The Snow Rush In Washington DC by Jamil Shawwa

The streets of our capital Washington DC and its suburbs in Northern Virginia and Maryland are bustling with all kinds of cars rushing through the grocery stores, gas stations and hardware stores. The reason, the big snow blizzard that we are expecting Friday and through out Saturday. The Washington Post is already describing the coming snow wave as historic. People are battling the cashier lines at the various places to get away with as much supplies as possible as quickly as possible. Gas stations at full capacity, customers are filling up the tanks just in case they are stuck somewhere. We are buying shovels to clean up the snow from our driveways and we are scanning the TV guides for programs to keep us entertained during the expected snow. Schools have already declared that they will be closed Friday and the kids are the happiest among all with the announcement, they are the only ones- God bless them- that are looking forward for snow day. Parents are panicking not because of the snow but because of the thought of the three days weekend with the kids locked inside the house. Trucks with sand to clean the streets are already positioned in strategic places around the capital and the suburbs ready to go on full speed as soon as the storm hits. Husbands and wives are panicking too not only because of the snow and the kids but also because that they have to be stuck with each other for the duration of the snow. Who knows, maybe this projected storm will bring more people to our earth and country, people instead of thinking of work and going out, will be thinking of love and making out.

*Lingerie Talk------ a rest from politics and Analysis by Jamil Shawwa

She: I am not sure which one to put
He: which do you like more
She: I like both
He: you know, you do not have to put anything if you do not want
She: yeah, you wish, I have to protect my assets
He: from whom
She: from you
He: why
She: because....
He: I understand, you have to keep them intact
She: yes
He I'm not that stupid, I understand their function and importance
She: do you
He: I think so
She: ok, if you say so
He: what does that mean
She: nothing, sorry, I did not mean to hurt your feelings, it was just a talk
He: it is ok you did not.
She: so what do you think shall I go with the black and the hiphunger, or the burgundy and the thong.
He: hiphugger, thong, laces, not sure I am following.
She: oh, you are so ignorant when it comes to women underwear.
He: no, I am not.
She: you even do not know their names.
He: well, I tried to look at Victoria Secret catalogue but they have now ten million names for the lingerie, it is so confusing.
She: only to you.
He: well, what happened to the good old straight forward two piece lingerie.
She: still there, got polished, and you are still the same.
He: oh, now you are comparing me with your lingerie
She: yes, both are attached to me.

*Disclaimer:
For entertainment purposes only
These conversations are not related to any specific person or persons. They are general human conversations from life.

Muslims and Christians in Egypt by Jamil Shawwa

I know enough about Egypt to report that Christians there live by large in prosperity. They own telecommunications companies, real estate, jewelry stores. Among them are top movies and arts producers.

Christian Copts have been political operatives and government officials since Muhammad Ali established the modern Egypt in the early 19th century and they continued to play a pivotal role, yet somehow subdued, after the 1952 military revolution that ended the rule of the Albanian Muhammad Ali family and established a military dictatorship that last until July of this year, when Egypt for the first time in its history elected a civilian head of state and it happened to be from the historically banned group known as the Muslim Brotherhood.

A name that comes to mind of an elite Coptic family is that of Boutros Ghali and his family. The former secretary general of the United Nations comes from a very famous Christian political family; his grandfather was prime minister of Egypt in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

The main problems facing Egypt’s Copts-Muslims relations in my opinion are public relations, perception, and education, until recently, Egypt never celebrated the Copts Christmas day, which takes place every year- Christian orthodox- on January 6 as a national holiday, the Copts, had to take permission from schools to celebrate, had to take permission from the president to build churches and until now it is still not easy to get these permissions.

Egypt in the identity cards still places the name of religion besides the personal information. The education books and the overall mentality focus on that the Christians are somehow different; there is a mixture of jealousy, from their success, to fear. Ignorance plays a great role in showing the Copts as not trustworthy or even as some fanatics in Egypt believe that eating with them would violate some sort of religious rule.

While attending the law school at Cairo University, I had a Christian friend that for four years I did not and did not care to know his religion until one day he mentioned that he is a Christian Copt and I also had a Christian teacher who gave me French language lessons, I did not learn it not because he was not a good teacher but because I was not a serious student. That teacher once invited me to his house over lunch with his wife and two daughters in one of Cairo developments for limited income people. He opened up to me and said that the Copts are ready to fight if Muslims choose this path. I was surprised and did not say anything, he continued to say, and I quote “we will not set still and wait for them to attack”. I once advised Coptic friends that they will never have a full voice in Egyptian politics unless they form a political party similar to that of the Muslim Brotherhood.

If the Muslims can do such thing, why not the Copts, and this way, politics in Egypt will be more vibrant and more accountable to each other, like the system of Checks and Balances here in the US- Egypt style to ensure equal rights and equal opportunities and act as a lobby for the Copts from within. The Egyptian people in general are people of peace, and the majority among them, Muslims and Copts, believe in living in harmony.

The official Egypt though must continue to focus on the importance of tolerance. Having gone through this introduction, I must say that we need to continue to look at the larger picture here and show that intolerance is not unique to this or that part of the world, intolerance and hatred are found in almost every society on earth, of course, there are variations here and there.

In Egypt and the Middle East there is discrimination based on religion or religious intolerance, in other countries there is discrimination based on national origins, ethnicity, or the color of the skin.

Governments cannot erase discrimination by decree, it is a process that has to be part of the evolution of societies to focus instead of what is your religion, or looks to what you can do and how productive you are. What is going on in Egypt could lead to a better Egypt if it is dealt with as a fact and not as something the official Egypt is trying to deny and hide and pretends that it does not exist.

The Monthly Visit by Jamil Shawwa

*She: you are so thoughtless
He: why you say that
She: you yelled at me
He: are you talking to me
She: who else, you are the only one
He: what are you talking about
She: you yelled over the phone
He: the cell phone is not clear; maybe that is why you thought I was yelling
She: it is not the phone; it is you
He: maybe I am loud. Sometimes
She: it is you, your culture; you have no respect for women
He: silence
She: you are all like this
He: silence
She: how would I not know that you did not do this and that… (She accused him of things that legally he could bring before a court of law for false accusations and blaspheming).
He: How dare you accuse me of such things, how dare you talk to me like this. You have no class or respect,
She: I do not want to talk to you
He: bye
She: wait, stop, what I’m talking about, I can’t stop thinking about you, I can not stop feeling you, I do not know you, I never met you, how could I say such things.
He: you just did.
She: forgive me, it was not me talking, it was someone else
He: what are you talking about; it is all there, read above.
She: it is not me; it is someone else, a visitor that comes once a month.
He: silence, puzzled
She: it is this time of the month for me and for every woman
He: pretends that he is still puzzled, silence
She: it was not I that was talking; it was my period.
He: how can I trust that you and your period are not one and the same, how can I trust that this monthly visit will not be a daily routine, how can I trust you any more. You are not predictable, you are not trustworthy, and you are just a roller coaster.
She: I am a woman
He: no more false pretences, no more Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I need to see who you really are, I need to trust that the voice is real and that the face is real. Stop hiding behind artificial things and barriers that you created, stop asking for respect and you do not have respect for others, stop stereotyping.
She: you are asking me to stop being a woman
He: enough! Being a woman has nothing to do with it, stop committing crimes against humanity in the name of being a woman.
She: you are yelling again.
He: I am not, you are not listening
She: what do you want from me.
He: Nothing
She: you want to humiliate me for my mistake
He: no, I want to bring the best in you, if you have it somewhere there hiding. I want to free you from your fears and prejudices. I want to rehabilitate you.
She: why you care
He: I do not know. I have always cared for people; I have always wanted to bring the best in people and sometimes, in the process, some claimed that I have brought the worst in them. I think they just wanted to make an excuse for not being nice.
She: and who brings the best in you
He: I am still searching.

*Disclaimer:
For entertainment purposes only
These conversations are not related to any specific person or persons. They are general human conversations from life.

He is back and He is Rolling, Obama 2010 by Jamil Shawwa

In the previous article, I voiced concerns that I wanted the president to go back to his old self, smart, confident, bold, relaxed and effective. Last night, president Obama did not disappoint me; he was back, the good old Obama that millions of us elected and brought to office in 2008. The president was relaxed, bold, humorous and most importantly comfortable with the setting. He was not intimidated, and he was not timid, he was leading again. The president rallied the nation last night to do what is right in combating the challenges it is facing, health care reforms for all Americans, tax credits for small businesses- the back bone of the American economy, tax relief for families with children, tax credits for students and last but not least our national security. The president made it clear that America's security is not and will not be compromised that America still even during economic difficulties will not be intimated by those that hate our success and those that just try to harm us. Last night, I saw Obama 2008 ready to combat the problems of today. If the president follows through and continues to be his good old self, he will be reelected in 2012. He knows that so far, he at least has my vote.

President Obama State of the Union Address by Jamil Shawwa

Tonight will mark the president's first state of the union address. Our country has a great tradition where governors of the 50 states address their respective states once a year to talk about the political, social and economic situations of their states. At the Federal level, the union level, the president of the United States does the same but on a larger scale and with local and worldviews. In fact, the US president state of the union address should be called state of the world address. our president is really does not talk about the US only but tonight he will report to Congress and the American people on the state of the world. Americans and people from all over the world will be listening to Mr. Obama's first state of the union address. They expect the president to be confident, hopeful, and bold on aggression and terrorism. Americans also want the president to lay out in clear letters, sound voice and optimistic vision his next year agenda. No general themes are ordered tonight, we want specifics. Tonight, might be a great opportunity for the president to gain the momentum he had last year and to regain the hearts of millions and billions of people from all over the world who voted and cheered him into office. Obama, again, needs to be himself, the smart hard working American who made history on 11/03/2008.

The Dialogue continues... She is on the Rebound*

We spoke again, can you believe it, after the conversation that we had yesterday about women beauty. It seems that we got addicted to these conversations. She said, I do not know what happened to me, I can not stop thinking about you, although all your opinions irritate me, and your views of women are so sexist and so selfish. Who gave you the permission to say all these opinions, who gave you the credibility or the credentials that you can go and just say what you said- she is angry and she is repeating herself, it is not my writing. There is something missing here, I feel so attached to you and in the same time, I am so afraid of you. She continued I am having feelings that I have not had in a long time. I thought that I have suppressed those feelings that I have deleted them completely from my dictionary, and then when I started to read your pieces, as they annoying as ever, my whole life has changed, I'm a different woman, a different person, I'm better, I hate to say that, I hate to give you any credit for me being better now than I was yesterday, I hate the fact that I'm wasting my time even sharing with you all these intimate details about my life and feelings. Yesterday I called you and you were having lunch at one of your favorite daily lunch hangouts, you even refused to tell me the name of the place. How could you do that, how could you pretend that I am special, that I am magic and you do not want to share with me where you have lunch. I heard you talking to the server; it seems that you enjoy her company more than you enjoy the food. I felt that I just wanted to jump, come to that restaurant, share your table and just see what you do, what is this routine that you are talking about, what is this precious cycle that you have to go through. Enough, I do not want to read you, I do not want to hear you, you have rocked my life, and you have changed me forever. Say something, connect, please.

PS: As you can see, that was a one sided dialogue, or should we say Monologue. See, I learned my lesson from the other two conversations; never interrupt a woman.

*Disclaimer:
For entertainment purposes only
These conversations are not related to any specific person or persons. They are general human conversations from life.

A Dialogue with a Woman*

She said to me why not taking a break from pretending that you know anything about world politics and talk once on a subject that is close to my heart. I answered your requests and wishes are my orders, what do you suggest. She replied, women beauty, you can pretend this morning that you know something about this subject and let us see how it goes. I answered back after few seconds of hesitation, that this subject is so dangerous, it might be more dangerous that pretending that I know something about politics or analytical journalism. She said, come on, pretend, at least I am listening. I asked with a serious look on my face, are you sure that you can handle this one, you could not handle the other day the conversation we had about bringing the best in you. She said, go ahead, and pretend. I said ok, here how it goes; I am an advocate of a woman natural beauty, no perfumes, no colognes, or any artificial ingredients except for shampoos, soaps, and daily showers and after showers pleasant and soft deodorants with a soft touch of makeup. she interrupted me saying, maybe you are right, I'm already starting to regret asking you about talking on this subject, you are worse in talking about women beauty than you are in talking politics, but go on, continue. I ignored the last statement, collected my thoughts, and said you see I never like women who put water on their hair in the morning to make it look flat or good, I prefer, if anything, for her to take a shower. I do not like Gills, or sprays on the hair after the shower, just dry it well, and maybe use the blower a little. I stopped for seconds to see if she wants to comment but she did not, she just looked at me with her mysterious eyes that can melt the ice cream from the top of the cone, so I continued. I do not like very long hair, I like it by the shoulder maybe a little longer, depends on the face and the height of the woman, I love ponytails, flat, or Carre' but flat if possible tops it all. I like well-groomed women, meaning pedicure and manicure, but all natural, no nail polish, just the natural look of the clean nails. I am rolling here, and my companion is just looking and her facial expressions keeps getting more stressed than ever, but she is not responding, so I proceeded and said that I like other things that would bring the natural magic look of a clean silky skin, no bushes or shrubs all over the place and no shaving tools, just the good old fashion wax. She then started screaming so I stopped and asked her, are you ok, she said no, I'm not ok, you better continue to claim that you know something about politics and journalism, because when it comes to women, you are just out there, nothing, zero. I thanked her for her honest opinion and for listening to me. She replied, do no thank me, I brought it on myself.

*Disclaimer:
For entertainment purposes only
These conversations are not related to any specific person or persons. They are general human conversations from life.

Mixed Signals From and About Gaza By Jamil Shawwa

I have been receiving mixed signals from Gaza, the clear and silky beach city on the Mediterranean shore adjacent to the Israeli shores. The signals indicate and I might be wrong or too optimistic here that there might be some sort of a relief for this poor city- read my previous pieces on Gaza in this site- that has been under siege not by Israel or Egypt as the popular and conventional politics indicate but by it's new residents, a political movement by the name of Hamas and by being Gaza, part of the Palestinian, Arab and Israel conflict. On the larger scale, Gaza is part of another world conflict, which is the struggle of the so-called terrorists groups that take Islam as hostage to cover for their least to say questionable motives and terrorist activities. Another angle that this city is part of is the rise of the Iranian influence in the Sunni Muslim Arab dominant Middle East and the positioning of Iran as the guardian of the paramilitary religious movements such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, certain sects of the Shiite dominated Iraq and the struggle we see in Yemen along the Saudi -Yemen borders with a fraction Shiite group called the Houtheen who struggles with the Sunni dominant governments of Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Iran's influence even extends to the Sunni Hamas, though Hamas is not part of the traditional Shiite alliance but part of the same movement that Iran is nurturing. On the other hand the rise of the liberal Sunni Islam democratic semi European Turkey to balance the influence of Iran in the Middle East. The Arab Middle East right now- The Arab countries have no say or anything- is being dominated or influenced by two regional powers, Iran and Turkey. Iran is taking care of the extremists, Turkey is managing the moderates, and the liberals, See it is not that easy at all. Back to the signs of relieves that I see for Gaza, the first is that Israel as of today's news has allowed the growers of flowers and strawberry to resume their exports from Gaza. This is a very generous sign taking into consideration that the Gaza run Hamas is on the book hostile to Israel and the peace process, although Hamas off record has accepted the peace process that is based on the Oslo agreement signed between the PLO and Israel in 1993, and this acceptance is clear through the fact that it participated in the 2005 elections that was based on that agreement. The other sign is information that I got from a source in Gaza- I'm really not and have not been in touch with almost anyone who is in Gaza except for a cousin or two- that people can not go anywhere, they can not travel, they are under siege except for two things, that they have tons of supplies, food, etc, thanks to the tunnel business, smuggling goods through the Egyptian borders by digging tunnels and sometimes very sophisticated tunnels that cars can get through, and that they have- now and since Hamas took over the city in the 2006 armed fight with Fateh- security. This source is telling me that people can walk, drive and go any where anytime day or night without the fear of being robbed, kidnapped, having their vehicles stolen or just harassed as the case has been when Fateh ruled the Gaza Strip. He also said that Hamas does not allow armed persons except its people and fought and fights other fractions that try to disturb the peace- so ironic, Hamas keeping the peace.
I personally have so far no way of verifying what that source told me concerning security in Gaza. The next sign of relief is the iron cast fence that Egypt- according to news reports from open sources- that is building along the borders with the Gaza Strip- I know it is weird as how a fence can be a sign of relief- which on the other side of the coin could be a start of political movement or indication of the need to shake the stalled situation and maybe push Hamas into accepting or rushing Hamas- who is not in rush for anything actually- to start or finish the dialogue on the Israeli soldier hostage in Gaza and reconnecting with the West Bank Fateh run territory and maybe reuniting the Gaza Strip with the West Bank through a corridor, something. We will see if any of these things ring true or is it as a potential friend said midlife crises I am going through so instead of hitting the Bottle, I am hitting the internet.

Haiti vs. Louisiana

The other day I was having lunch with a friend in one of these cheap Chinese restaurants near my work- not sure why I brought up that it is cheap though it has nothing to do with the subject of this article- the day was rainy, kind of a mixture of ice and snow but it did not last long. We started hitting that buffet, I know why I go there, the service is fantastic, the girls who work there, a Vietnamese Chinese woman and a Salvadorian woman, are just kind and very welcoming- again, I’m being stereotyping here, both are Americans, why would I mention their ethnic background, another reason that I go there is that it used to allow smoking before our great Commonwealth of Virginia voted to ban smoking cigarettes in all restaurants and food establishments as of 12/01/2009. Back to that meeting with my friend, that lunch companion is a very educated woman, master’s degree, her father was a graduate from one of the Ivy League schools in the US- Top universities- and that woman happened to work for me in the past at one of my many former jobs. Again, back to the subject of this article, we started to talk as usual about world affairs, pretending as usual that we or at least I have, see, as if we know the solution for all world problems. In the midst of the noise of the chopsticks, we hit one of the newest subjects on world stage right now, Haiti. My friend- she is from the Medwest, USA- brought up the subject that some people are comparing the fact that we are doing a better job in a foreign country than what we are still doing, right now to fix the harms that was caused by the hurricanes that hit the state of Louisiana and particularly the city of New Orleans, here in the USA back in 2005. She said that and I quote, it would be a shame if this administration finishes the job in Haiti while we are still cleaning up the mess in New Orleans and still building the ruins of the hurricanes. I took a deep look at her and to the dish in front of me- I was trying to choose, whether I should take a bite first or participate in the conversation- it was empty and it was the time for a refill, but then I answered back- not sure why I felt that I'm obliged to answer- saying, well, you know, New Orleans was back in 2005 and this administration just started or took over from the Bush administering a year ago, in fact exactly on 01/20/2009, so really we can not point the finger of blame or accuse it of aiding a foreign nation or even doing a good job in aiding a foreign nation, that is next door, while the job in New Orleans is still on. She looked at me and she might have said, damn your objectivity- but she nodded and said that it is right; Mr. Bush was in charge for almost three years during and after New Orleans. The bottom line here I think is that we are a nation that loves to learn from the past, that we try to correct mistakes, that we want to do right to our people and to others. What we are doing in Haiti right now is a great example of what we have learned in New Orleans and other places in the world. The same thing we are doing in combating terrorism, we are learning to do it better, and we are trying to put the right people in place to get the job done. I looked at my friend again and said this is America, a young nation in heart, a great nation indeed, a nation that continues to find the right formula to combat evil in it's own body, borders and abroad and in the same time trying to maintain it's civility, the rule of law and that all people are created equal, the journey continues.

Morning Thoughts.... To Her*

She asked me, why not you believe me, why do you want to change me. I answered, I do not want to change you, I accept you the way you are, I just want to bring to surface the best that is inside you. She answered back, who gave you the permission, who put you a PR agent for me. I said, no one, I just cannot look, observe, analyze and not say what is in my mind, I just cannot help it. She said, this is an invasion of my privacy, who you think you are, don’t you know that no woman like to be told how she can be better, women only like to be told how charming they are no matter what. I answered and said but you are not any woman, you are not the trend, the rules do not apply to you. She fired back saying, now you are insulting me, if I am not a woman, any woman, what I am then, I replied, you are magic. She yelled, drop it, I answered, I cannot. I just cannot see your potential and keep my mouth shut. She answered, this time; you need to keep your mouth shut.

*Disclaimer:
For entertainment purposes only
These conversations are not related to any specific person or persons. They are general human conversations from life.

A Mouse Is In the House

This morning my writing routine got interrupted around 7:00 AM with the wife screaming from the kitchen, I know that you are all surprised because we all know, wives never scream, when I went to the direction of the scream, I found her standing on a chair shouting, Mouse! I pretended to be very concerned, grabbed the broom and found that little grey thing scared under the table, I think he was scared of the wife and not of what is waiting for him. Anyway, the naughty creature got away but I declared emergency in the house, rallied the troops, and went running to the hardware store and bought all kinds of mice and rats poisons. Then all of a sudden, it hit me, what If I make a deal with the mouse, what if I try to extend my hand and the broom if needed and try to have a peace treaty. I reached out and looked at him in the eyes, I'm assuming that it is a him and not a her, see I'm already assuming things that might not be true, and I told him that I can spare his life, be reminded that I have not caught him yet, if he agrees to leave the house. The mouse answered back- just go along with me here readers- and said why, I answered because it is my house and you are an intruder; you are not an invited guest and you have no rights on this property. The mouse looked back and said, but where shall I go. I started to get angry, and started to waive the broom in his face, when then he said what if we make a deal. I answered that you are in no position to bargain, remember the broom and all kinds of mice killers that I have in my hand. He answered back and said what happened to live and Let Live, I answered that this human rule does not apply to mice. He did not give up, tried again to reach a compromise, and said what If I leave your house and stay on your property. I answered; explain please. He said, I will leave the house but wonder around the garden, I will be outside, what is the harm in that. I looked at the mouse and said you got a deal, get out now, and do not come back inside but you are welcome on the outside. He looked back, and said, see, it is a win- win situation. I answered; do not rub it in.

George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Haiti

Few days ago, John King, the anchor of CNN political program, State of the Union hosted the former presidents Bush and Clinton. The occasion was their appointment by president Obama to head The Haiti Relief Fund in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that hit that Caribbean nation few weeks ago. The topic was, how it can be done and what are the priorities. I was intrigued not by the former president’s appearance as much as of what they have to say and their way of thinking regarding crisis management. Obviously, Clinton was more eloquent, focused and targeted on the details. He started by saying, correctly so, that the first thing that we need to do is to create a network in Haiti to manage the crisis, the rescue, and the rebuilding of a nation that did not have anything before the quake and basically went to below zero after the quake. Bush was focusing on getting people together, providing more human touch to those that lost love ones, most of the population. Clinton eloquence does not mean that he is a better leader than Bush, nor does it mean that he would be more capable or able to transform his ideas into solid realties on the ground. In the same token, Bush documented and well known lack of speech skills does not mean that he is the lesser leader. On the contrary, he could be the one that can in fact transform Clinton's eloquence into reality. Leadership- in my opinion- is all about inspiring, creating an effort or a network as Clinton said to transform what on paper to the ground in the form of relief, projects and most importantly into building a political system that works. Haiti needs a transparent and democratic system- like all nations on earth-which will help this country with unlimited potential in tourism to be as prosperous as other rich Caribbean islands.

President Obama, One Year Later, By Jamil Shawwa

I am writing this piece while witnessing the conclusion of the first year of president Obama in office and witnessing tonight a big defeat for the president and the Democratic Party in Massachusetts special senate race elections to fill the vacant seat of the late senator Ted Kennedy. Tonight, the republican nominee Scott Brown defeated the democratic nominee Martha Coakley over a precious and historic democratic seat in the senate that was in the hands of the Kennedy’s for over 50 years. The time could not be worse for the democrats as they move to push president Obama’s universal health plan for all Americans; every vote counts and the president has just lost one. I witnessed the Democratic Party lack of command and leadership to find a charismatic and popular Politian who can fill the shoes vacated by the late senator Kennedy. Actually, the democrats were invisible in Massachusetts as were the republicans in the rest of the country before their sound defeat during the presidential elections. The republicans in Massachusetts presented an energetic candidate and the democrats presented a mild candidate that could have been great as a school principle and not political leader. The republican nominee campaigned on opposing the health plan, the state in it's majority are democrats but you have those swing voters, the independent, who actually decides each elections and the party that can convince those voters to vote for their candidate usually wins elections. I also saw the debate on health care and again the democrats were not clear enough, bold enough and confident enough to persuade the voters that this plan is in the best interest of America in the long term. What is next for president Obama is that he needs to bring the network of talented operatives that helped to muster his historic win last year to start building a momentum for his agenda. He needs to be bold and confident as he was during the campaign and he needs to be frank and most importantly he needs to be himself. We do not see or hear the president as much as we should. Having said all that, I must share that historically we have seen sitting presidents losing either the house, the senate or both during their term in office, It happened to Ronald Reagan and most recently it happened to Bill Clinton in the 1994 elections when he lost both the house and the senate in what was came to be know as the republican revolution lead by Newt Gingrich, the history professor. Bill Clinton rebounded and even with a congress that was against him viciously, he managed to be reelected in 1996. I predicted long before Obama even was close to be the democratic nominee that he would be elected president, I just could not ignore his talent, the historic significance of his elections and the dire need of our nation for a leader that can give America the renewal that it needed, mostly, during president Bush final two years. We are going to have mid term elections this coming November, the president has plenty of time to show America that he is taking it on the right track, that the economy has improved, that our financial institutions are paying back their debt to us and the government, that the housing market is on the rise, that the job rate is growing and that our nation is climbing back to it's natural place as the shining place on top of the hill.

Respect By Jamil Shawwa

I was talking to a friend, hope that she will allow me to call her a friend, and the focus of the various conversations has been on the importance of respect to her and the way she was raised. In almost all conversations, the word respect would come up. She was sensitive even if I was silent for few moments or minutes and she would consider this silence as a sign of disrespect. I answered her once saying that all humans ask and demand respect and courtesy but I did not stop at that but added that specially for Asians, the word or the symbol respect means more than other cultures or people. I kind of regretted that last part, the Asian part, and felt that it is a stereotype of me to cast a big chunk of humans as different from others. Having said that, I thought about it and found out in my own mind that the statement I made was not a stereotype but was coming from my own experience with people of Asian descents. It is not at all that they are different but that they, those that I dealt with, mention respect more and by far than any other group of people that I met. Again, we all humans want to be respected but maybe not all of us would mention it as often. That conversation with that friend reminded me of an incident that took place in the early months of President George W. Bush presidency when China said that spy USA planes entered its space for undeclared missions. China’s focus was not on the incident but on the demand that The US apologizes. China did not stop at that until it got its apology and its formal papers published it in big headlines stating that the US- I quote-“was very sorry” for the incident. Again, back to my friend, I wonder if she with the way she demands respect, she also would provide others with the respect that she demands from them. I noticed and I ignored in that conversations that she also went sometimes for minutes without replying but she did not feel consciously or not for the need to apologize and I did not mention it to her. Very interesting human analysis, do not you agree.

Jay Leno vs. Conan O'Brian By Jamil Shawwa

America is very busy these days or should I say nights not with the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan but with the late night show time slots on NBC. Every night for years, America in its majority viewers used to turn on at 11:30 PM Eastern Time to watch Jay Leno making jokes and smart remarks on every day life besides hosting the top stars. Jay Leno's show was the top rated show in that time slot until some genius at NBC decided that Jay is too old to attract younger viewers and as Domino effect, he would not attract those heavy pockets advertisers that cater to what NBC thinks or thought at the time as the highest spenders. Jay's show- The Tonight show- used to be followed at 12:30 AM with Conan O'Brian of the Late Night show. Conan was what NBC thought, the golden boy who if given a better time slot, the prime night show, would bring the bacon home-, I do not eat pork bacon, so I am going to use the term, bring the turkey bacon home. NBC in the same time- they were not completely retarded- kept Jay Leno and gave him a slot right before the local news at 11:00 PM. As it turned out, Conan flipped, NBC lost the number one rating for that time, 11:30 PM, and the show deteriorated. Not only that- as big as it is- but Jay did not do well at the 10:00 PM slot. Few days ago, NBC decided to bring back Jay Leno at his original slot and push back Conan to 12:05 PM so in a way Jay will not have the whole hour and Conan will not be left feeling the blues- he already does- that he is back to his old time. NBC promoted Jay again and demoted Conan. The war is still on, Conan has a binding contract but he is using the popular media to make his case. I think his case is lost, I personally used to prefer Jay- maybe I'm getting old- whom I thought was a genuine comedian, you only need to look at him to laugh, where Conan was a hard working wanna be. See, I told you that we are busy with the late night shows; do you blame us, we want to laugh.

The Khost Incident by Jamil Shawwa

 I am probably the least qualified to claim to understand the exciting world of Intelligence. Having stated that I must proceed to say that the suicide attack that took place in Khost, Afghanistan on 12/30/2009 should not pass as a regular attack or as business as usual.

The told story according to The Washington Post, The New York Times and other news outlets is that a Jordanian intelligence officer that happened to be a cousin of the King of Jordan has recruited a well known and well documented extremist to work for the intelligence to hunt Al-Qaeda terrorist organization and it's number two leader; the Egyptian doctor, Ayman al-Zawaheri.

The previous paragraph was the told story. The analysis to that story brings tons of questions and I will start from the last to the first. The last question is who drove that Jordanian doctor, same profession as Al-Zawaheri, terrorists and doctors, to the CIA base; his handler, the Jordanian officer was not in the car with him but waiting outside the office inside the base with other CIA operatives.

The suicide bomber- the Jordanian doctor- had his hand, right one, in his pocket when he came off the car, when asked to pull his hand out to search or maybe to shake, he instead chose to pull a trigger that killed many CIA operatives, the Jordanian handler, and himself.

The big questions are: Have this bomber been under observation from the time he was recruited to the time he denoted the bomb, and if he were monitored, how did he find the time to wear this explosive belt or device. The second question, was this bomber with his Jordanian handler all the time, or was he on and off the safe place if there was a safe place. The third question, was the Jordanian handler experienced enough to be given such a huge task of recruiting a well-known extremist; he had a web site in which he spread his destructive ideas all over the net. The fourth question, it is well known and intelligence communities do recruit extremists as double agents and do encourage those extremists to be even more fanatics so they can gain the confidence of the terrorists groups to trust them enough to provide them with information and even recruit them,

But any first grade intelligence office or analyst knows that you just can not have full trust in those agents and that you must be on your guards at all times; it did not happen here, why? The fifth question, did we go through the basics of recruitment of doing a lie-detecting test or as some news reports indicated, we felt that this process might humiliate the double agent and show no trust in him.

 The sixth question, have we left the world of intelligence victim to budget cuts, bureaucracy, third rate officers and cut corners that we were so excited of the bait that this Jordanian suicide bomber gave us, providing real information about Al-Qaeda and such, that we just rolled the red carpet for him without due process and basic intelligence analysis.

 The questions can go on and on.This is a big failure for the Jordanian intelligence as well as for our intelligence.

 Again, based on the information we have I just cannot see any other reason for Al-Qaeda’s success so far except for our human errors. Leon Panetta, the CIA director is a nice person, was Bill Clintons’ chief of staff and president Obama appointed him as CIA director, He is well known of his pleasant personality and good humor. The time now is not for that or at least, we need Mr. Panetta to be nice, pleasant and humorous but we want him to protect our country as well.

The Underwear Terrorist

The series of the security breaches in our country in the past sixty days have ranged from having three intruders barging into the White House during a state dinner to some one hiding explosives in his underwear aboard a US airline. I personally do not see a fix but to start from the top, which happens to be the Secretary of Homeland Security and the chief of the secret service. Both needs to be fired and replaced at once. Start there, move down the hierarchy, and start cleaning up the file and ranks to ensure that no other accidents happen. I can not believe that after all these years since our country and pride were attacked on 09/11/2001, that we still talk about not preventing terrorists from entering our country but trying to find competent leaders that can do the job of preventing the terrorists from daring to attack America. The prestige of the presidency was severely harmed when the three intruders got into the White House and the prestige of the country continues to be harmed by putting wrong people as our security guards, remember Secretary Napolitano; the system works, after the underwear terrorist was captured; enough said.

An Article From Haaretz: Israel & Palestine, Multi-Ethnicity

I chose the title but the article is from Alexander Yakobosn of the leading Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz:
Original Artice:

Comment / Settlers can stay, but only as citizens of Palestine

By Alexander Yakobson

Haaretz 12/31/2009



"The time has come to say to the settler leaders: Okay - you've convinced us. It seems that a mass evacuation of settlers is an impractical idea. You showed us clearly that you're prepared to turn such a removal into a national trauma. It's doubtful that any Israeli politician would chance it.

But whoever seeks to determine the country's fate with threats must know that the final result is likely to be disappointing. Giving up on evacuation doesn't mean giving up on dividing the land. Whoever concedes to this is giving up on Israel. In the end, the only alternative to the two-state solution is one state. This is usually called a "binational state," which is a bad joke. A binational state may exist in Belgium (perhaps; there, too, it barely works).

Here in our region, in real life, "one state" would be Arab, Muslim and Sunni (no matter what the constitution said), and much less of a binational Israel.
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If evacuation is not practical, the conclusion is to divide the land without removing settlers. Israel should formally adopt the suggestion by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad: There is no need for an evacuation; settlers who are interested may stay where they are after an Israeli withdrawal and live as a Jewish minority in a Palestinian state. Israel will have sovereignty on one side of the border and the Palestinians on the other - over everyone living there. There will be no evacuation, and Israeli soldiers won't have to take people from their homes. They will simply retreat to the new border.

Adopting this position would create an opportunity for Israel to gain a more comfortable border. Discussions on border corrections and territorial exchanges have been undertaken under pressure to keep as many settlers as possible within Israeli borders to reduce the size of an evacuation. The map offered to Palestinians by former prime minister Ehud Olmert shows that in the end, Israel would have a border worse than the Green Line: an infinite line winding like a snake, without any logic to it, military or otherwise.

These corrections to the border are no good for either side. If you don't have to worry about decreasing the number of people evacuated, it's possible to draw a much more rational border; the number of settlers included in Israel would be much smaller in this case. Second, if there is no evacuation, there is no financial compensation. In our country, some payment will certainly be made, beyond the letter of the law, but we are talking about much smaller sums. The state does not have to compensate a person for a change in the territories' political status, and settlers' property rights will be insured by a peace treaty.

Adopting this position would make things easier for Israel from a political point of view. Europe and America will continue to oppose construction in the settlements, which violates international law, but the world treats settlement expansion with concern because it is viewed as a permanent erosion of the territory of the future Palestinian state, which aims to make the occupation irreversible. If the settlers are irrelevant to the border, they turn into a much less important issue.

It is clear that the great majority of settlers does not want to live under a Palestinian government and would leave. If there is a sizable minority that prefers the commandment to settle the land over national sovereignty, this is a legitimate choice that should be honored. If only this experiment succeeds. The connection to Judea and Samaria is worthy of respect; what is unworthy is the attempt to rule over another nation (in effect, we are talking about the attempt to rule over two nations and determine their fates).

And yet, it is worth asking, without doubting Fayyad's intentions, if it is reasonable that Palestine be the only Arab state with a significant Jewish community. The Jewish imagination pictures mass slaughter, but these are exaggerations of anti-Arab rhetoric.

The Arab world emptied of Jews without such dramas and in most cases without government decisions, and still Jewish life became impossible there. It is more reasonable to assume that virtually all the settlers will find themselves on the Israeli side of the border. But after all, that's what the Law of Return is for."

Dizengoff Street By Jamil Shawwa

I recall as if it is just yesterday when my family and I used to go to Tel-Aviv at least twice a month. Visiting and going through Dizengoff has been necessary. What a street, we felt that the whole world was in Dizengoff. The cafes, people from all over the world, restaurants, bakeries, and the most fashionable department stores. I remember maybe the best cafe I ever visited, Ruval, where the most delicious food and pastries used to be served. The smell of Ruval has never left me and it has been a standard I measure with any food place I visit any where in the world. I cannot stop talking about food and let us not forget in the midst of talking about the classy Dizengoff; the Falafel stands in that street. We have honorable friends in Israel that my family and I cherish and will always be honored to call them family. The road to Tel-Aviv was nice, a checkpoint or two but it was ok, security measures were understandable. I might be a dreamer, but I think the day will come when the two people destined to live side by side will have open roads and hearts and will enjoy a civilized neighboring relations.

Intruders, Fence Jumpers and Just Up To No Good Trespassers, By Jamil Shawwa

The couple that crashed the state dinner that was hosted by the Obamas to the Indian Prime Minister should be prosecuted as trespassers. They were not clever, but intruders. To me they are the same as those that tries and tried in the past to climb the fences of the White house. The difference between this couple and the other fence climbers is that this couple climbed to the invitation-wearing tuxedo and soirée dress and not in some sort of suspicious outfits. The Secret Service confirmed that this wise couple was not on the guest list. This is a serious offence and this matter should be taken very seriously, and the law should be applied. The second part of what could have been a tragic incident is the immediate need for a serious review of the Secret Service Personnel and procedures in our country. The guilty party or parties should be fired at once and the prestige of the presidency and security should be restored.

Egypt And The Loss Of a Dream, by Jamil Shawwa

Egypt, in its hopeless quest to reach the Mondial- Football-Soccer- World Cup in South Africa in 2010, lost the battle to Algeria in Sudan on 11/18/2009 1-0. The battle between the two teams turned ugly in the days preceding the final game in Sudan. The latest news coming out of Egypt, Algeria and Sudan that the these three Arab countries are recalling ambassadors and protesting various actions by the fans ranging from burning flags, attacking Egyptians businesses in the capitol of Algeria and attacks on Egyptians in Sudan to the claim that egyptions attacked the alegerian soccer team bus in Cairo. The news are not unique to the Middle East, Europe has a long history of fans from different countries doing destructions in countries when their favorite teams lose. The unique for Egypt in particular is that the dream to go to the world cup has been attached to Egypt's image and prestige notwithstanding its dignity. The people and the media were looking for something to uplift Egypt's deteriorating morals and its people loss of direction. The news coming out of Egypt for the past few years has been the battle to succeed the aging president Mubarak and the possible transition of power to his son Jamal. Jamal and Mubarak's other elder son Alaa went to Sudan to support the national team and they went back with the loss looming over their head. Egypt's loss will in my opinion have political consequences; it will awaken the country towards the need to bring the focus back. I watched the whole game in one of the Middle Eastern restaurants in the area here and saw with no doubt the inability of the Egyptian team to score and win not because they lack the expertise but because they lack the confidence. This has been the story of Egypt for a long time, the lack of confidence, not believing that it can win. Egypt is the largest Arab country with the most forward thinking; the best example is its peace with Israel long before the completely Arab world decided that it is the only way to resolve the Palestinian Israeli conflict. Since 1952, the year that the Egyptian Army toppled the rotten Monarchy and replaced it with a mixture of a military and socialist regime that Egypt lost its prestige. Egypt has the resources and the talent to be a leading country in the Middle East and to be an emerging developing country in the world such as China, and India but Egypt lacks one thing; the belief that it can make it, that it can win. The football, soccer match, showed Egypt's inability to score. The Egyptians work hard, but they cannot finish. Egypt needs a new leadership and it needs to lead the region in the quest for democracy as it did with the peace process.

If Not Obama, Who, and If Not Now, When. By Jamil Shawwa

I was not as surprised by President Obama's winning the 2009 Noble Peace prize as I was surprised by the multiple voices that rejected this victory here in our country the US. The opposition questioned the reason, as the president has not been in office for more than few months. They were wrong, the measure was not by how long he has been in office but how he came to office, what his arrival represents and what he did to world peace and civilization since he came to office. I claim to have the answer for the oppositions’ dilemma and the answer is that Obama came to power as the first American from African decent, that a majority of American people of all ethnic backgrounds from all over the world voted him to power, that the first thing he did when he became president was to open the eyes and the hearts of the world to the importance of showing America's tolerance and acceptance to Islam as one of the three divine religions and that Islam is not a religion of war but a religion of peace and tolerance, and that there is a place in America for Islam. Obama's speech at Cairo University in my opinion cemented his nomination to the Noble prize.

The Undistinguished Gentleman By Jamil Shawwa

During President Obama speech before the joint session of congress regarding the historic health care reform, a voice interrupted the class and the civility of the session by shouting you lie at the president. Joe Wilson, the South Carolina Representative who sent that shout could not be spontaneous as he declared later, the tone, the face and the anger, left me with no doubt that this man is a part of a very small group in this country that do not like Obama for the person and not for the what he stands. We have disagreed with presidents and we will continue to disagree and bravely voice our disagreements but what separate this great country from other nations is that we like to be civil when we disagree. Other presidents in the past were also hated for who they are and not for what they stand; John Kennedy, Catholic, Bill Clinton, defeated the republican revolution led by Ronald Reagan and in his case, he was also hated later because of his love scandals, but still these and other presidents were never interrupted while talking before the joint session of congress. To me this is a big No No; I like my country- America- for its civility and class. I am amazed at those in S. Cralonia that greeted Wilson as the Liberator; Wilson was rude and crude and this is how he should be looked at and remmebered.

Farouk Hosni and The UNISCO Battle

Farouk Hosni- the Egyptian minister of culture who lost the title of UNICCO chief to the Bulgarian candidate- went on the attack after his loss. He spoke of a cultural war between the south and the north and between the Arabs and Israel. He moreover went on a spree according to news agency- by stating that he will declare a cultural war against Israel who he blames for the loss of the position. This tone and attitude leave me with no doubts that Hosni does not deserve the position and that his loss is logical. Hosni - again, according to agencies- has said in the past that he would burn books from Israel if he found them in Cairo. Cultured and civilized people do not say that even if they were Politicians just saying rhetoric. My position against Farouk Hosni would have been the same if he said that he would burn Egyptians books; the issue is not which country, language or culture, the issue is the principle. Farouk Hosni also represents to say the least an autocratic regime, he has never been elected to any position and he has been a minister of culture in Egypt for the past twenty years. Before that, he ran the Egyptian Art Academy in Rome, Italy. Bulgaria on the other hand is an emerging democracy, its representative to the UNICCO position never insulted other cultures and never declared conspiracy theories against anyone; the choice was clear, Bulgaria wins. The Arabs are at a cross road, they must stop using Israel as a scapegoat for their own failures; Israel is not to blame. The Arabs must start treating Israel with civility and distinguish between political disputes and cultural cooperation and integration. If they- the Arabs- cannot separate until there is a solution for the Palestinian question- then the least they can do is not to use words like Burn when talking about Israel or its culture and books.

The Flogging In Sudan, by Jamil Shawwa

The news coming out of Sudan is usually not pleasant and gets worse as time goes by. The latest episode was the flogging of a Sudanese Female Journalist for what Sudan described as a dress that contradicts the Islamic dress requirements, what a shame. Sudan government's use of this great religion as other groups and terrorists to torture their people is intolerable. Islam- bear in mind I am not a scholar- has nothing to do with the implementation of certain punishments that might exist in its punishment codes for some crimes. The Sudanese government with all it's internal problems; with it's southern people and northern rebels, does not have any legitimacy among it's people except in using Islam in the worst Hippocratic way to provide some legitimacy. The Sudanese are not dumb and they are not naive but for some unexplainable reason- to me at least- are still go along with the criminally wanted president El Bashir who promoted himself to Field Marshal El Bashir; what a shame, again. Sudan has established political families and in general its people are among the most educated in the Arab world but for the past Twenty years, since El Bashir came to power through a military coup against the democratic elected government of El-Sadiq El-Mahdi, the son of one of Sudan most prominent political and religious families, and Sudan economy, morals and status among developing nations has reach Rock bottom. Sudan once described as the basket of Africa in reference to it's agricultural potential to feed the whole continent is now nothing but separate islands of political entities with a president who is wanted to appear before the International Criminal Court to answer some genocide questions; Shame on him and I must say on some of the Sudanese people who just do not the least to say talk about these atrocities.

Rise and Shine and.... Revolt Iran, By Jamil Shawwa

The results of the presidential elections in Iran caused a massive popular uproar that Tehran did not witness since the religious scholars seized power from the Shah in 1979.

The Iranians based on media and reports coming out of the country are fed up with the status qua, fed up with the privileges these scholars have in comparison with the rest of the country and fed up with a deteriorating economic situation that should not be in a leading oil producing country like Iran.

The Iranians are also fed up with the adventurous style of their president Nejad. The Iranians want freedom, they long to the day when their country get rid of this supreme ayatollah and be just a regular country with a president and a parliament, long for the time when they can say and talk and just breath freedom.

The governing religious body in Iran has substituted the repressive Shah regime with another repressive regime, different names, but same methods. the defunct regime of the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had the Savak as it's oppressive paramilitary to control the lives of the people and the scholars now have the Basij to keep dirty jobs going.

The Iranians do not go as far as asking for a regime change completely, they are asking for more freedom and more democracy. The future of Iran might turn to be as of its neighboring Turkey, with a liberal Islamic system and with the religious scholars going back to their natural place which is the place of education and universities.

President Obama's Cairo University Speech

I was so proud as an American and as a Cairo University graduate when my president stood high addressing the Islamic world from the podium of the Grande Hall of Cairo University. The timing could not be better; The Arab and Islamic worlds are in my opinion have been going through hard labor, and no one yet knows when is the delivery date and what is the shape of the unborn. President Obama is extending America's strong hands and open heart to help the Islamic world through its labor. The Muslims and the Arabs have to return the favor by putting the effort needed to accomplish their search for their place under the sun and among the civilized and democratic world. The terrorists who live and feed on the fringes of society better watch out, there is a new kid on the block by the name of Barack Hussein Obama who can relate to the masses and in the same time able to lead this great nation to ongoing and renewal sources of greatness.

Bibi Netanyahu's Jerusalem, By Jamil Shawwa

Bibi Netanyahu-the prime minister of the State of Israel- stated that Jerusalem will forever be united and will forever be the capital of the State of Israel. The Arabs and the Palestinians reacted-no surprise- with the usual condemnation and protests that they have mastered over 60 years of the Arab Israeli conflict. A Palestinian Authority official said that this statement of Bibi Netanyahu put an end to any peace prospects; other condemnations followed, maybe different but the message is the same. I choose to differ,I do not agree that Bibi Netanyahu's statement was new or it would have any impact on the peace process in the Middle East; on the contrary, Bibi Netanyahu is brining up a very important and sensitive subject to everyone in the Middle east, and that is the future of Jerusalem, the capital of the three main and great religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. There is an informal agreement in the Middle East that Jerusalem should be united and that the city should preserve it's spiritual status and that it should be an open city with no fences or barriers as the situation was before 1967 and before Israel won that war and captured the Arab , old, section of Jerusalem. The disagreement is whether the Palestinians can have any control over the Arabic part, section and streets of the city and whether the Palestinians can declare that part as their capital and establish a municipality that can run the city, grant housing licenses and such. Bibi Netanyahu statement did not exclude the Palestinians from running the Palestinian part of the city and did not say that the Palestinian state cannot have the city-the Arab or eastern section- as its capital. The Palestinians must use new techniques in the negotiations with Israel, a technique that would look at Israel as a regular state with borders despute and not as an enemy or as a strange body in the Middle East; Israel is not. The negotiations with Israel should cover everything from borders to the idea of the right of return to those who originally left the historic Palestine during the war of 1948 following the declaration of independence of the State of Israel. The solution in my opinion to the right of return will be resolved when the settlements in the West Bank is resolved, in other words it will be this for that, no return in exchange of moving the settlers to lands inside the state of Israel. The time is now for a historic and final Conciliation between the Arabs and Muslims and the Jews in the Middle East and the world.

Jeb Bush: The GOP only Hope By Jamil Shawwa

In a long time, in the democratic world, have I seen, heard, or felt a party in such disarray as the Republican Party.

The Party looks and consists of a group of radio and TV commentators that sound like dealing with an America that does not exist anymore , a group of politicians in congress and few states governors that are lost and just wait and react to the Obama’s administration youthful and energetic agenda.

What happened to the Grand Old Party, and why it looks like a piece of ice that is evaporating so quickly that one cannot even know if it ever existed?

America in my opinion from the start of the year 2000 and until now has changed dramatically as no other great nation has changed in such sfort period of time.

America, the giant, the only super power, the dream place on earth, the Mecca of the suppressed and the hopeful from all over the world has been hit hard twice in less that 10 years.

The first hit to its pride came from the terrorists’ attacks of 09/11/2001 and the second one was the nature attack on New Orleans in 2005. The first attack shed the light on our vulnerability as an open society and injured our pride as the greatest nation on earth, a nation that we thought is away from the troubled world far from us. The second attack was from nature in the shape of floods that overcame our man made river barriers that some thought existed better in some developing countries.

These two attacks shaped the first 10 years of the 21 century and many of us still think that we could have prevented these two attacks, the first by having better security and coordination among the many security agencies and the second by just merely building better barriers by the shores of the river. The GOP led country fought and arguably prevailed against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and against Saddam in Iraq. The results were mixed, and the management of the after war in Iraq was terrible.

By the end of the Bush admiration, the country was hit by almost unprecedented economic crisis in its history. The Housing market collapsed and it dragged with it all other markets. The time could not have been more perfect for -as Senator Kennedy said in the Democratic convention - a new generation of Americans which reminded us all of the hopeful election and years of his brother John F Kennedy.

Obama was the answer. The GOP- on the other hand- Selected an elderly and seasoned Politician, John McCain, and McCain in a moment of desperation and maybe a Hail Mary shot, chose a young female Politician from Alaska. Governor Palin was a no match to Joe Biden and in many ways, she too shed the light -through interviews and insiders’ leaks- on the lack of Republican charismatic Politicians that could again capture the imagination of the American people as Ronald Reagan did.

Jeb Bush is the answer right now for the Republican Party. He is a Bush and not a Bush at the same time. He has always been different than his brother George W Bush and from his father the elder George Bush. He is a moderate, popular and has not been 'tainted' with wars or  the economy  his brother 'W' left the country struggling. He appeals to a wide spectrum of Americans including the rising power in American politics; the Hispanic population. He is married to an originally Mexican woman, he is bilingual English and Spanish and he is most importantly an inclusive Politician. We witnessed his skills in winning Florida’s governorship twice. Jeb Bush also by all accounts stayed away  while governor of Florida from the only obstacle that he could face; the voting cards debacle in Florida during the first election of his brother against Al Gore.

UAE Political Stupidity

Barring the Israeli Tennis champion, Shahar Peer from participating in the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championship is another show of ignorance and a disastrous PR on the side of the UAE. Sports are sports; either you do it all the way or do not do it at all. The UAE is showing political stupidity and immaturity. The Arabs need to wake up. Preventing a female athlete from Israel is the worst publicity any country can have. The time has come-we can start with sports- for the Arab World to gradually reaching out to the Mediterranean neighbor-Israel- and sports is a formidable way to build confidence, trust and understanding among the people of the region. The excuses that the UAE presented from the protest over Gaza to security fears over the presence of the Israeli athlete are nonsense. Climbing the mountain of trust could have started by this very small yet giant step; allowing Israel to participate in the international sports event in The Middle East.

Respond to Time Magazine: Why Israel Can't Win-01/08/2009

It is not that Israel cannot win in Gaza or before that in Lebanon in 2006 but that Israel might not want to win completely and decisively. Israel had an ample chance- militarily- to dismantle the Hezbollah organization and end it from Lebanon finally as it did to the PLO in 1982. For some reason, it did not want to complete the job. In Gaza, Hamas obviously started this action, it continued to bombard the Israeli bordering cities with no reason-Israel withdrew completely from the Gaza Strip in 2005. As I’m writing this comment , I just heard that Israel unilaterally decided to stop it’s actions in Gaza without completing the mission- the rockets are still flowing from Gaza, albeit not as many as they used to be but still The situation in Gaza resembles the situation that occurred this summer between Georgia and Russia. Georgia started it and Russia finished it. The only difference maybe between Israel and Russia is that Russia had forces or observers in Georgia and Israel did not have anybody. We- America and the world- can dismantle the terrorists’ organizations – maybe not individuals- from The Middle East- we can do that politically and militarily. The Middle East is not geopolitically complicated as Pakistan and Afghanistan. In the Middle East, everybody knows who are who and his or her whereabouts. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the whole population is mixed up which explains the difficulties in finding bin-Laden and dismantling AlQaeda.and other terrorist organizations.

The Arabic Media and The Attack on Hamas

The Arabic media's response to the war that is going on against Hamas- and not Gaza- in The Gaza Strip reminds me of the demagoguery of Ahmad Said- The Egyptian Radio by the name of Sawt El Arab- The Arab voice- in the 1960s anchor- who portrayed the biggest defeat the Arabs had in 1967 as the biggest victory in Arab history. What is going on in Gaza-Israel attacking Hamas infrastructure- is a direct result of the idiots running the show in Gaza? The history of the Arabs is a history of self-defeat, demagoguery and hypocrisy. The Arabs will continue to be hit hard as long as-among other things- we have a media like this running the show.

A Scared Farm Girl In The Spot Light, By Jamil Shawwa

Governor Palin's debate with Senator Biden has inspired the title of this article. What I am hearing and heard as I write this comment is a person who happened to be a female that was picked by a desperate candidate to sway the eyes away from a staled campaign by a dinosaur Politician. Governor Palin even could not pronounce Iran and Iraq properly. She kept pronouncing them as I raq and I ran. I suspect that before she was picked up to run as McCain's running mate she even never heard of them except that we are at war in Iraq. Governor Palin and Senator McCain might have had a chance in some other past time but not now. They are facing a gigantic historic significance in the Obama-Biden ticket. When she spoke, she sounded clever, not smart, and did not give me the class and dignified demeanor that I am looking for in a potential president of the USA.


Disclaimer: Some of the best and the brightest came from farms; Palin is not one of them.

The Occupying Pattern of Gaza, By Jamil Shawwa

The Story of Gaza!

Gaza over the decades has always had somebody else- from somewhere else- running its affairs. In more clear words, occupying her. Gaza- a Mediterranean city- on the Palestinian coast, nestled from the south and the north between the Israeli and the Egyptian coasts respectively might one day has it's say as any other city on the long beautiful silky clear shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The original people of Gaza are merchants, business people and smart politicians who knew over the decades how to wither all kinds of political storms. If we dig into the modern history of Gaza, going back couple of hundreds of years, we can witness the arrival of the Ottoman Empire, which occupied not only Gaza but also the modern and now called Middle East. Although the Ottoman Empire was in fact at that time calling itself the Islamic Empire of the East; it was a strange body in the Arab Middle East and the people there never felt that it was part of them or that they, the people of the Middle East, were part of her. The British Empire arrived at the shores of the Middle East by the end of the Nineteenth Century and took over Gaza in the early Twentieth Century after the fall of the Ottomans following World War I. The British withdrew from the historic Palestine, which Gaza occupies it's south part in 1947 and the first Arab-Israeli war broke following the withdrawal of the British and the UN partition of Palestine among it's Jewish and Arab residences and the declaration of independence of the state of Israel on the part approved by the UN. The Arab states rejected the declaration of independence, attacked Israel, were defeated and a new power-Egypt-emerged and occupied Gaza until its defeat in the 1967 war with Israel. Because of that war, Israel took over the West Bank, The Gaza Strip, including Gaza City, and parts of Egypt and Syria. Israel signed the Oslo agreement in 1993 with Yasser Arafat, the head of the PLO, The Palestine Liberation Organization, as a prelude to the creation of a viable Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The PLO under the name of the Palestinian Authority entered Gaza and parts of the West Bank. Israel in the summer of 2005 withdrew from the Gaza Strip and left it in the hands of the PLO- the Palestinian Authority and indirectly in the hands of the power in waiting, Hamas. In January 2006, Hamas won the parliamentary elections in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and moved to form a government. The situation worsened as Hamas continued to condone terrorism especially in the form of firing rockets into the bordering Israeli cities. Israel and the United States- because of this stand- blocked aids and other forms of financial cooperation. In June 2006, Hamas took over the Gaza strip, kicked the PLO out and formed a unilateral government that controlled the Gaza Strip with another government- the PLO- in Ramallah controlling the West Bank. Hamas is now the new occupier of the Gaza strip, its' people who controls the streets of Gaza are strange people among strangers. It's Gaza's destiny again to let someone else runs its' affairs.

Sam Nunn, Joe Beiden or Warner By Jamil Shawwa

Senator Obama, the Democratic Nominee in waiting, is in the process of appointing or choosing his running mate. Next Monday, 08/25/2008, is the start date of the democratic convention. The conventional wisdom states that both republicans and democrats will choose their running mates by the start date of their respective conventions. Obama, my focus in this article, might wait until day one and spread the word or might choose the person this week before the convention. The news is and has been speculating about whom he might choose and mentioned few names, mostly of Joe Beiden of Delaware and Sam Nunn the ex senator from Georgia. My choice would go to Nunn. He represents the appeal that Obama needs to have to attract the Reagan democrats and other republicans whom are disenchanted with the party because of the Iraq war, the economy and the list goes on. Sam Nunn also has proven and diversified foreign policy and defense experience that he gained during his years as a senior US senator. His choice will give assurances to both conservatives and liberals that with Sam Nunn on the ticket, America will be safe under the, according to some, untested Obama. The only thing that might work against Nunn is that he might remind people of Dick Cheney. The looks, the style, etc. On the other hand, he can go with Joe Beiden whom has as Nunn a long foreign, legislative and political experience. Joe Beiden though was once accused and confessed to plagiarizing a speech but besides that he has a good liberal record however, I do not think that Beiden will get the same base or coalition that Sam Nunn can get. Reagan democrats do not like Beiden nor does the south and Obama does not need him to attract the liberal base; they are already attracted to Obama. The black horse whom is almost never mentioned in the campaign is in my opinion Mark Warner the former governor of Virginia and the Democratic nominee for the vacant seat for Virginia in the US senate. Mark Warner can run for both, he can be on the ticket as VP and still run for the senate seat for Virginia, remember Joe Lieberman in 2000. Warner's success as governor, his appeal as a rising star and a potential runner for the office of the presidency, his young age and overall popularly and executive experience might very well attract people across the spectrum and create a dream ticket for the democrats.


Update: CNN just confirmed, 08/23/2008, that Obama Chose Joe Beiden to be his running mate on the Democratic ticket.

The Treatment Of The Asian Laborers In The Arab World, By Jamil Shawwa

I have the following comment on the following article that appeared in Alquds-Al-Arabi newspaper that is published in London-UK. The following in Arabic, is an excerpt from the article, which the author, Abed Atwan, blasts the Arab countries for the inhuman treatment they put on their Asian labors.




ثورات العبيد و سادية العرب
عبد الباري عطوان

30/07/2008

تتهم مؤسسات حقوق الانسان الدولية المحترمة العرب باحتلال مرتبة هي الاعلي عالميا بالنسبة الي قضية الاتجار بالبشر، وهضم حقوق العمال، واساءة معاملتهم، ومن المؤسف ان هذه الاتهامات صحيحة، وموثقة، بل ونري امثلتها عمليا بالصوت والصورة في اكثر من عاصمة عربية وعالمية وفي دول الخليج علي وجه الخصوص، وهذه هي ادلتنا العملية الدامغة





My Response:

Shame on these countries the way they treat their laborers. I agree with the article about the inhuman treatment of the Asian labor in the Arab countries and I agree with the overall mentality that most of the Arabs have, and I am originally from The Middle East, that the labors are to be treated like slaves. I read an article in The National Geographic about the Asian labor in Dubai; I cannot comprehend how the people and the Prince of Dubai can claim civility with such pictures of the Asian laborers living like or less than the animals in the civilized world. Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia and others should wake up and start treating people the way humans should be treated. I also hope that the laborers original countries would stand up for their citizens and protect them from their Arab masters. Again, I am an Arab American and originally from The Middle East. Abed is right here, and it is one of these extremely rare occasions that I agree with Abed.

McCain Will Make History By: Jamil Shawwa

Senator John McCain the Republican nominee for the November 2008 presidential elections will make history. Mr. McCain will not make history as the winner of the elections but rather as the nominee that lost to Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States.

Unless a huge surprise of a nuclear bomb magnitude happens, like the capture of Osama Bin Laden, there is no way that McCain will be the next president of the United States. America is ready and the sleeves are rolled for a new era, the Obama era.

America's challenges in the coming years will come from the developing countries, from The Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America; Obama will be there to take care of business and the leaders of these countries will listen.

America needs change to battle a lingering economic crisis, finding a smart exit from Iraq and maybe focus the efforts more on Afghanistan.

A Democratic president will be able at this point to take care of America’s business.

America is now looking at Obama to get it out of it’s stagnation as it did look before to both Bill Clinton and John Kennedy. Clinton, a governor of a tiny state and Kennedy, a young catholic senator.

 In the case of Bill Clinton, it was the economy and in case of John Kennedy, it was America's entrance to the world as a great power and the mere excitement of electing a youthful president with the energy to motivate a whole new generation across the spectrum.

The USA is not looking- as McCain thinks- for a seasoned politician who has known world leaders and events because of his long tenure in the senate. America feels that it needs a new shot of energy in its veins, a skilled manager, a motivator and an inspirator.  Obama will be able to provide it.

America needs to reinvent itself, cope with the changes of its demographics and its movement into a real multicultural society; Obama will be able to lay the foundation. America’s greatness stems from it's pragmatic approach to life; it's ability to see things from different lenses as life requires; it’s ability to create the first country in the world that consist of the people of the world. America's population represents every single ethnic group that the world has ever known. Thus, it is very normal for America to start the reinvention process by electing Barrack Obama.

Who Controls Your Life?

What a huge extremely philosophical question. She always expected people to do this or that and behave, talk and react in a certain way; the way she would do, or behave if the situation was hers. With this mentality, she went through life moving from disappointment to another. It is a story not about her only but about many of us-humans- I expect people, to react to situations as I would. I expect people to deal with me the way I deal with them. When someone acts or reacts in a way that I consider different or unwarranted; I revolt. I am getting over this psychological barrier; slowly, it has been over 30 years and I am still working on it. At least I know that this condition exists. The less we expect from people, the less we get surprised for the way people behave and react to situations, the more we are ready and on our toes and alert, and stronger, confident and having healthy relations at home and at work.

Moments in Solitude...

June, 13, 2008


Glances...
They are setting in opposite corners of the cafe, she pretends that he does not exist and he pretends that he is not boiling with eagerness for a moment when she would look and he would send a quick smile that might bring some results.


A Woman...

She is setting, again, in the same corner. She looks depressed, distracted, pretends that she is busy, playing with her laptop, but she is not. She is looking, searching for a soul mate.


Me...

What a shame, what a waste of talents, or maybe I think so... So far not very desperate. A prince was born but maybe not very hard working one.


He gave her a nick name...

I asked her, or told her, I created a nick name for you, what you think, do you like it... She looked at me, a long loving look, and said I do not like it, I will not allow anyone to use it, I will boycott anyone who calls me with it, but you may.

To The Washington Post ; "Clinton Urges Backers to look to November" By Jamil Shawwa

Dear Editor,

I have been, over the years, witnessing the deterioration of The Post front page with continuous disappointment. The Sunday headline, 06/08/2008, is a clear example of that deterioration.

Instead of looking forward, you are looking backward, instead of highlighting the Obama winning; you are highlighting the loser's" looking forward to November”. What does that mean to someone for example in China just reading the headline in The Washington Post? That person would think that Clinton won and looking forward to November’s general election; it is possible you know. I thought I would read something like, Clinton Endorses Obama, or Clinton Bows to The Power of The Electorates, or something, but not that huge across the page headline with a larger than life picture. Again, I have been comparing your front page with the New York Times front page and the results are extremely disappointing to you, of course. The Times front page has been looking forward, The Post front page has been looking backward. I recall that front page during the 2000 elections when the whole world highlighted Bush obvious advantage over Gore and The Washington Post kept highlighting Gore's resistance to the obvious. It is ok to be loyal, but as The Washington Post front page, you must be objective. You can dwell as much as you want on whatever in that corner called The Editorial but not in the news sections. The problem is I have no choice but keep reading your paper. Thank God I only subscribe to The Sunday edition; otherwise your front page would have given me depression.

Best Regards,

Relation to the letter: An American Voter and a reader and subscriber of The Washington Post.

PS: It was not published

Islam Is Not The Problem, By Jamil Shawwa

Background information on this article:

An Italian, Egyptian born Muslim, Journalist by the name of Magdi Allam converted to Christianity from Islam. Allam blasted the Muslims and the religion for his decision, saying that the religion and Muslims spread a culture of hate and violence.

Analysis:

What Magdi did is between himself and God. Islam is not part of what Allam did. Islam, Christianity and Judaism are divine religions that in the minds of thousands of millions of believers share a foundation built on the message of peace and togetherness. Political groups or individuals that use and even hijack religions, in this example Islam, to commit all types of terror or as some might call acts of resistance; must not be confused with the religion itself. It is not the fault of Islam that there are so called Muslims who preach the message of hatred. It is as well not the fault of Judaism and Christianity that they have the same groups or individuals that preach the same philosophy against other people. The first step to conciliation is for those who convert to stop blasting their original religions for the deeds of those who use it to commit or pursue political agendas or those who preach the culture of hatred and violence in the name of a divine religion.

When Hillary Cried. By, Jamil Shawwa

By the mid day of 01/08/2008 it became almost clear that Obama will carry New Hampshire as he did with Iowa, when all of sudden, Hillary Clinton appeared on TV crying and emotional... When election posts closed, the numbers started to come, and Hillary won New Hampshire. Hilary Clinton, no doubt about, is a very savvy Politian that will use her skills, to put mildly, to win. What Hillary did is legitimate, a Politian is like a fighter, they need to use tricks to maneuver and win. I still believe, or want to believe, that Obama will at the end of the day carry the elections and move to win the democratic nomination and then the presidency. I know that Obama is the future and Hillary is the past. The other day I was talking to some of my colleagues at work and when I mentioned that I think Obama will win, the eyes stared at me and there was silence across the board. The eyes that stared at me were the eyes of my ethnic diversified team mates. Blacks said that there is a conspiracy to "make" Obama win the nomination only to make him lose to the republican nominee. The whites said that the country is not ready for a black president. When I asked the blacks why they say conspiracy, there was no answer. When I asked the whites, why you say the country is not ready, there was no answer. When I asked myself loudly; again who is the country, and I answered, we are the country, so who is conspiring and who is not ready. There was no answer.

Go ahead ..America, Make History. By Jamil Shawwa

I'm writing this article while looking at the internet and reading huge headline news stating that Barack Obama has won the Iowa Caucus. I will go further... much further and say and predict that Barack Obama is in his way to win the presidency of the United Sates comes November of 2008. Short of a huge surprise such as the arrest, capture or killing of Osama Bin Laden which if it happens will carry the republican ticket back to the white house, Barack Obama will win the presidency. America’s challenge in the coming twenty years will be taming the shrewd and that shrewd is the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, America needs a voice, put simply, that can relate and be related to all these areas. Obama's heritage will help. This might sound and look over simplifying the huge historic significance of electing a black to the white house but it is the reality. Obama will lay the foundation for all these changes and his election will ensure America’s leadership in the world by continuing to implement America's leadership in pragmatism and the ability to adapt to change. The great empires in history have collapsed not because they lacked power but because they lacked the pragmatism and the long vision America has had since its independence. America's power and continuity resides in its unique ability to change and make change.

The Egyption-Gaza Tunnels

Background on the following article: Abed Atwan the owner of an Arabic newspaper, Al-Quds Al- Arabi, published in London wrote an article on 12/27/2007 talking about a needed support to Egypt in the face of news reported Israeli pressure on the Egypt ion government to stop the smuggling of weapons from Egypt to Gaza through tunnels underneath the borders.

My reply:

Abed is an, no doubt about it, artist in what I call the demagoguery journalism. Abed for years has been attacking the Egyptian regime of Hosni Mubarak and accusing it with all what Abed calls the disasters that took place in The Middle East. Now, Abed is turning the tables upside down and started to give Egypt's regime support and cheers. Maybe because Abed pretends and wants us to believe in this case in the popular saying, Ana Wa Akhoya, Egypt, like any other country, must stop the export of terrorism, that is if does, to it’s neighboring states through the so called tunnels. As for Israel, Abed said that it is a corrupt society, I personally do not believe in that for a simple reason, a corrupt society can not be a dominant and progressed society. Of course like any other country from time to time corruption arises but it is not a social phenomenon; otherwise Israel would not have survived. As for Gaza, poor Gaza, it is under the famous hypocrisy, Hamas, after it was under the famous corrupts, Fateh. Abed was right though in one point and that is his description of the Egyptian soldiers at the border. They are poor and they want to serve well but the means are scare and not organized and it was just such a painful view to see the difference between the Israel side of the border and the Egyptian side. The Israelis were clean, upbeat, and civil. The Egyptians were poor; the facility was old, and dirty. The real problem is not in Israel but it is in the Image the Arabs have across the board. Abed Atwan reminds me of the famous Ahmad Said of Sout Al Arab radio during Nasser’s rein of Egypt. He, Said, among others was a cheerleader for a fake victory.

A pack of Cigarettes= 2 Small fries+3 apples+$2.00 Car Gas

The other evening I was torn apart, due to some financial mishaps, between buying my usual pack of cigarettes and buying few other things. The other things were my kids demand to have fries after school. I just could not resist the request or the demand and said to myself, forget It., when it comes to the kids, cigarettes come second. I know it does not sound very nice but as a smoker, a cigarette has some sort of a priority in my book. Any way, I bought the small fries, and the following days I went and bought exactly 3 apples and then finally in the same morning I put $2.00 worth of gas. All this for the price of one pack of cigarettes. I have never looked at life from that angle; I did not need to. Now, this angle has become my compass and hopefully, it will help directing to the right place

The Morning of 10/25/2007

I saw and witnessed America going to work this morning and I got jealous. What a view, people of, literally, all walks of life, walking, crossing streets, opening doors and just going to work. The view in the morning is, to me, more surreal than the view in the evening, when leaving work. In the morning, there is no way you can see a smiling face going to work, people are walking like robots, faces are flat and straight, marching towards something they have to do. On the other hand, the evening march is different, people are walking slower, and faces are worn down, yet a little relaxed. The morning to me has a special flavor; it's a start, new beginning, a new chance, a new hope, a new opportunity. It's morning again in Virginia and in America.

PS: I did not get the job I interviewed for that morning.