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.