The Night The Ambassador Was Killed...by Jamil Shawwa

The killing of the US ambassador to Libya yesterday night, the day America Commemorates the 09/11/2001 tragic terrorist attacks, should not pass with the regular and routine condemnation;its much bigger and grander than that. Not Enough that President Obama issued a strong obituary for the ambassador's death AND condemned the attack and asked to increase security for the embassies around the world; the crime is beyond it. It is about the questionable lack of anticipation and preparations to what looks like now to many as something that was expected. But even if it were not expected-for the sake of argument- but it should have been, due to the magnitude changes in that part of the world, where the newly elected governments of Egypt and Libya, continue to try to make “democratic statements” by allowing groups and individuals to break every law, to attack every place they do not like and jump over the walls and fences of embassies burning properties and disgracing flags and as in Benghazi killing the ambassador in premeditated action. Then  the event gets stronger consequences and have loads of more questions about how the US is perceived to encourage lawlessness in the Middle East in the name of democracy. But things even get worse, instead of just addressing the murder of the ambassador, president Obama said that the relations with Libya will not be threatened by this murder; how come, and how wrong. The issue this morning was not the relations with Libya but what is the US doing to protect its  diplomats and ambassadors in areas that are not stable and where security is obviously and well known not to be found, not enough, or lack of it is on purpose allowed. The demonstrations started earlier in Cairo Egypt, where the Egyptian government allowed demonstrators to climb the embassy walls, and burn the US flags and replacing it with flags of hate, that they called falsely flags of Islam. So the US had ample time between then, giving the administration the ultimate benefit of the doubt, to prepare for what was to be in Libya; the symptoms were  the same and the movements were the same- even as we speak more information came in that the administration was expecting an attack or said to expect that mobs, criminals, would take advantage of  protests for Egyptian American producers showing an insulting movie about the Prophet Muhammad, to attack the consulate in Benghazi. In Egypt the reaction from the Obama administration was complacent, almost nothing, no reaction for attacking the embassy- the embassy issued a statement condemning hurting the emotions of the Muslims by individuals showing a movie claiming it represents Prophet's Muhammad life, which is good but in the same time the embassy should at least have urged the Egyptian government to act and protect its walls and flags. The libyans took it further, no reaction in Cairo, then go for it in Benghazi, they fired rockets and grenades and suffocated the ambassador whom reports said went with three other individuals to Benghazi to save the consulate- went alone, no security details, no libyan escorts, nothing. I do not believe this could have been worse, three or four individuals going to a chaotic, lawless area, trying to save something that should have been in the first place saved by the marines inside the consulate and the Libyan security forces outside. Well, forget about the Libyans for now, but the Marines. America by being hypocritical to the negative side and lawlessness of the  Arabs rising in Egypt and Libya and elsewhere, is not providing service to anyone, not to itself, nor to the fledgling democracies there. Embassies should be protected and can be protected and we have the know how and the intelligence resources to protect even in chaotic places; for God’s sake, the Middle East is as a whole a well monitored American piece of real estate. Things happen, for sure, but what happened yesterday is an act of weakness or complacency on the part of the US or both and this needs to be corrected. Complacency to chaos and terror, historically, for long run,  never paid off.

An Evening with Barack Obama ...by Jamil Shawwa

During their national conventions in Tampa Florida and Charlotte North Carolina to nominate their nominees for president, The Democrats sounded Republicans and the  Republicans  sounded Democrats. Historically, the Democrats were more on social and less on defense and power, and the Republicans were less on social issues and more on defense.The Republicans at their convention did not even mention troops or Iraq or Afghanistan, as if they were ashamed of the progress on war on terror and the demise of Bin Laden, thinking thanking the troops would mean an automatic recognition of Obama's effort. The Democrats took the opposite direction, they linked the progress America made on the war of terror with the progress it made on the economy-today's unemployment report and yesterday's Dow surge helped their argument. And although Bin laden is gone, the war on terror continues and in progress, same on the economy and the bailout of GM and the auto industry. Although is done and GM is moving and profiting, the job on the economy is still not where of needs to be but progressing. All the speeches and especially those of Bill Clinton and Joe Biden highlighted the theme which is forward and personally I think that the case was made, and the defence attorneys have leveled the field for the lead attorney, Obama, to take the ball all the way and score a touchdown  unless something drastic happens in the coming couple of months or Obama falters in the debates or the message gets for whatever reason, sidetracked. 
Here are the highlights from Obama's acceptance speech yesterday in Charlotte North Carolina:

10. Obama talked as a leader and not as a politician tonight.
9.Obama asserting leadership by saying he is no longer just a candidate, he is the president..
8.I will never turn Medicare into a voucher, Says Obama
7.America is Christians, Jews and Muslims, says Obama.
6. Made in America is back in business says Obama.
5.We reinvested a car industry that is back on top of the world; Says Obama
4.We will maintain America as the strongest power on earth, says Obama.
3. Al Qaeda is on a path of defeat and Osama Bin Laden is dead, says Obama.
2. We reinvested a car industry that is back on top of the world; Says Obama.
1.Clinton and Biden leveled the field for Obama; so smart strategy, now Obama is talking point by point on how he is going to keep moving the country forward.

Desmond Tutu...The Loss of Respect...by Jamil Shawwa

Desmond Tutu, the former Archbishop of Cape town, South Africa, came up a day or two ago with an idea that it seems hit his aging brain all of a sudden, and out of the blues and after almost ten of years from the inception of the event that he is protesting now. He is calling for bringing Tony Blair, the former British prime minister and George W.  Bush , the former US president, to trial before the International Criminal Court for the war in Iraq. Wow, The Archbishop  is losing sight and losing focus and eroding the respect he earned over the years fighting apartheid in Africa. He thinks that for him to come again on world stage, he needs to find something big, international, huge, that of course has to involve the US, otherwise, no one, in his mind, would pay attention. He is talking about Iraq after almost 10 years of the end of the tyrant there and leaving his own backyard suffering under the dictatorship of his comrades at the ANC. Tutu feels that defending the poor, black miners, of *Marikana is not worthy of his stellar name and stellar reputation. Desmund Tutu needs to take a turn, a sharp turn, if he wants to earn back the respect he once had and he needs to focus on the atrocities of the ANC inside South Africa, on the miners that got killed in Marikana South Africa, on the injustice that the majority cries every day, some even say that the days of the apartheid were better than the days of independence and the rule of the majority.


*http://arabamericanwire.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-loss-of-ancsouth-africas-tragedyby.html

Safe Havens in Syria; multiple ones by Jamil Shawwa

The following are posts and notes I placed in Jamil Shawwa's ArabAmericanWire Group on Facebook about  safe havens in  Syria. I think a safe haven along the Turkish border is very practical and attainable. Syria will not dare to attack, because it would result in the immediate defeat and crush of the Syrian army. A political decision has to come and be made and  an agreement among permanent members of the Security Council of the UN, before such events take place. No country in the Middle East is by itself and alone, a policy maker for the Middle East.

From 06/26/2012

http://www.facebook.com/groups/jamilshawwa/permalink/439355646098840/

Syria updates today;

Turkey now is at the forefront, on behalf of NATO, confronting Al Assad in Syria. The escalation in the tone of Turkey's Erdogan after Syrian forces downed a Turkish jet fighter, shows clearly that a Turkish role in ending Al Assad is something that is in the books. Turkey could easily move in and occupy a borderline and with Syria's free army, creates a safe haven as Benghazi was in Libya. Actually this is not a bad scenario ...the Summer of Syria is underway ..

From 07/17/2012

http://www.facebook.com/groups/jamilshawwa/permalink/448894558478282/

Syria's Updates... Happening now...

The liberation of Syria from Al-Assad is underway, Reuters just distributed that the Free Syrian Army is converging on Damascus and the fighting is intensifying..The Summer of Syria is at the horizon. Using helicopters to kill the innocent is the straw that will break the Camel’s back for Al-Assad and it will allow NATO to move in, or the UN or a regional arrangement for Turkey to at least create a safe haven and then move in and clean and fumigate Syria from Al-Ba’ath, the dictatorship of the sect the Alwais and Al-Assad family. Witness history in the making...

From 08/11/2012

http://www.facebook.com/groups/jamilshawwa/permalink/457953944239010/

Hillary is holding talks in Turkey today to discuss the Syrian revolution and met with figures from the Free Syria Army, also discussed safe haven within Syria..via The Washington Post.

my note:

The summer of Syria is moving from speculating and waiting to preparing and ending and finalizing a roadmap to create a safe haven inside Syria. Check my posts and the group from yesterday, and mainly from 06/26 and 06/28 regarding the role of Turkey and my note about creating the safe haven as a prelude to liberate Syria from tyranny and Al Assad. I personally cannot see anything done, if something needs to be done, without a safe haven, at this point, or two by the borders of Jordan and Turkey. Turkey though can be done in moments if the green light to Turkey to move on is provided.

Israel vs. Iran...Nuclear Powers in the Middle East...by Jamil Shawwa

In an article published yesterday in the Washington Post, *link attached, the Post's Ombudsman highlights in my opinion two important points, the first one is it ok to discuss the State of Israel nuclear power, and the second one why are we, the world community, quiet  in regard to Israel’s nuclear power and very aggressive on Iran’s nuclear potential. The answer to the first question is yes, it is ok to discuss Israel's nuclear power, like any other country. The answer to the second question is, the article highlighted it in part as well, that Israel is not a signatory country to the Non-Proliferation treaty and accordingly it does not need to allow inspection as Iran needs to; Iran is a signatory. Another reason here is that from Israel’s perspective it is surrounded by hostile countries, including Iran that its rulers and religious dictatorship threaten the State with all kinds of harms and showcase their hatred to the country-at least publicly. Once Israel and the Arab and Muslim countries become formally and publcly in peace, Israel’s nuclear know how will, I'm sure, be shared and benfit other interested countries in the Middle East. In this regard, check my post from 07/29/2012 on facebook Jamil Shawwa’s ArabAmericanWire Group
http://www.facebook.com/groups/jamilshawwa/
*http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/patrick-pexton-what-about-israels-nuclear-weapons/2012/08/31/390e486a-f389-11e1-a612-3cfc842a6d89_story.html

An Evening with Mitt Romney ....by Jamil Shawwa

Here are the remarks I made last night on Facebook and twitter during Mitt Romney's acceptance speech before the Republican National Convention in Tampa Florida, to be the Republican Party presidential nominee this coming November.

The Finale note was the following:

9-A business presentation, again, and not a political aspiring leadership speech..Mr. Romney put on a show tonight, but he did not move me with specific plans, with concrete ideas, that I as an average American, can relate to. Mr. Romney is a good guy, a good family man, a good man for his church, and his community and to Bain and to Wall Street, but Mr. Romney tonight is not to lead America in the next four years..more to come, and next week, is Obama..

8-I think Romney could be a great CEO, maybe, but president, well, big if, and big ? He sounds robotic, not empathetic and not connecting. Romney sounds nice but too Robotic for America and the world, too business like to take care of people..

7-Romney now is saluting Neil Armstrong who passed few days ago. Neil Armstrong was part of the US government program to space. Romney talks about America as if it is a land run by itself, by business, no government, no nothing..

6-Romney when talking about jobs loss, ignores the role of greed and shortsightedness in corporations. The problem here is not really the government, its the corporations..

5-Romney says that Americans always felt with special kinship to history.

4-Poor Romney, it is not in him, he sounds nice but overwhelmed, he thinks he is better off working behind the curtains and not in front of a podium on a stage.

3-Romney said that he accepts the nomination for president of the United States and then put his head down..

2-Romney enters the room, see I told you, Rubio responded to the signal to cut it short, he went on and on about himself...

1-and in relation:....someone just signaled to Rubio to shut..enough, and he nodded back..

today's update:

Those were the highlights, and its up to each one of us to make up their own conclusion, to connect the dots  or to read over and over, or not...but the bottom line to me as a voter was that Mr. Romney did not tell me how he will move America forward, and how he , as he claimed, will create in four years 12 million new jobs. and how he would solve Medicare, and how he would protect the Middle Class. I did not see a political landscape, I only saw a sales man trying to sell himself to an audience that was willing to believe anything he says as long as the name Obama was in it...

Jamil

* price Tag in the West Bank...by Jamil Shawwa

I mentioned before, few times, that when it comes to the Israeli Palestinian relations, and interactions, and ” incidents and accidents”, in the West Bank and Gaza or in the State of Israel, I take no other choice but  a very careful approach on how to analyze and how to describe.

I personally cannot just isolate an incident, no matter how big or small, from the big picture of the Israeli Palestinian issues, and the Israeli Arab and Islamic countries future relations and the overall politics and history of this conflict in the Middle East. According to this report from the *Washington Post, link attached, the Israeli prime minister Bibi Netanyahu and his deputy, Moshe Yaalon, described the attack by settlers near Jerusalem on the Ghayada Palestinian family on 08/22/2012- Jamila Ghayada in the picture- as “act of terrorism” .

The family is being treated now in Israeli hospitals as the picture and the Post report clearly show. The Palestinian leadership is absent, as usual, from a reaction to this attack or coordination in the West Bank with the israeli side to draw lines, or something, that would make both the settlers and the Palestinians safe. **The settlers’ situation is not settled yet, but it should be. And the Israeli society is fed up with a fringe among the settlers who are attacking their own military and government.

A group that is willing to terrorize their own Israeli citizens-Operation Price tag which is derived from a term that setters will revenge for Israelis killed by Palestinians in settlements in the West Bank, check links below-  to gain political landscape or to blackmail for what should be negotiations over the final status and the establishment of the Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank. Again, Israeli settlers in the West Bank can and should be able to have dual citizenship, if they choose to do so, and live as Israeli Palestinians in the West Bank. 

The new Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank could with the state of Israel become the two countries that actually have large populations of the three divine religions live side by side, next to each other and in each other, and having the citizenship of both states.

*“price tag,” a campaign of retaliation against Palestinian violence or Israeli policies they view as limiting their efforts to claim what they see as their biblical birthright" http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/settler-violence-against-palestinians-raises-alarm-in-israel/2012/08/24/14511b7e-ec77-11e1-a80b-9f898562d010_story.html

** Settlements.... by Jamil Shawwa
http://arabamericanwire.blogspot.com/2010/09/settlementsby-jamil-shawwa.html

Anders Breivik; The Face of Terrorism..by Jamil Shawwa

Do you want to see and know the different sides and faces of terrorists these day; just take a look at Anders Breivik. He killed and slaughtered  humans that he never met, never talked to, they never harmed him, they never knew that he existed. But he knew where they were, and out of sick hatred and fanaticism, decided to massacre them. They, the families of the  victims today, did not get justice, they got some sort of closure, and this killer,  from Norway, Anders Breivik, got a presidential media coverage, and exposure and oh, yes, 20 years in detention where he will be fed and treated well, and taken care of and pampered....I wonder if justice in Norway was served today.

Related:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57499614/norway-court-anders-breivik-sane-going-to-prison/ 

http://arabamericanwire.blogspot.com/2012/07/america-americagun-control-is-out-of.html

The Loss of the ANC....South Africa's Tragedy..by Jamil Shawwa

The killing and murder  of over 30 miners in Marikana, South Africa, last week was the straw that broke the camel's back.

It was a  premeditated murder from the police in this South Africa's city.  Shooting to kill innocent, poor, helpless, desperate miners...Even during apartheid, South Africa was not that brutal. It is a shame that needs to be investigated and those perpetrators need to be brought to justice.

This incident is a stain not only on the government of South Africa and the idiot that calls himself president, Zuma, but it is a stain on South Africa's historic leader, Nelson Mandela. It is Mandela's party and his men, that shot to kill. Mandela needs to issue a statement even at this stage of his life and at this time of his retirement. It is a responsibility that historic leaders must take in any country as long as they are alive.

I think its time for South Africa to declare a popular revolution against the tyranny and corruption of the ANC, The National African Congress, the one that ended apartheid but started a parallel system of the defunct apartheid.

ANC enslaves the majority of South Africa, same as another “ liberation” leader is doing in Zimbabwe. I really think Africa needs to revolt; terrible situations everywhere, corruption in in the richest Nigeria, South Africa is corrupt and diseases infested, Zimbabwe is terrible, the white minority there is facing prosecution and nationalization, so instead of white discrimination, now blacks are discriminating. Liberate Africa now from the Africans, and give it back to the Africans..

Read also:

*FIFA South Africa........... by Jamil Shawwa

and a report from the Washington Post today.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/south-african-mining-unrest-spreads/2012/08/22/622a4202-ec9b-11e1-aca7-272630dfd152_story.html

Britain and Ecuador; No Morality but Settling Accords..by Jamil Shawwa

Obviously and historically, we can easily come to the conclusion that there is no lost love between the British and their "friends" across the oceans  in South America. It was the Falklands in 1982, and now the Swedish Assange, the creator of Wikileaks, who was indicted in England, in London, on sexual assaults and was supposed to be extradited to Sweden to stand trial for the alleged crimes he committed while he was in his home country. Instead, he managed to fool the British, somehow, and escaped to the Ecuadorian embassy and asked for political asylum. Of course Ecuador has nothing to lose, and Britain has everything to lose from this humiliating episode. The least, of course, its prestige, or what is left from it.  Ecuador on Thursday, raised its finger in the face and the prestige and the legal system of Great  Britain and granted Assange Asylum on"moral" grounds as its president, Correa, claimed. Of course morality has nothing to do with it, But being on the spotlight and having Ecuador, that probably you only hear of it, never, everything to do with it. Today in a meeting in Quito, the capital of Ecuador-Ecuador so far is the one calling the shots, as if the matter did not take place in London and as if it does not concern the British- for Foreign ministers of the neighbouring countries, all have the same lost love with Great Britain, when the Ecuadorian president suddenly joined the meeting-sure, it's such an opportunity, world media is on him- and repeated the " high grounds of morality" that demand that he stands for Assange...by the way similar calls are being heard by some Britons in England. So we have a "standoffish" now that should end from a legal point of view, according to my understanding, in Britain not granting safe passage to Assange. But politics, usually, plays or it has the upper hand in final outcomes like this one. The US is silent, publicly, which is understandable because Assange is wanted here to stand trial for leaking our correspondence that we did not know how to protect..How will it be resolved depends on Britain’s resolve.. and how it will handle. Let us see if *David Cameron will repeat the Margaret Thatcher’s bold Falkland episode but this time instead of sending the Armada eight thousand miles to Argentina, he will send British Swat team downtown London and restores Britain's lost prestige.

*Café au lait ………………………………..The Evolution of David Cameron
http://www.facebook.com/notes/jamil-shawwas-report/caf%C3%A9-au-lait-the-evolution-of-david-cameron/321129437945098

Theodor Herzl and Abdul Rahman Al Kawakibi...by Jamil Shawwa

In English, and poetic lines in Arabic, below, the describes a conversation between Al Kawakibi and his book of Reform..


There was a time in the early 20th century when very few individuals inspired nations to build or rebuild their countries and nations, and to do good and not evil for humanity. The people of the State of Israel in the Middle East had Theodor Herzl, the Palestinians in the very same Middle East  and the very same timeframe did not have anybody. Israel grew and thrived, and the Palestinians are still trying to figure out how to dig tunnels in Sinai to smuggle “stuff”. In 1947, the UN granted two people, two states, one accepted and build a country and a nation, and the other blindly and arrogantly and ignorantly, refused- since then the palestinians have been bought and sold by their own. And since then, the Palestinians have been using the same  brand of hypocrisy but instead of the model of the 1947, every year, the same model, but different year attached to it and that model did not drive to a state. Syria also was inspired by a reformer  by the name of Abdul Rahman Al Kawakibi, from Aleppo, the battlefield city now of the final days of a tyrant named  Al Assad. Al Kawakibi called upon his people in the very early years of the  20th century to rise, and to do good for themselves, to kick the oppressors, their own Syrians, out of their minds and hearts, and to kick fear away and build a secular, democratic country. He was only one, and could not mobilize anyone. Herzl mobilized the world. Al Kawakibi could not, not out of deficiency in him, but out of deficiency in his people; contrary to Herzl. Here it is, in Arabic,...meanwhile, I have no doubt that in Heaven Herzl now is congratulating and shaking Al Kawakibi’s hands.....and Al kawakibi is returning the favor.. The poetic lines are about a conversation that I wrote between Al Kawakibi and his book, about a bid they both had that things will change and that the oppressors will disappear from Syria..the Title is “Al Kawakibi Smiles...”

الكواكبي يبتسم ......
بقلم جميل محمد الشوا

فجاة ظهر الكواكبي بعد طول غياب و ليس نسيان
وابتسم و فكر و نظر و مسك كتابة و كلم كتابة
وقال لكتابة اللي بصبر بينول
وانا صبرت, ازا بتتزكر الرهان اللي قبل مية سنة تراهنا علية


..كتابه رد علية وقال له, يا مصلح, انا بتزكر بس لسه القمر ما طلع و لا هل..
رد الكواكبي و قال,ما تتهرب يا كتاب
القمر قبل ما يكون قمر, بيكون هلال
اطلع فوق, الهلال نور و طلع,
و قول يا كتاب, هل ممكن يطلع قمر من غيرهلال....

جميل

A Contract with the House of Windsor...by Jamil Shawwa

In the US we  started to watch the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics few hours after the actual ceremony took place. NBC wanted as it did with the opening ceremony to have the events broadcasted in TV prime time in America, which translates to  8:00 PM-tons of commercials and business. A little background information. Great Britain decided as it did with the opening ceremony, to honor its history. And to honor the House of Windsor. In an era where the royals have become more and more irrelevant, the House of Windsor reinvents itself and now Britain cannot imagine its existence without the House of Windsor. In such a showcase of loyalty to history, the British today as they did seventeen days ago, have renewed the queen’s and the royal family contract with Britain. This London 2012 Olympics to the British was about an empire that was and has been, about a history that will never repeat itself except in James Bond movies and videos of John Lennon, and recordings of Winston Churchill. But it was also a contract for the future, the future of the royal family and what it means to them. The British in the London 2012 Olympics told the world that in every one of them, in their DNA, there is a sample from the House of windsor, an image that reminds them of who they are, and who they have been. The British, with all their old and new ethnic mosaic, feel that their identity, self respect, existence, is connected directly with these royals, with the future of the royal family, with William and Kate and Harry and even with Pippa..I mentioned before that England every now and then shines, but in all the occasions that it shined, those occasions were somehow connected with that sharp little old lady with the silver hair, that was escorted seventeen days ago from that old office in that old palace, in that old city, by that old loyal agent, James Bond, and was parachuted, or her substitute, it does not really matter, to the new olympic field, and appeared in her new designated box, and did not smile, but looked very seriously, to a world that her family built over centuries, passing by her, giving her one last hurrah..

Buddhists and Muslims in Myanmar....by Jamil Shawwa

I'm getting first hand exposure on this tragedy that has been going on in Myanmar for actually almost two hundred years. Based on reports, the Muslim minorities known as the Rohingya, in the Arakan state, have been denied citizenship and basic human rights since the province officially has been part of Burma, Myanmar now. According to news reports, the recent tragic escalations and bloodshed in the relations between the majority Buddhists and the minority Muslims started when three Muslim men allegedly raped a Buddhist woman. The president of Myanmar, Thein Sein , today, said that the bloodshed is not sectarian but it is about revenge. The Noble Prize winner and human rights worldwide famous Suu Kyi is not involved and does not want to be involved, based, again, on reports. Basically and by taking first look, obviously, there is tragedy and injustice, somewhere and somehow, more to come.. Status updates via VOA, Pakistan Daily times, The Nation and others.

The Monkey In The Middle …....by Jamil Shawwa

I was so naive, thinking that I can set in peace, try to chill, and mind my own business, for a change, that  all of  sudden  I  was awoken by a loud shout out, but not one of those motivational  shout outs for doing a good job, no, but a shout out that beneath it  lies  events that need to be unfolded and completed. The kids had a conference, not sure if the evil power was part of it, but the decision was to reject and deny daddy  moments of peace, harmony and tranquility that I thought that I can smuggle away for myself for just few moments or so. The kiddies, God bless them, refused to leave me in peace, of course not, daddy in peace, no way, must interrupt the old man’s thought process and quietness.. and they shouted again, no, this time, they gave an order, in a unified voice; hey, daddy, come over, so this time I jumped and I complied without questioning, bad habit- but I did not want to shout back, I'm trying to reduce the shouting process in this household- and went to the shouts source and looked at them in silent protest, and  without moving my lips, but with anticipation like George H. W. Bush, Read My Lips, to the democrats, but instead of the lips, I used the eyes, I thought my looks would substitute for my hesitation to ask, expecting as usual something that might not be in my best interest...They looked back in challenging eyes and started, and said, come and play with us, we are playing Monkey in the Middle and we want you to be the Monkey. I said first thanks for the compliment, Monkey is not bad after all, I expected a worse term, a  favorite animal of mine that I often use to describe “ smart” politicians and it starts with the letter "Jack", but thanks God, this time I was spared the resemblance and the reminder. I said ok, what is monkey in the middle, do I have to dance or something or sing, or what. They said nothing of that and those things that you have mentioned are the last  things  we want you to do. We heard you singing and we saw you dancing and they rolled their eyes, looked at each other and back at me and said, all you have to do is to stand in the middle and try to catch the ball that we are tossing back and forth. Ok, I thought, not bad, it could have been worse, like asking me to go for ice skating or something but monkey is ok, monkey is good. And I stood in the middle, baffled, expecting the worse, again, looking  like Peter Sellers in that scene in “Shot in the Dark”, when he went to arrest an alleged perpetrator and found himself in a Nudie Colony and did not know what to do. Anyway, the middle it is, a good place to be, you can see how the ball is going and where and why, you can see the parties playing the game, but there is a problem which is that you need to focus on the ball and not the players, because if you have more than two players, which is how it is usually with a game like this, you cannot keep swinging, or circling to see who is doing what, but if you  focus on the ball up in the air, it is much easier to catch, and once you catch the prize, I mean the ball, then its your turn to be on the aisle and throw the ball to the other parties like Ping Pong and the monkey in the middle is like the net in the middle. Middle Grounds, is it good or is it bad, usually you do not get paid to be in the middle, but you get the joy and the freedom, but then, once you catch the ball, if you choose to catch it or if you get an invitation to be the monkey in the middle and take turns, you are no longer in the middle but you are a party of a game from the inside and not from the outside, so its like a cycle or a circle, it does not have clear rules, except for playing the game, and exchanging roles back and forth....and everyone at some point has to be the Monkey in the Middle..of course that is if you decide to catch the ball and not just standing in the middle avoiding on purpose or not, catching the ball..

Mosque in America; Joplin, Missouri Style... by Jamil Shawwa

Multiple domestic terrorists/criminals/mentally sick, hitting people and targets in the US; a Mosque in Missouri that keeps “getting burned” after a federal judge said that its ok to build a Mosque in the community of Joplin. *The second, a terrorist, criminal, mental case, call him whatever you want, goes to a movie theater in Aurora Colorado and kills dozen and injured dozens. A confirmed domestic terrorist, gender and race self- claimed supremacist, goes to an American temple, Sikh, Indian, and kills people. So what do we make out of these incidents, all besides the perpetrator, show complete incompetence in predicting the times we live in, the necessity to have some sort of security and surveillance, you cannot depend on the goodwill of the people, although the “normal” are the majority humans all over the world. **As for Joplin, the State of Missouri and the FBI need to provide - if proven there is criminal motives behind the fires and there is based on the evidence and facts from the FBI itself-, protection for this place of worship and place of God, or the Mosque and the community need to create some sort of surveillance or community protection. The time is now for America to
have its eyes wide open; terrorism does not have a specific shape, or color, or background, or religion; it comes in all colors and all sizes and all shapes.

**facebook from 07/18/2012 http://www.facebook.com/jamil.shawwa
*ArabAmericanWire from 07/30/2012 America America; Gun control is out of Control by Jamil Shawwahttp://arabamericanwire.blogspot.com/2012/07/america-americagun-control-is-out-of.html

Syria's Update Now ….08/06/2012 by Jamil Shawwa

That is it for Syria’s Al-Assad; there is no way that the Summer will end and Al Assad is still in office. The whole regime is collapsing, the top person below Al Assad, the prime minister, ran away, defected today, and few weeks ago, the whole security apparatus, including Al-Assad’s brother in law, the husband of his eldest sister, Bushra, got killed in bombing of their meeting location. The regime is vanishing and collapsing  like tiny soldiers on a Chessboard. Aleppo, to everyone’s surprise, might be the last nail in Al Assad’s coffin. The Summer of Syria is underway, and the Middle East is on a verge for the first time in its history, ready for the historic conciliation among its countries and among its followers, the sons of Abraham, the followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Terror in Milwaukee Wisconsin …...A Crime against America By Jamil Shawwa

We are not talking here about just Sikh, we are talking about American citizens that have been murdered by an American citizen. So the direct motive based on the background of the murdered Americans and the background of the murderer, and the reports thus far, is hate, domestic terrorism based on national origins, ethnicity and way of life, an American way of life, that is the bottom line. This crime  was against America and what it stands for and not just about a Nut going to a temple and commiting a crime.

من شفيقة القبطية لمصر الإخوانية اليوم 08/04/2012 بقلم جميل محمد الشوا

من شفيقة القبطية لمصر الإخوانية اليوم 08/04/2012 بقلم جميل محمد الشوا

شفيقة القبطية النهاردة مصرية...

و لسة كمان، شفيقة القبطية، كانت مصرية قبل مصر ما كانت مصرية...

شفيقة بالصوت اليوم رقعت و ندهت و قالت انت يا عبيد  يا مكرم وانت يا نحاس  يا مصطفي وأنت يا ساويرس يا نجيب..

مين دول، اللي حرقوا و قتلوا و نهبوا و سرقوا  في ابو العلا بولاق ،و  في دهشور وقبل كدة في الزاويه الحمرا وفاسيوط..

نط ساويرس و قال، يا خالتي، و نط النحاس و مكرم و قالوا يا ختي...

بيقولوا مصريين و جدودهم سلفيين..

و الأقباط غرب ماهماش مسلميين و لا مصريين و مصر اليوم إخوانية .وعل جبينها زبيبة  سلفيه...

و شفيقة بأعلي صوت شخطت و بعلو حسها ردحت..و قالت بس ، انتوا إيه اتجننتوا و في دمغاكم اتطاسيتوا وتناسيطوا، إخوان أية و سلف أية و مسلمين بس, ليه..

مش ممكن دانا كنت بمصر الفرعونيه والاسراىيلية  والمسيحية والإسلامية و كلهم كانوا صحاب و خوان و جيران..،

دانا خواتي فاطمة و ماريكا و راشيل...

روحوا قبل الفطار دلوقتي و اطرودوهم، دول أنا فكراهم، من دوقنهم فاكراهم...

روحوا وانا القبطية شفيقة....

عل الفطارفي رمضان للمدفع  مستنية، بس أوعوا في السكة تتوهوا و عن الكنيس و الكنيسة والجامع تزوغوا.

 جميل 

Chick-fil-A Mission; Religious Straight Chicken...by Jamil Shawwa

Chick-Fil-A can probably use freedom of speech in the first amendment to voice opinions, but if and once the company starts to discriminate based on sexual orientation or based on its own religious and political beliefs, then here where advocates can step in and file lawsuits. Nevertheless it is not something that we hear every day or even every decade, that a business would do something like this. We should not probably discard the profit factor here; the owners know based on their calculations that using the religious card is profitable and has been profitable. the owners of Chick -Fil-A are claiming God’s message to increase traffic at their doorsteps.http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-chick-fil-a-day-20120802,0,1647505.story

The Tea Party...a footnote in a footnote...by Jamil Shawwa

The Tea Party Movement in America is nothing but a passing footnote in the history book of  American politics. Such movements appear from time to time in democratic countries as a wake up call, a shock and a serious reminder to the establishment, the Democratic party and the  Republican party in the US, and politicians who get too comfortable and too cozy with politics as usual that they become so complacent with the status quo and become so stale and take their voters and constituents for granted. The Tea Party technically is on the Right of the Right, the Right of the conservative Republican party, and it does have supporters in sporadic parts in America, but nothing more and nothing less. Check it out here on ArabAmericanWire from 11/03/2010 “Report Card To Obama......By Jamil Shawwa”
http://arabamericanwire.blogspot.com/2010/11/report-card-to-obamaby-jamil-shawwa.html