to demand fair wages and benefits. If the “illegals” become legal, they will need to be replaced by others who would be willing to “underbid” them. The “illegals” are not worried about this, since they will be able to “move up” to better and better paying jobs. This is what happened with all the “illegals,” who were granted amnesty under President Ronald Regan.

As an American, can you support a policy which, under the guise of – I am not sure what – will institutionalize Slavery in the United States in the 21^st Century?

Look at it from another perspective. If the “illegals” disappeared tonight, what would happen? The jobs would be filled at higher wages by Americans for a short while, and then another solution would be found. Today we have machines that pick cotton faster and better than people used to. We have those machines, in part because we no longer have the slaves that we had before the Civil War. We adjust. We change how we do business so that we can continue doing business under changed conditions.

The history of the industrial and the so-called post-industrial era is one of moving dangerous, difficult, unhealthy jobs from people to machines. Each time we do this we move the threshold higher and higher for job safety, and health concerns for our workforce. Keeping “Illegal Aliens,” or other unprotected semi- or complete-slaves on [off] the books, is a stagnating force in our society. It works against every part of our economy, and even more than that it tears at the moral and ethical fiber of our country.

We cannot accept the phony compromise legislation now being proposed in Congress. It is our American duty to stand against this foolish plan.

I was born in New York City in 1945. By the time March 13, 1964 rolled around I was 18 years old. Kitty Genovese was 28. I remember it as though it was yesterday. Kitty Genovese was killed in front of her apartment in Queens. Lots of people were getting killed in New York; it wasn’t per se something special that a good looking 28 year old was killed and raped in queens. What was special was how she was killed.

Catherine Genovese, who will always be remembered by New Yorkers as Kitty was stabbed to death in front of her house by an attacker who repeatedly stabbed her and returned two more times to her after walking away to his car. While Kitty was being attacked she was screaming for help. Her neighbors, some awakened from sleep at 3:15 AM opened their windows, and then closed them. It was reported at the time that some of them shouted to “keep quiet.”

Nobody called the police. Not one single person called the police. The story ran for months. How could people, her neighbors, turn a deaf ear, “not wanting to get involved?” The conscience of the “city that never sleeps” was awakened. There is no person who lived in New York at that time who would let it happen again.

So what happened in Detroit the other night? It wasn’t the same thing. What I saw on the tape was one thug beating up on an old man, and a bunch of thugs who supported the activity, not only with their silence, but by actively milling around in the area to “call Chickie” as we used to know it in New York. When they catch the thug who was beating on the old man I want them to catch the others and try them all for not only conspiracy, but for active participation in the felonious beating of a senior citizen and War Hero.

There is no similarity between what happened in Kew Gardens in March 1964 and what happened in Detroit in May 2007. I have seen enough thugs in action to know that these guys milling about were just covering for the cowardly carjacker. There was no consideration in the mind of any of them either for the law or for the old man being beaten.