The Ten Years Old Boy,*Lunch in Silwan-Jerusalem........by Jamil Shawwa

It is 2:30 PM, on a Thursday, of the year 1974. The bell rang, and the students at that Jerusalem school were starting to leave the class, it is the end of the school day. The ten years old boy left slowly, no rush, no one is waiting to collect him except for that big yellow bus with that driver and his assistant, fighting again as usual. His classmates are running out of the class, but not him, the classmates are running to their parents waiting outside the school walls on a famous Jerusalem street, Nablus street, to pick them up. The boy's family is miles and miles away in the sleepy city of Gaza by the Mediterranean. How can anyone believe that a city on the great and fantastic Mediterranean Sea and in the same time stale, poor Gaza, he thought. He continued to walk, left the gate, climbed the bus staircase and to his usual seat, exactly as the morning routine and again, no one next to him. The boy with himself, his books and his perspectives on the world. The bus started rolling through the afternoon busy streets of this magnificent city, Jerusalem, through Nablus street and passing by the prestigious Schmidt's college for girls , Salaheldin street, to the suburbs, Dahiat Al-Barid , El Ezaria, Shofat, Kalandia, oh, wait a minute, here is Kalandia airport, what a nice strip of runway, but he was told that it has not been used since 1967 and the demise of the Jordanians from the West Bank and the arrival of Israel as the new ruler. The airport has been used for small military aircraft only. The bus continues, to Ramallah, no checkpoints whatsoever. Dinner is ready at the boarding school, it is Thursday night, and tomorrow, Friday, is off, so tonight is “Mogadara” night, lentil, rice, and fried onions on top, with salad on the side. What a feast, oh wait another minute, the boy as the rest of the students had a locker and the locker had food from his family, fantastic, he can compliments the Mogadara with some cheeses or snacks before going to bed. Hey, Waite a third a minute, it is symposium night at the boarding school, and it was his turn, he volunteered actually, to present his version of the October war, or shall we say, Ze’ev Schiff’s version of the war between the Arabs and Israel, which took place a year earlier. Ze’ev Schiff did not only talk about a war; he talked about a nation that was shaken by the events, he talked about Israel's historic military leader, Moshe Dayan, panicking in the middle of the night. He also talked about Israel’s pain to have to fight in one of its most sacred days, Yom Kippur. He was talking about the end of the reign of Israel’s historic political party, HaMa'arakh, and the power behind it, the Histadrut, and the labor unions. “Earthquake in October” is the title of that book. Historically, Israel turned around the October war, and if the war continued, Israel probably could have reached Damascus and could  have ended the rule of Hafiz Al-Assad. On the Egyptian front, the Israeli forces led by Ariel Sharon, surrounded the Egyptian third army in Sinai and were going to advance towards Suez and Ismailia. Nevertheless, the October war was the first time the Arabs felt that they did something a little different from just running away or running around. The Egyptians crossed the Suez Canal, the Syrians as usual, screamed- from Damascus- and screamed and screamed like a woman in hard labor or on a verge of a C-section. That war according to Ze’ev Schiff was a turning point in the Israeli psychic and politics, Actually three years later, another political earthquake took place that continues to shape the Israeli politics until now which was the rise of the Likud and the start of the right wing reign on politics in Israel, Menahem Begin- Bibi Netanyahu’s mentor- has arrived. The boy started to talk about the war, and about Israel, and the students could not believe their ears or eyes, this boy was talking about it as if he were an Israeli; he was transforming what the writer wanted to say and presenting it to his Palestinian and Israeli-Arab students from the eyes of an Israeli reader or analyst. See, the boy could not have done any other way, probably. He had to analyze the book as it is or as he understood it or as he thought the writer wanted him to understand. The questions started and one student asked him, what do you think of David Ben-Gurion - the book mentioned him in a historic review of the country- the first Israeli prime minister and some consider him the founding father of the state of Israel with the other historic leader, Haim Weisman, who was the first president of the state. The boy answered, he is ok, he was very important to Israel. the other students warmed up, and asked what do you mean, and the boy just said, not sure, but he is an important Israeli leader. Now, nature took over after that statement, the students started denouncing the ten years old boy for his opinion of an Israeli, and the boy just looked and told them that he was just stating what is in the book. The students in general were ok except for one low life loser with no class with the initials of **U or O -for the first name, depends on how you write it and A for the last name. That U.A was a sneak and his younger brother, who was not in the same school but later on went to Berzeit University, was like him, same no class. Another student asked him, they loved then to embarrass the little boy, but what do you think of him, Ben-Gurion and the boy answered, not sure, he was the first prime minister of Israel and he won the war against five or six Arab countries. That was it for that boy, the supervisor ended the symposium, looked at the boy with hateful eyes and said it is bedtime, go and wash your feet before jumping into your beds. He used actually to inspect their feet while in bed. Years, and years later the boy got flashbacks about that supervisor's behaviors. He - the supervisor-used to set in his bed in his room half naked-top- with a specific student as the supervisor, no top, not behind closed doors, not at all, but open doors.  The boy recalls having all the students gathered in the supervisor’s room to chat almost every evening. He just wondered and years later, it struck him- see, he- the ten years old boy- was slow to process or something or was so innocent that such things, and there might have been nothing, could not even have crossed his mind. That boarding school had two supervisors, one happened to be a Muslim- the subject matter of this article- and the other happened to be a Christian, the Muslim was from Silwan and the other was from Ramallah, the Silwan supervisor was the dominant. No names will ever be mentioned but the initials of the first and last names of that supervisor, without the shirt, and his favorite student were the same, S.A.  It is Friday morning; it was nice sunny and cold but very refreshing. The supervisor, same one, the bed guy, reminded everyone that his parents, who lived in Silwan, invited all the students to lunch in their house. That lunch in Silwan stuck in the memory of the boy until now, it was hosted by good people from Silwan, the supervisor’s parents. That supervisor was some sort of strange mixture of many things, envy and hatred towards certain families, and he might have had like many of his age group and unmarried or unattached, some problems. He used to hit the students physically, no abuse, but slamming the faces few times. Verbally terrorizing those that were different, not accommodating his political views, actually the boy did not think that he- the supervisor- had any views, he pretended to be with Arafat but at that time who dared not to pretend to be with Arafat. There was one in fact, the ten years old boy, he never been even close to embrace the PLO. Later on Yasser Arafat made history by signing a peace treaty with Israel and taking giant steps as the first Palestinian leader to have the vision and the courage to make peace with Israel. The little boy revolted few times and the punishment was isolation, not being invited to participate in events in the boarding school, plays and such. The boy does not remember how they went that morning from Ramallah to Silwan, but he remembers the vine leaves, the stuffed vine leaves with rice and meat and the stuffed zucchini being cooked in fresh tomato souse- in Gaza it was not cooked with tomatoes, just the lamb broth and lemon, garlic- on burned wood. The students gathered the woods; put them in the middle of a hole surrounded by stones and ignited the fire and the rest was spectacular. They had yogurt on the side and freshly baked bread, called, Eltaboon. If the boy remembers well, olives were there too. Even while eating, that supervisor never looked at that little ten years old boy with kindness, his mother, the supervisor’s mother, the boy remembers, yelled at him to stop annoying the boy, he would come and hit him- not hard- on his head as a sign of a joke, but it was not joyful to the boy. It is time again to go back to that boarding school, tomorrow is Saturday, and it is school day, but Sundays were off.  It is time to go to bed, that supervisor was about to go around the different rooms sniffing and looking at the feet of the students, to make sure that they were washed and no one slept in his socks. The boy until now loves that wooden cooked food in that nice town Silwan by the famous and magical walls of Jerusalem's old city.  The journey continues…

 

 

 

Disclaimer: True events and persons. No names will ever be revealed to protect the innocent.

* A city adjacent to the old city of Jerusalem

** Initials of names mentioned are when writing the names in English.

Report Card To Obama......By Jamil Shawwa

Leaders shine in conflicts and they shine when their countries or companies or whatever they lead are in crises. Crises sometimes bring the best in leaders and bring the worst in pretenders. In America, in the mid 90s, the economy was in recession and in crises, and this brought Bill Clinton to be reelected for a second term and brought down the republican revolution led by Newt Gringrich. Couple of years earlier, Bill Clinton defeated the victorious George Bush, just coming out of liberating an oil oasis called Kuwait. Today, we have a conflict or two, we are in crisis or two, we are at war or two and we are in that context leading the world in combating the modern day terrorism. It is no longer state-to-state wars, but it is state to groups that decided on their own for whatever reason to create an atmosphere of fear and terror against everything that sounds normal in life. Some people like to resemble Barack Obama to both Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter; both are considered as losers in American politics. Both Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter came to power when America was not itself, was in crisis or just came out of crisis. Ford after Nixon resigned, after the Watergate scandal, and he just completed Nixon second term and then lost a bid to be elected on his own; he lost it to Jimmy Carter, what an irony. Ford was unlucky, it was not only Watergate that brought him down by proxy but also Vietnam, America in his era, signed the agreement to withdrew it's forces from South Vietnam, basically signed an agreement that stated that America was defeated to the Vietcong. The whole world saw and witnessed the humiliating withdrawal and the helicopter on top of the US embassy in Saigon with the southern Vietnamese trying to flee, women, children, everybody. That was a deep, deep scar in America's pride. America elected Jimmy Carter, who brought the Egyptians and the Israelis together, and chaperoned a historic peace treaty but did not handle the Iranian clerics' revolution well, and America again, after Vietnam witnessed the humiliation of its embassy members in Tehran being hijacked and kidnapped by the new and rising power in the Middle East, Iran. Carter did not survive it, or maybe it was the curse of the ailing Shah of Iran-Muhammad Reza Pahlavi- that Carter ordered to leave the country for the fanatics and the pretenders, the clerics that are running Iran right now. Carter lost to Reagan who- arguably- restored America's pride, ended the cold war, and established America as the only supreme and super power on earth. I prefer though, after this long introduction to resemble Barack Obama to Bill Clinton and not to Gerry Ford or Jimmy Carter. Both Clinton and Obama came in similar economic situations, both came after presidents who won wars but lost the economy. Today, now, Congress is divided, the republicans won the House of Representatives and the Democrats maintained control over the Senate. In 1994, Newt Gingrich led what was called then, the republican revolution with the slogan of "take the country back", as it is now, but instead of the republican revolution, we now have the Tea Party movement that is trying to put life in the dead veins of the Republican Party. Clinton in 1996 managed to secure a second term and this is the same legacy that Obama is trying hard to do, to secure a legacy, to be included in this unique club and very exclusive club of American presidents that managed to have two terms in office. This is Obama's goal or it should be at least. When he won in 2008, his next day item should have been how to prepare for the 2012 elections, besides of course securing and implanting an agenda that he promised the voters to implement. His team should have looked that far, maybe they did; we still need to see. He, Obama, made history as the first African American president to America, and just being president, he is making it every day. But this is not enough or no longer enough to secure a second term; he needs to show a genuine leadership, skills and tact that he already has shown during the 2008 elections. He cannot rest or resolute- if he wants to win- until he wins in 2012. Obama has a golden opportunity right now to shine, he did not lose both houses, he still control the money making and the power house, the senate but he must work hard not to appease the republicans- smart politics-; if he does, he will not be reelected. He needs again to work hard to show genuine leadership in pursuing his agenda, and not shying away from it, and in the same time work with whatever and whoever he needs to at least show the American people that he is doing his best and if that does not work, then the people, and they are smart enough, will see who did what and who obscured what. Obama has just secured a second mortgage on his political life, let us see if he can pay it off by 2012, or at least, being qualified to refinance by 2012. Either way, it means that he would get a second term.

"Poor Mexico, so far from God, and so close to the United States” by Jamil Shawwa

In late 19^th century, The US president Monroe, decided to side with the Mexican leader Benito Juárez against the French intervention and against the Mexican royalists forces led by Emperor Maximilian of Habsburg- the royal Austrian family. 

Before that and since then, America’s strategic interest in a stable Mexico was engraved in stone.  Another Mexican president, General Diaz once said “ poor Mexico, so far from God, and so close to the United State”  He was not referring to a state of war or any animosity against America, but a reality of being a neighbor of the mighty power and at the same time being a leader of a corrupt society, the Mexican society. 

In a related statement, President Salinas in 1993 said that an Israeli friend of his once told him” Poor Israel, so close to God and so far from the United Sates.” In the early 1990s, America poured an immediate Fifty Billion Dollars to save Mexico from Bankruptcy. In 1847, The United States invaded Mexico and entered Mexico City. Actually many Americans at that time wanted to annex the whole country and make it part of the United States. 

Conservative Americans at the time feared the Spanish population would affect the demographic balance in America.  America "just" wanted the territories by the border, which included California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. America paid $15 million dollars, much more than we paid the Russians to buy Alaska in the same era. Both purchases of course showed the genius visions of American politics.

The strategic and financial importance of Alaska and the Mexican territories are beyond words and imagination to describe. 

Mexico right now is in turmoil, gangs in the streets, people are unsafe, the economy is crumbling and the Mexican Harvard graduate presidents cannot save the country. America will not allow Mexico to fail, but America is watching right now, helping with billions of dollars each year to fight drug trafficking and to secure the borders. 

The issues are much deeper than just sending troops to the border, Mexico is in revolt right now and it is revolting against the elite party rulers, and revolting against the government corruption and revolting against the fraudulent elections. 

Mexico wants to drop the Harvard graduates for more indigenous type of leaders in the material of Diaz and Juarez. The current president, elected in 2006 for a one term in office of six years and came from an elite political family, Calderon, really did not win that election fair and square but his opponent the most popular now in Mexico, Señor Obrador. 

The information I got from Mexico though not confirmed by open sources, media, etc., is telling an untold story, to me at least, that the daily murders in the Mexican cities and towns are not related to gangs or drugs but related to under cover resistance to the manipulation of the political party elite that Calderon and the PAN party represents.  

Since 1920s, another historic party *PRI manipulated the political life and most presidents came from it. There has been an unholy alliance between the political politburo and the military to help each other, let the politicians play the game of politics and let the military run the corruption. 

The Mexicans are fed up, they at the same time will not allow the likes of Chavez in Venezuela or Morales in Bolivia, the famous populists demagogues to rule; Mexico is much more civilized to allow such a grand deterioration to it’s class. 

America is thinking of building a fence along it’s borders with Mexico to prevent illegal immigrants and drug trafficking but the idea probably will not fly, America does not like concrete fences, although I personally believe that good fences make good neighbors. 

The solutions to Mexico are tough, the society is corrupt, and I am not saying the Mexicans, just the culture in general, the style. The president is elected once for six years, so no motivation for him or her to build a legacy. Mexico in my opinion needs to do the following, it is already a federal system, it needs to copy -it will work- the United States form of government that is the only solution. 

The two societies are so interacted, so intermingled. The Hispanic population in America is growing and languages mainly will be English and Spanish.   It all starts by cleaning up the political system, and only popular leaders can do that, and I say popular and not populists. 

Mexico right now is behind Brazil and Argentina in the importance on the Latin hierarchy, but Mexico in my opinion, has the ingredients to be in the same class as Asian countries, to be like America or Canada might not be easy, their culture is more tuned to that in the Middle East, Spain, and Asian style, that does not mean that it cannot be successful. 

It is very strange, the Mexicans love their country, very proud of it, but at the same time they know how corrupt it has been. It is also a very superstitious society, a society that believes in the conspiracy theory as a way to interpret politics and world affairs. In the center of the capital, Mexico Federal, there a huge tall monument called, Angel de la Independencia, that they believe will help them to prevent another invasion from the United States. It is so ironic, that Angel is surrounded by American hotels and American companies. The Mexicans sleep and wake up dreaming or fearing an American invasion. They will never admit though, they more dream of it than fear it.

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* Google historic information

Scratch my Back, and I might Scratch yours, A Contract with The Ruler " by Jamil Shawwa

Tip O'Neill, the former speaker of the United Sates House of Representatives once said and since then has been quoted numerous times that all politics is local. In the Arab countries, all politics is foreign. O'Neill was referring that during elections, no matter what happens around the world, the American people will make the final choice or judgment based on how they feel their government is doing internally. Not in The Arab countries, in the Arab countries, it is all  about how they are perceived outside their borders. The Arab countries right now are the presidents and the kings and the princess, and noting else. There are no people there, over 350 million human beings count to nothing. Therefore, when you talk about the Arab World, or the twenty-five Arab countries in the Middle East, and North Africa, you really talk about twenty-five persons that you need to deal with and you must ignore the rest, which is the 350 millions; imagine.  I have few examples- maybe because these have the potential in leading a change- that highlight this tragedy in the Arab countries, and by the way, many of these millions of ignored humans like it that way, they like to be ignored domestically, and they like their leaders to focus on foreign policy. In short, it is as if I will ignore you out side the country and you ignore me-to a certain degree of course- inside. I have Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Morocco, there are peace treaties with Israel- Jordan and Egypt officially and the Palestinian authority- the king and the president are all over the place, very popular and regular guests on world-class programs, domestically, its another story, you have a very primitive political process that boils down to few parties including the Muslim Brotherhood that talk about fighting and boycotting those that deal with Israel and in the same time their king and president meet and have lunches and dinners with Shimon Peres, and Ehud Barak and Bibi Netanyahu. The locals separate between the king, the president, and the rest of the country including the government. What is allowed to the king and the president is not allowed to the masses. It is ok for the king and the president to deal with the Israelis, to make peace with them, to have lunches and dinners, but it is not ok for anyone else in the country. The ultimate hypocrisy and the ultimate lack of civility that has engulfed the Arab world since the Turks, the Ottoman Empire, drilled inside its conscious the art of pretentious and the art of self-deceit and the art of self deceive. In Jordan and Egypt, in Morocco and Syria they say, the king and the president know better, they know politics and that Jordan and Egypt have to do this or that, to survive, that Jordan is surrounded by Syria, Iraq and Israel and the worst, a Palestinian population that consists of 70% of the population and that population in big chunks does not like the Hashemite. In Jordan, the biggest fear is none but the Palestinians. Domestically, immature political parties quarrel, talk about the price of gas, the winter and the price of bread, and the ruler loves it that way. They talk about boycotting this or that, they burn flags of this country or that; no creativity, no leadership, just ghosts in the streets with long fake beards and pretentious personalities. In the Arab countries, there are just two layers of humans, the ruling party and the masses, and they are not connected, but they both like it. Again, the ruler says, let me handle the outside, and I will let you play around domestically, I will give you enough room to talk, to scream, to yell, to accuse, to terrorize the rest, that is verbally only of course, and in exchange, let me handle the foreign policy, let me make peace with Israel, I know better. The ruler in the Arab world is blackmailing the masses and the masses are ok with it. Egypt with over 79 millions has been just talking about Mubarak’s successor for the past ten years. In the mid 80s, Egypt did not recognize its great writer- Naguib Mahfouz- until Noble prize awarded him its prize for the literature, only then, the Egyptian president met him at the presidential palace and bestowed upon him the Nile Medal, Egypt’s highest honor for civilians. See, the Arabs are not naive, the people know everything but they have developed this sense of acceptance since the biggest oppressors, the Turks, injected them with sense of humiliation and defeat, that is in order for you to survive you have to teach your kids to stay away from politics, to leave politics to those that understand it, that there is a ruling class that knows better how to deal with the outside world. Do not feel sorry for the Arab masses, they accepted this contract, and they signed it and they put their stamp on it. The observers from outside wonder about the contradictions between the king and the president and the masses. In Egypt, over 79 million Egyptians might be trying to do something else, there might be a movement in Egypt, that is a popular movement that is starting to question the ruler, his perceived wisdom, and maybe they are questioning as  why the leaders are fine outside their countries and they are terrible inside. Morocco is the same, here is another Arab country that has it's people wondering the streets of America and Europe aimlessly, why... they are running out, why, there is a very elegant monarchy, the resources are abundant, beautiful landscape, but the people are running, they are fleeing the country as if there is a plague. Let us not go to Yemen, and other countries; just duplicate what I just said and change the name of the country. The same applies to the 25 Arab countries and over 350 million people. In the 1950s 1960s of the last century, the ultimate face of the Arab defeat, Gamal Abdel Nasser, told the Arabs to wake up, to reject humiliation and to be proud. Abdel Nasser actually was the one that complimented the Turks job, and suppressed every sense of creativity the Arabs might had, he destroyed a nation that was thriving, Egypt, and he destroyed other nations, Syria, the Palestinians and Lebanon. Abdel Nasser, if there were justice and if he were still alive, he would stand trial for such crimes. But he is not the only one, every Arab president, king or prince has contributed to the demise of the Arab countries. Now, I must say, that there is no other choice but democracy, no more excuses; the Arab rulers love Israel, you know why, because they have Israel to hang on and to explain all their failures, anything that does not go well, the Arabs say, because of Israel. No respect to their people whatsoever. No dignity. But again, the masses are doing the same; they also are hanging their failures in everything on the rulers. See, it is a marriage between the ruler and the masses that both hate and love in the same time but no one wants to get a divorce...

*A Station in a Journey…..Midnight thoughts to Her…by Jamil Shawwa

She: you had to ruin it by asking all these questions, by putting me on the spot.

He: I cannot help it, I have to ask questions that I think of, I have to share what is in my mind, with those that I care about…

She: I told you indirectly to play the game and see how it goes

He: and I told you before, indirectly, that I am not good at it, I am new to it

She: here we are at a deadlock, I will not answer and you will not budge

He: I care, that is why I will not budge

She: what do you mean by that

He: I could have played the game, probably, and probably it could have led to something but it would have been against my nature

She: what is your nature

He: I am not a politician, I cannot filter my thoughts, although when talking politics or pretending that I know something about the political game, I do filter my thoughts, but I do that for the sake of the ultimate goal, objectivity.

She: why then you could not do the same, why you could not pretend that you know the game of conversation and continued on it; we had a ball, it was so amusing. You are just not clever

He: my point exactly, it was not amusing to me, and it was not a race to prove if I were clever or not; it was about the real thing, I cannot deal with just words, or abstracts for long, I have to deal with real feelings and real persons.

She: I am real

He: I am too

She: what is next for us

He: not sure, maybe the silence and watching each other from far, from a distance, will bring us back together again…

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*Disclaimer:

Any resemblance with real persons or situations is a mere coincidence. For entertainment purposes only.

A Story...The 10 year- Old- Boy In Jerusalem......by Jamil Shawwa

Time: 7:30 AM, A day in October 1974.
Place: the boarding school house at the YMCA, Ramallah, the West Bank.

The little 10 years old boy is waiting for the school bus to collect him from that boarding house to his school in Jerusalem; the distance is about 10 miles or 17 kilometers. He was holding two books; the first one was for one of Israel's most distinguished political and military writers, Ze'ev Schiff, about Israel during the 1973 October war, just fresh out of the presses, and the second was for one of Egypt’s most eloquent political writers, Mohamed El-Tabei, about the events that led to the 1952 Military coup and later on the end of the Muhammad Ali royal dynasty rule in Egypt. That boy loved to read, and now he loves to write, what a dilemma... The yellow bus arrived, the boy climbed the few steps, took his usual seat by the window and to the journey to Jerusalem. His parents put him in that school in Jerusalem, about 100 kilometers or 80 miles away from Gaza where his home and family were and lived. The bus driver and his assistant as usual were fighting, not sure over what but they used to fight all the time.

The bus started rolling through the narrow streets of Ramallah, and passed by The Friends School and to the mountain road to Jerusalem. The 1973 war just ended, and the name of the king of Jordan was not to be found or mentioned; it has been like this since the 1967 war. No one dared even his closest allies and money collectors to open their mouth with one word to praise him-publicly- or at least be fair to him. To the masses, he lost the Eastern part of Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967 war that he did not want to enter, and he did not want to participate. Wisely, of course, he did not go to war in 1973; otherwise, the East Bank would have been lost and it would have been the end of the Hashemite from their last resort.

One little boy did not care about all this politicking, the ten years old boy. The first time he passed by a beautiful unfinished palace on a beautiful hill in the suburbs of Jerusalem, he asked, for why it is not finished, when it will be finished and to whom it belongs. The whole bus went into silence, you could even hear a needle drop, just frightened looks and then came the big answer, a long, loud Hushhhhhhhhh; it belongs to King Hussein; a “courageous” student whispered, the king of Jordan then. That boy very innocently asked about something he felt beautiful but unfinished , and since then, he kept track of beautiful things- from his perspective- in life. He did not think politics, games, wearing different hats for different occasions and audiences; he just threw it out there.

The Story of Jordan is the king and the King is Jordan, period. Their core and heart and soul of their post 1948 political existence was uprooted when they listened to the voices of hypocrisy and demagoguery that came from, at that time, the capital of hypocrisy, Egypt's Nasser, from the second capital of Hypocrisy, Syria’s Baath and from the emotional charge that Nasser deceivably electrified the Arab countries calling for war on Israel. Of course, the Arabs just talked and screamed their lungs out while Israel took action, very smart- any other country in its position must have done the same thing- preemptive strikes and defeated three Arab countries, took Sinai, The Golan, The West Bank, and the Gaza strip.

The king knew then as the current one knows-his son Abdullah- that he will never again be the king of Jerusalem. The talk now is a two state solution, the State of Israel and the State of Palestine with Jerusalem as the capital of both. The Hashemite might continue to oversee the religious sites for Muslims and Christians in Jerusalem but nothing more. Jordan is Jordan and Palestine and Israel are Palestine and Israel.

The Hashemite are popular among the Jordanians Bedouins, the backbone of the military and the backbone of the royal family. The Hashemite, originally, the rulers of Mecca and Hejaz until the early of the 20th century when the House of Saud kicked them out of power and established the modern- of course I’m using the word modern here loosely to describe an era but not actual modern mentality or anything from that sort- Saudi Arabia. They, the Hashemite, went on to rule Syria, Iraq, and Jordan; they were murdered in a bloody coup by bloody officers in Iraq in 1958 and before that, they were thrown out of power from Syria. They are in Jordan now. I personally want to see them to continue to rule Jordan, but Jordan is tough, with over 70% of the demography, originally Palestinians, the poverty, and the rumors of ongoing government corruptions, and the Muslim Brotherhood, a religious organization, disguised as a political party. I have to stick to my style though, the monarchy continues in Jordan but as a constitutional monarchy like in England. As a matter of fact, the mother of the king of Jordan is English, and in Jordan, they say that he speaks English better than Arabic; to me this is not an insult actually. Let us wait and see, it is not easy for the Hashemite, it has never been easy for them. The bus has arrived, and it is time for that boy to go to his first class, Mrs. Aabdin, the English teacher, is waiting.

*When the Lion Roars; Meowwwww...... by Jamil Shawwa

Bashar AL-Assad did not expect that life-changing phone call in the middle of a London cold night in 1994 telling him that a plane is in its way to bring him back to Syria at once. His older brother, Basil, has just had a fatal accident driving his ultra modified Porsche, some say Mercedes, on a mountain road in the fogy surroundings of the capital Damascus. It was a destiny he did not want and did not prepare for. All he wanted to be is an eye doctor. He is in love with the British born, originally Syrian, Queen’s and King’s Colleges graduate Asma Al-Akhras, from the majority Muslim Sunnis of Syria. Now the doctor is being groomed to rule the ever-tricky politics and country of Syria. The clan is calling, the Alawis, the rulers of Syria since 1970. His father- Hafiz Al-Assad- ruled Syria with an iron fist, some say that he did not have other choices; he was like Stalin in the Soviet Union. In 1982, the Muslim Brotherhood took over the Syrian city of Hama, Hafiz Al-Assad did not hesitate, surrounded the city and ordered the military to uproot the rebellion, thousands were killed; estimated at 20,000, but the clan survived. In Syria, the loyalty is to the system, to the Alawis, if you do a mistake in Syria and you are in high office or place- you do not resign, you commit suicide or being invited to commit a suicide. This is the Alawis style in covering up for the family and the clan. In 1967, three Arab countries stupidly waged a war against Israel, they lost, and Syria lost the Golan Heights, Hafiz Al-Assad was the minster of defense. In 1970, he took over in a coup d’état, removed a weak and an idiot president, from an elite Syrian Sunni family, Al-Atassi, and declared a new era in Syria. He led what he called a Corrective Movement, correct what, until now, nobody knows, but him. In 1975 under an Arab cover and the approval of both Israel and the United States, he entered Lebanon to stop a crazy civil war, became an occupier and stayed there until 2005 when the US ordered him- Bashar, the son- to leave at once following the assassination of the Lebanese Muslim Sunni leader and former prime minster, Al Hariri. Bashar Al-Assad became president in 2000 following the passing of his father and was immediately confronted in 2001 with the terrorists’ attacks on America and the Bush doctrine, which is either with us or against us. In 2003, his archenemy, yet partner, in the Baath fascist party, Saddam Hussein was removed from power, and Al-Assad became alone in the Baath system. Al-Baath party is a party that covers itself with Pan-Arab slogans, but in fact, it is a party that preaches secret rituals of how few can rule the many through oppression and manipulation of course, otherwise, if done democratically; then it is no problem at all for a minority to rule a majority. That party was founded by a Christian Syrian by the name of Michel Aflaq. Again, the party and the system are based on the Mafia style of justice and brutality and on the Mafia style that is all in the family and for the family and by the family. Al-Assad the father played his cards very well, and managed the cold war era but got lost when the Soviet Union collapsed, but again he regained the importance through managed and calculated alliances with the so called forces of extremism in the Middle East, and by being available to manipulate the politics in Lebanon, a country that money buys loyalty and a country where also the clan comes first and the country comes fourth. During the Iraqi-Iranian war of the 1980s, he aligned himself with the Iranians, both are minorities in the midst of the Arab Sunni countries, both are from the Shiite sect and both until now have all the interest to be together. Accordingly, his participation in the Kuwait liberation was very understandable, he did not do it for Kuwait but against Iraq and the need to share and participate in the US efforts as needed. Following that liberation war, there was the first peace conference, Al-Assad attended, with Israel, representatives of the Palestinians, Egypt and Jordan. He later on allowed his loyal Sunni foreign minister, later vice president Farouk al-Sharaa to meet the Israeli prime minister at the time Ehud Barak in Washington under the supervision of President Clinton. The Golan Heights is a beautiful landscape that is less than 30 miles away from the Syrian capital. Israel is there and can see the capital whenever needed, and Al-Assad knows that of course. He wants the Golan back, eventually he will get it but only through peace, and Al-Assad knows that too. It is a regime that is based on the need to do basis. In 2005, I wrote that Syria’s Baath is in its way out; its logic, verbiages and statements prey on the emotions of the masses, the disillusioned, the deceived, the naive, for the rest, it has no substance or respect and far away from anything that is democratic or normal. I mentioned then that the oppressive and manipulative pretentious ideology of the Baath could not make it survive or continue to exist. I forgot then that logic does not-always- go side by side with politics, and if Al Baath is gone from Iraq, it does not mean that it needs to go now from Syria. As for Al-Assad family, I think it will stay not sure for how long. As for Lebanon, Syria will never be allowed to go back again. Of course, anyone probably knows that Al-Assad does not dare to move a finger before getting the necessary regional and international approvals, which is good, and it means that he knows how to play the game of politics in The Middle East. Actually, the relations are really more of mutual interests rather than someone telling the other what to do. But if that someone or that somebody does not know what is best for them or is not willing to be pragmatic, flexible and be aware of the bigger picture and the regional formulas and interests, then that someone needs to go, and if it is the case, it would go now, and not tomorrow. Al-Assad is very aware of that formula and is happy with it.





*Assad is Lion in English.

The New Map of The Middle East...Three New Countries...by Jamil Shawwa

*The Middle East will witness in the coming years, not sure how many, the birth of three new countries that should compliment the current political map and would increase peace and security and stability. These three countries will be the vehicle that will reshape the Middle East, which will include Israel and two of the new three ones. The Middle East, the birthplace of the divine religions and the spring of the engine- Oil- of the civilization as we know it right now cannot be or cannot continue to be a trigger point or cause to wars and terrorism. The root cause of these worldwide problems would be eliminated with the establishment of the new countries. I will start with what appears to be the closest one to be declared an independent state, South of Sudan. This new country will help Sudan, the North, to focus, ideally, its resources and energies on democracy and development. The military regime in Khartoum, if it stays in power, would not have any excuse actually to stay. Sudan once described as the basket of Africa, as it could have fed the whole continent if resources are managed normally and I do not even say skillfully. The new South Sudan country will permanently seal Sudan from being an African country per se and make it closer to Egypt and the rest of the Arab countries within the big and new Middle East. The second country, which is on fast track to be an independent state, is the State of Palestine in the West Bank of the River Jordan between Jordan and Israel and the Gaza Strip. It is coming but the final picture is not yet clear, to me. The whole world including the State of Israel recognized this potential state but the issues at stake are very sensitive to both parties and on a larger scale very sensitive to the majority of the people all over the world. The first most difficult one is the status of Jerusalem, it is currently and formerly the capital of Israel and the Palestinians wants it to be their capital as well. Jerusalem will and should be the capital of both countries because both countries have population there and both Israel and Palestine, historically and religiously and emotionally and everything that you can think of, can claim a right in Jerusalem. It has the most sacred places to the Jewish people, the Christians and the Muslims. And If I may add, Jerusalem is a city of the world and it must be preserved as an international historic place where no one country either Israel and Palestine can change it's landscape without the coordination of the other and even maybe get the UN involved with some sort of symbolic observation. The other issue at stake is interconnected and relate to both the refugees who left the pre 1948 historic Palestine to the neighboring Arab countries and the Jewish settlers in the West Bank who feel that they can take over any piece of land in the West Bank and create a settlement there. The rhetoric is high on both sides, but ideally, the settlers would either move inside the State of Israel or be given regular citizenship status within Palestine and be citizens of the new state. There is another issue about the settlements that once resolved, and once addressed and once confronted logically, would create a new way of thinking that would be based on buying lands rather than taking over lands or properties and would give the Jewish people the mindset that they are no longer isolated and no longer need to be living in secure enclaves here and there; the land would be open to them as regular buyers of properties and same applies to Palestinians who wish to buy properties inside Israel, they cannot claim historic ownership on lands and properties inside Israel. In return, the issue of the Palestinian refugees would be resolved once and for all, no return, but be given citizenship in the countries they live in now; Jordan did the same decades ago but without publicity. The Arabs are so scared even to discuss the possibilities that they forfeit the so called right of return. The third country is the most difficult one-imagine something else more difficult than the Israeli Palestinian issue- which is the establishment of the State of Kurdistan in the historic Kurds areas that include lands in Iraq, Syria, Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan. I am a pro Kurdistan country for I have to admit selfish and practical reasons; it will in my opinion forever establish a zone that would make aggression from the side of any of its neighboring courtiers virtually not possible. It will create a zone, like an oasis in the middle of these courtiers that would act as a safe heaven and Bastian for peace in the region, it will also create economic prosperity in almost six countries and create business zones along the borders of all these countries. Imagine, those border areas had always been a cause for conflict, the creation of the State of Kurdistan would eliminate that zone, also it would control the drug trafficking to Europe, ensure smooth flow of oil, as Kurdistan is rich for oil fields. I mentioned before here my deep support to the inevitability, from my perspective for the creation of this State. It does not have to be on every inch of the historic land but it needs to be created. Once created, I do not personally see that it would encourage the Shiite in the south of Iraq to create their own country; I think the rest of Iraq would be ok to give the Kurds a country and they, as in Sudan, would focus on their core land and country.

*Maps:

http://www.usefreedomtv.com/images/Kurdistan_map.gif

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/images/maps/israel_palestine_map.gif

http://www.supiriresources.com/images/south_sudan.jpg

Settlements.....by Jamil Shawwa

The Jewish settlers in the West bank believe that they should be able to live in peace in any part of the land of Israel, including the West Bank and Gaza; let them. In the same token, Palestinians believe that they should be able to live in any part of the land of pre 1948 historic Palestine; let them.

Once you apply the same scale to both Israelis and Palestinians, to both people that live in Israel and Palestine, the whole problem or so called problem to some of the settlements in the West bank would disappear.

Israel and Palestine are so unique, there is no other land on earth that charge and provoke emotions and spirituality to billions of people from all three divine religions as that land of these two countries.

Same scale should apply to people who come from abroad and would like to take Palestine and Israel as their home, both people should be permitted within their boundaries or land. In the second stage, once both countries are established with borders but no fences, just borders, ultimately, people from both countries would be able to buy and sell properties anywhere.

A family in Gaza would be able or permitted to buy a house in Tel-Aviv, and a family from Israel would be able to do the same either in Gaza or anywhere else. See, the purpose of having two normal countries in the land of peace is to give among other things the Jewish people the feeling maybe for the first time in history that they do not have to live in secure enclaves or settlements, no need, because technically the whole land will be open for them to enjoy as for the Palestinians and as for others.

Same thing if an Israeli family or a Palestinian family wants to buy a house in America or France. Open borders, normal commerce, no need to go and take over any specific house or land and say that you want to establish an enclave there, just go ahead and buy it.

For hundreds of years, the Jewish and the Christians in the Middle East felt- unfortunately correctly- and were raised to live in areas together, create their own parts and sections; In Jerusalem for example, and within the old city, for hundreds of years and until now you have the Christian section and the Jewish section. This should stop now; they are regular people and citizens of the Middle East as any other religion and group, even if the number does not match the majority.

The future will have the twenty-two Arab countries and all the Islamic countries having normal and peaceful relations with both Israel and Palestine. Hundreds of years of the feeling of isolation cannot be erased in one year or two but the normalization of relations and the creation of the Palestinian State in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank would be the foundation that will establish for the first time in history the harmonious atmosphere for Muslims, Jewish and Christians to not worry any more about prosecution, religious intolerance, ethnic discrimination; all the above can seize to exist, at least would seize to exist as a systematic behavior.

The Palestinians right now are at cross road and not the Israelis, they, the Israelis, have already established a world class country, the Palestinians need to get their act together, get the West Bank and Gaza under a normal elected government, have Hamas join the peace process as a regular political party, no terrorism, no attacking border towns and blowing humans and buses. Set at the table, talk and sign the piece of paper that states that you are civilized, smart, and realistic. Cannot get any easier.

The Great American Buffet…by Jamil Shawwa

She asked him if he had been to the Great American Buffet, he responded by saying that he lives in it. She looked at him and said you know what I mean, do not try to be smart with me, I know you well enough that these mind games do not work with me. I meant, she continued, the restaurant next to work, they have changed the menu and they have more fabulous varieties now, much more than before. He responded by no, although he remembered the place.

He also remembered many other things related to the Great American Buffet. America loves Buffets, and loves its people to mingle with each other; this is how the idea started. America loves the concept behind the Buffet.

The Great American Buffet stands tall and stands strong, the people that serve there are the same people that eat there, the servers and the customers are from the same background, there is no difference and America likes it that way. America does not like elitists, snobbish and America does not like the word servants.

America calls those that work at the Great American Buffet, servers and not servants. In the same token and on the flip side, America likes to call people that clean houses, the cleaning people or facilities, not servants, and if it happens that the cleaning person is a woman, America calls her, properly, the cleaning lady. To America it is a job, any legal, honest, hard working job, is a job. If you are one of those, very lucky, that have permanent people working for them at their homes, those people are not called servants but they are called staff, and I like it this way.

Everyone on earth directly or indirectly heard, seen, or tried the Great American Buffet. But not very many know that the great American Buffet does not like to keep the same colors, and the same style, it likes to change it’s colors as needed and as business requires, it is always though the Red, Blue and White, but that is only the flag on top of it’s building, other than that the owners change and the food style changes to fit all tastes and needs.

There used to be different sections for different styles, not any more, its all one section but with different variations, and the tables in the middle are no longer separated but connected with chains more powerful than steel to make sure that the different styles never get drfited again. The display has all kinds of dishes from all over the world, at the Great American Buffet, you see the Indian food, and dishes, mingling with the Chinese, the French, the Middle Eastern, not to forget the Russian and the Mexican, and if you are patient and look carefully, you will find a nice section for Sushi, and grilled Korean BBQ. The main dishes are also there, always there, the fried chicken next to the Irish stew and adjacent to the fish and chips.

Though main dishes, they rotate, they do not set or stay still, yesterday it was the Irish dish, today is the African dish, tomorrow there will be an Asian dish, and Spanish dish. The Great American Buffet likes to change it’s décor from time to time to fit the changes in taste but the Great American buffet does not change one thing, it does not change and cannot change its foundation, it modifies and amend as needed, but not the foundation, it renovates and it might tear down the above ground to build a new building but it does not touch the base, the core, the foundation.

That is the story of the Great American Buffet, oh, I forgot to say that it celebrates its clientele and its servers and owners every month or so. This month, it is celebrating the Middle Eastern cuisine, and it has been like this since last month, many dishes of Hummus and falafel and pita bread but though originally Middle Eastern, those dishes are American dishes, do not forget that they are being served right now at the Great American Buffet.

Mosque in America Part V...America’s Newest Religion... by Jamil Shawwa

Today, in the 10th anniversary of the horrific, terrorist attack on America on 09/11, America accepted Islam as its newest religion. An American religion, a divine religion as Judaism and Christianity. There is no religion, an idea, or a concept in American history that stirred such emotions across all Americans and in every State as Islam did and in such a short period, just few weeks. Today, a pastor with less than fifty followers in a small city in Florida who probably indirectly and without realizing it, helped to establish Islam finally as an American religion. That pastor who called a week ago to burn The Muslims holy book, came today and said that he will not do it “not now not ever”. The whole country and the world actually was held hostage for one week looking, watching, and participating in this drama. The president of the United States intervened, the whole US government intervened, every State talked about it, every person discussed it and they all, the majority of Americans decided as they always do on life changing issues and on matters of high importance, on matters that touch the country’s core existence, that this religion, that is believed and worshiped by almost two billions people around the world, in every country on earth and over thirty countries consider it as it’s main religion or source of legislation and millions in the United States, must be included in the religious mosaic of America. That it is no longer a religion of the fringes, the outcast, the strangers but it is a faith that when you look closer to it, as believers believe, when you read it’s verses, as its follower explain, it states it’s strong belief that it is the religion that respects and recognizes Judaism and Christianity as religions of the same and only God. Two extraordinary leaders helped, but this time directly and knowingly, to make Islam an American religion, Barak Obama, a Democrat, the president of the United States, a Christian, whose father and family from his father’s side were and are Muslims and Michael Bloomberg, a Republican, the Mayor of New York City, a Jewish. These two fought and still fighting the right fight not for Islam but for America. They both stood for the constitution and for the first amendment and freedom of religion, for the freedom of expression. Bloomberg stated on more than one occasion that the best answer to those 9/11 criminals is to have a place of God next to the crime scene where those terrorists claimed deceivably that they destroyed in the name of their religion. It is the proposed Mosque, a block and a half from the place where the crimes of 9/11 took place. America as well in all it’s people and in all of it’s States have participated and still participating in the debate around the place of that mosque but not if it should be built. The mosque once it is done in its proposed place will forever cement America’s recognition and acceptance of Islam as the third pillar of its faith. Bloomberg said in an interview with MSNBC in the 10th occasion of the 911 terrorist attacks on how he reacts to a city that is divided and wants him to move the mosque location, that it is not about what they say or the polls, but it is all about protecting the first amendment to the US constitution, freedom of speech, and that it is not up to the government to tell people where to pray and where to build their place of worship. He continued to say that if you do not agree with it, do not support it and that is it. He also said that we could not just protect freedom of expression and religion in incidents that are to our likes, but we must as well protect it when it is for things that we do not like. He has been steadfast on his position, he is losing support from his city and his party, but the mayor is getting admiration and support from every fair minded American and those are the vast majority of the American people. Mayor Bloomberg is a phenomena in the world of politics today, he and president Obama are standing for real American values and for the right of all to express their opinions freely including that pastor in that city in Florida.

Mosque in America....Part IV... by Jamil Shawwa

A Muslim American friend who happened to be an African American told me once that the real Islam is not in the Muslim world or the Arab countries but it is here, the real on, in America. She continued to say that she toured many Islamic, Arab and European countries but never felt the freedom or the security to practice her religion, Islam, or to feel like an independent Muslim woman except here in the Unites States of America. Actually her feelings and her sentiments are shared by most Muslims in America, they are , as any faith and in particular the three divine religions free to practice, free to build their mosques, churches and synagogues. America lives to its example and it lives to its constitution and it lives to its secular way of governing. America does not have any problem with the head cover or even Elniqab, the veil that covers the face altogether. You see completely veiled women in the most fashionable places and hotels in Washington DC, people might look politely but no one interferes. America is big enough, strong enough, and confident enough, to be very tolerant and very forgiving, but above all, very pragmatic. America is smart and America is unique and within its wings, those big comforting wings, it can protect and embrace all kinds of people. As a matter of fact, America is the world, and that is why maybe nothing in America is strange. Yet though it has every human being from every part of the world, it is still the distinctive country, it created what I like to call and describe as the Americanism; the pure juice that oozes through the veins from being the melting pot and from being the blender and the mixer. Many people from all faiths who never practiced any religion or never practiced their religion in their original countries, started to practice even if occasionally once they arrived or shortly after to America. People whom never gave to charity, whom never thought of the community feeling or the community bondage, started to do it and feel it here in America. In defending those that for a religion, or ethnic reason are not considered part of the majority or part of the trend, America defends it's existence, America knows that to continue to be the most powerful nation on earth, it must embrace every human being, every American, regardless of his or her religion, background, color, ethnic group, This is the United States of America and this is the story of Mosque in America.

Mosque in America Part III by Jamil Shawwa

The real story of Islam with America did not take place until 1979 and the start of the cleric’s revolution in Iran. Before that, America looked at Islam from the lens of looking at the Arab countries and the Arab world as a whole. The Arabs in America started to come and immigrated to the new world, the United States, in the late 19th and early 20th century and the majority of them in the beginning were Christians and Jewish residents and citizens of the Arab countries who fled to America from the oppressing and suppressing ottoman empire and the local governments there. America since then and until the last quarter of the 20th century looked at the Arabs as part of the overall majority of the population, that they are not different, but like the Italians, East Europeans, some French and the Greeks- the residents of the Mediterranean- darker than the so-called majority but part of the majority. In the mid 50s and 60s America started to look at Islam from a second lens, when many African Americans in the height of the struggle to gain civil rights and equal opportunities, looked around and from their perspective and from their point of view found in Islam, a religion that believes in equality, that it contains in it’s verses clear verbiages that there is no difference between an Arab and a non Arab except in the strength of their belief and faith. There were Malcolm X and the creation of the Nation of Islam, and then came the biggest effect and internal exposure, which is the rise and conversion of Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali and to Islam. I think that was a turning point in the relation between Islam and America, no one in my opinion has exposed Islam at that time to America like Muhammad Ali. The whole world loved this boxer and he was to the contrary of Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam, on more peaceful side of the message and maybe closer to the Arab original Islam than the previous one; Nation of Islam, run right now by Farrakhan. It is though must be said that America looked at that part of Islam as not the regular Islam, the Arab Islam, but as part of the struggle for civil liberties and looked at the African Americans Muslims as not part of the overall so called regular Muslims. As a matter of fact, there is truth to that overview which is the Islam preached by groups in the US such as the Nation of Islam is not the version used in other countries and not in the Arab World; in the US, African American Islamic style is more closer to the evangelical Christianity in type and style as the heads of these Islamic organizations calling themselves ministers instead of Imams and have sermons and such. Muhammad Ali still drew the attention and very cleverly- intentionally or not- toured the Arab and Muslim countries and established a connection and bondage; Malcolm X did the same before him but Malcolm was portrayed as very radical and even violent. In 1975, following the fourth Arab Israeli war, Saudi Arabia lead the oil boycott to the Western world and that was a turning point as well in the relations with Islam but still the focus was on the Arab as a whole and not necessarily Islam. The media started after that to connect Islam and the Arabs and started to mix between the belief and the politics, looking at the religion as the reason for the problem rather than looking at the politics and the people. In 1979, following the fall of the Shah, which is a by itself a story, because the US decided that it was time for him and the imperial regime to go, the Iranian clerics revolution started, won, captured Iran and then the hostages of the American Embassy and the longest ordeal for Americans. That episode was a huge humiliation for America and the former president Carter did not handle or did not want to handle. America decided again to let that version of Islam, the Shiite Islam to win and thrive and in the package came the rise of a different Islam, not the core Sunni Islam as the majority of Muslims believe but what I like to call the Iranian Islam. The radical political system that for the first time in modern history- mid 18th century maybe- used the religion with all of its' magnetic power to portray and create a struggle between the divine religions. The regular/average person in the street did not see anything else but radicals calling themselves Muslims hijacking, kidnapping and killings, as in the same period the series of kidnapping American and Westerners in Beirut Lebanon. Everything was working to elevate Islam to world prominence but in a radical and not friendly way. The whole world started to fear the Arabs and Muslims not because they were competitive but because of the oil and because of that portrayed Islam, that is the radical version, not necessarily only the Iranian version but other versions that are more radical and more deadly. In the 90s, we witnessed the rise of the so called the Mujahedeen, those mainly Arabs and Asians, Pakistanis and Afghani fighters who fought with America, Europe, and the Sunni Arab countries, the soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Those groups proved the deadliest, the most fanatic and from that point we started to see the rise of a third or fourth version of Islam, run mainly by Sunni Arabs from Saudi Arabia and Egypt, from wealthy families and from highly educated classes. The message, this version, used later on to portray Islam as not a religion, lest to say a divine religions, but a tool to destroy civilizations and ways of life and liberties. That version of Islam, contrary to the Iranian Islam which mainly is a media propaganda more than action, lived up to it’s reputation and expectations and it started the terror stream with the 1993 first attempt at the world trade center in New York City and then the ultimate terror attack on America, the 9/11/2001 destruction of the twin towers in New York City, the attack on the pentagon and the explosion of a hijacked plane in Pennsylvania. From that point on although America started to draw the distinction between the evil powers of AL-Qaeda, Taliban and other terrorists, radicals and fanatics, the average person already established a foundation that the evil is not in the person but in the religion. The average person in America in the process were helped or actually was mouth fed hatred through organizations and religious groups that in the name of the divine Christian religion portrayed Islam as whole and in parts as an evil tool and that is not American and it is not "one of us". It also did not help that the new Pope of the Catholics called in a conference in Europe, Islam as a religion of violence. In America, Catholicism is very strong, but the message was among certain Protestants and Catholics. Still the majorities of Americans are smart, pragmatic, practical and like to learn, if there is a country in the world that like to be better, to learn more, to seek justice, it is America. The great example right now is in the debate going on, in the Mayor of the city that was attacked on 09/11 and his support to the mosque to be built where it is now. The exposure I think will benefit Islam; will show America that it is- as Muslims believe- a divine religion as Judaism and Christianity, followed by almost two billions of people, that in Islam the teachings are clear, it identifies Moses and Jesus as prophets of God as Muhammad and the majority of Muslims like any faith are normal, peace loving people. America is also watching and seeing incidents and terror attacks from those that call themselves Christians trying in the name of the divine religion to harm Muslims just because of their religion. The most recent example is the attack by a fanatic in New York City just few days ago, on a Taxi driver after that fanatic asked him about his religion and the Taxi driver answered by that he was a Muslim.

Mosque In America...Part II by Jamil Shawwa

Before I get to the bottom line here, I heard in the news that the Imam-the head of the proposed mosque- went on a trip to Arab and Islamic countries to get guidance on how to deal with the mosque issues in New York City. If it is the case, then we have a problem. First, the Islamic and Arab countries are the last on earth to give a comprehensive advice regarding their own affairs and their dealing with their own people, they have no credibility in and out, lest to say to give an advice on an American issue first and foremost. The mosque is not an Islamic world or Arab world issue, it is an American issue, and the mosque is an American mosque. It is an American problem. Second: this Imam, if the story is true, would have made a mistake in transforming again an American issue to the outside world, what next, go to Iran, the masters of deception, hypocrisy and demagoguery to get an advice. This Imam would, if it were the case, put an end to what it looks like a decent and normal request to build a place of faith that got all the necessary licenses. The issue right now is not Muslim, mosque, or ground zero buildings, the issue goes deep into what we believe in as Americans, do we believe in our constituation or do we believe in the constitution if it fits certain criteria and certain people or certain beliefs. Do we believe that Islam is part of the American recognized package of faiths or not, and I will go further, do we believe that Islam is an American religion as Judaism and Christianity or not. Everyone who is standing for everything that is American is being tarnished and distorted and on top of the list is the president of the Untied States who is getting accused of everything that there is to be accused of because he acted as any president should act and protects the rights granted in the US constitution to all Americans. There is a campaign to terrorize anyone that stands for the constitution and this must be stopped, not because it is right or wrong, or because people are asking other people to be kind or nice, far from it. It must be stopped because it is unconstitutional and must be fought using all the legal means.    The conversation right now is getting even more dangerous in my opinion. Those that are opposing the idea of the mosque altogether are expressing it freely and directly which is healthy. The problem in my opinion resides with those that are not opposing the mosque creation and building, but is with those that are opposing the location and the signals of having it next to ground zero in New York City. These voices ranging from Sara Palin, to Karen Hughes, George W. Bush's press secretary, to others in the media, asking Muslims to understand the feelings and to appreciate the emotions of those that lost loved ones during the 9/11 terrorists’ attacks. Those voices are the dangerous ones, they are asking the Muslims to go to a corner, to be isolated, to have certain areas that they can build their mosques on and that they cannot, they are asking the Muslims to be treated like the Japanese during World War II, isolate them to protect them. Today is New York City ground zero, tomorrow is a mosque location in Tennessee, next week who knows. Maybe we will start hearing voices asking to expel Muslims from the United States because we care about them and we do not want to hurt them. We are hearing all kinds of things that are to say the least against everything this Republic called America was built on. We are hearing people asking to repel the 14th amendment to the constitution that grant US citizenship to any one that is born in the US, we are having demagogues running the State of Arizona and creating a law that would create in that desert state on the border of Mexico a police state; the federal government right now is fighting this law rightly so as unconstitutional. The stories goes on and on. In the news today, a woman claims that she did not get a job at Disney because she wears the Hijab, head cover. Muslims are afraid to say what they are and what they believe in, stories of people all over the US afraid of going to Friday prayers, the weekly prayers for Muslims, equivalent to Saturday for the Jewish faith and Sunday for the Christian faith, fearing that they will be exposed. Where are we now and where are we heading; all this must be stopped, all these none-American fear campaigns, though it is fine to express freely, must not go beyond expression. If we allow few tens of people amongst over 308 million Americans, the US population according to the 2010 Census bureau, to terrorize the media and the politicians and dictate a life style that to say the least truly very dangerous, but deny legitimate entities, by legitimate American citizens form expressing their legitimate and constitutional right to build and practice their religion anywhere in America, then, in my opinion, this would be a catastrophic constitutional breach that should be fought using all the legal and the constitutional means. For God's sake, we allow anyone to build anything in America as long as they have the necessary licenses. As silly as it might seems and sounds, I like this Right to continue.

Mosque in America....by Jamil Shawwa

I compiled this piece from comments, among other notes, that I wrote so far about the Mosque debate that is going on in New York City and in America right now. Islam has never been exposed in the United States the way it is right now, and I just love the exposure. Exposure creates on the long run understanding, debates and deliberations create acceptance to facts or opinions or at least they create an opportunity for inclusion rather than exclusion. This -so far- peaceful fight about building a mosque and an Islamic community center in New York City is healthy; it is bringing America more closer to religious tolerance, it is making the words of freedom of religion and freedom of speech not only mere words but actions. The Mosque issue is getting political; is it not every issue, it is also bringing up Obama’s background again, people are connecting Obama’s heritage from his father's side to his stance on the mosque. The president's family from his father side is Muslims- as he said- but he is not. Again, the debate is in part political and people from both sides of the isles will jump on this Mosque business and try to score some points, settle some accords, and satisfy the few that have this point or that. November and the midterm elections are coming, so let us watch and see. But regardless, we need to start looking at people not from the very narrow lens of whether they are like us or not but from the wide spectrum of who they are, what they stand for and what are their actions and behaviors. America needs to see Islam from the window of that it has more than one billion and a half billion followers who believe that Islam is a divine religion as Judaism and Christianity. America showed its' greatness and its' ability to evolve and be smart when it elected Obama as president. I think the Mosque issue is giving the Americans a fantastic opportunity to look closer at the relationship between religions and people. Religions, all of them, especially the divine ones, as believers believe, are words of God. Actions and interpretations of the religions or a religion are completely different from the religion itself. You have good and bad, criminals and decent, terrorists and those who believe in change through peaceful means, among all three divine religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. But America is embracing Islam and it is evolving. We will continue to have people who love and hate, like and dislike, so let it be, it is part of human life, but at the end- in America- practicality and pragmatism will prevail as a general rule when it comes with dealing with events and people regardless of their background. The interesting part of all this debate is not the mosque or the building or the people, but the location. The project to be completed would be in a building very close to the grounds of the 9/11 terrorists attacks. From the president, to Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City rejecting the calls against building a Muslim community center near ground zero. Bloomberg also criticized Sara Palin for her tweet few weeks ago asking "peace-loving Muslims to reject the mosque". This Palin does not seize an opportunity to prove everyday to all of us as to why we prefer Jennies' to some human beings. The regular person in the street, everyone is getting into the mix and voicing an opinion. I like it! I like it when people talk and debate and discuss; it is so civilized. At the end of the day, America must stand by its' original principles of freedom of religion, and freedom of speech. Once we surrender this right, then we would be surrendering every right in the Bill of Rights that was written by the founding fathers, and we surrender our constitution and our liberties. The building of the Mosque in New York City got the needed approval. I mean, this is America; it is for all faiths and believes. Same position I would have taken if it was for a church or a synagogue or any place of worship. I would have used the same words and the same sentences if this happened to a synagogue or a church. As for some behaviors from some people calling the Mosque or the people who are running it as terrorists just because of their belief, it is unfortunately human and you find it in every country and every nation on earth. Different concepts and issues but same behavior. It is a free country and people can have and share different opinions.

Doctors and Plumbers...Part V....by Jamil Shawwa

The doctor with a title of assistant professor kept calling, he wants to do more exams and said that he wanted to make sure, because he was surprised from the results of the previous exams. He said that he cared and maybe he did, but again he was the same doctor that kept saying it is nothing else but Cancer, and kept going on and on how to cope with this disease. The patient decided to go along; I mean that doctor was like a used cars salesman trying to convince the poor buyer that this is the deal of century. He suggested another full Ct Scan, called the Pet Scan which covers the whole body and this of course has to have appetizers with it or before taking it; liquids and such that makes the patient afterward wants to live in the bathroom to get rid of all these liquids. The exam was done and the professor was amazed again, it seems that this doctor keeps getting amazed every time he conducts or orders an exam as a first year medical student. This is the same doctor that asked me in previous articles If I were in the medical field when I questioned the necessity of all these exams and I said no and that I belong to another "distinguished" profession; Law. Maybe they got scared when I mentioned Law and decided to do all the necessary and the unnecessary exams just in case, they thought maybe that this person might be trouble. The necessity has always been for patients to have a PCP-Primary Care Physician- that would act like the straw in a drink, or like the hub and the point of contact and would act on behalf of the patients to coordinate all types of exams and then address with eh patient. If you do not have a PCP or a qualified PCP then you might be in trouble because of the contradictions sometimes in the diagnosis and the contradiction in providing the information or channeling it accurately to the patient. Another important job for the PCP in my opinion is to provide a history of the patient and include the emotional part of the treatment. Sickness sometimes might look like a serious disease but it might turn to be something that the patient was born with or something that looks like a serious disease I am concerned about millions of people who go away victims to medical malpractice, ignorance, and doctors/students experiments. I think medical institutions should have like some restaurants a quality control department that would check the food and the dishes before delivering to their customers. The PCP can act in this capacity but in the same time, the hospital must do the same. Prevention in everything is paramount, meaning to try to predict things before happening and put the necessary measures to prevent and then act swiftly once they happen, because you would have a process in place. Prevention, predictability like any business in the name of the game, I say business because medicine is a multi billion dollars business in the USA and you cannot ignore this fact, but it is the business of life, and therefore the measure must be elevated to the highest level of transparency, competency, prevention, predictability, accuracy, and thoroughness. Might cost at the front end, but when it comes to the bottom line it will save tremendous amount of money but most importantly, it will save lives, even if it saves one human being.

Doctors and Plumbers…..Part IV by Jamil Shawwa

The biopsies are finely here, and the doctors are cheering but not necessarily the results but the process. See, right now in the hospitals, specially the educational ones, those that are connected and part of the colleges of medicine, professors, who are in the same time treating doctors, take an opportunity to experiment their mental and medical strength. Who else would be genipigs on their experiments than the patients. The medical apparatus has to go through the process, the checklist, the procedures, what the book says, and what the lab reports indicate. In the midst of all this, the patient is last to be concerned about. As long as all in place, so supposedly, the patient will be fine, the patient is the last concern, he or she is that invisible annoying creature that doctors feel would probably destroy their mental heaven of living in an unreal world of book theories. They hate it when the theories collide with reality; they hate it when they are wrong. Some prefer that the patient would just disappear than for them to be proven wrong. The biopsies are here, and the doctors this time after the cheers above are in shook. The theory again collided with reality, what they have learned have proven to be wrong for now, but still wrong, but they will not admit. all the reports. All the so called examinations, all their fake degrees and robes and their tags with the title doctor on them, maybe by mistake instead of putting, plumber, they put doctor, proven again to be wrong. These doctors are like those psychiatrists that become themselves the residents of mental institutions because what they have Learned in many cases crash on top of the real thing, that the human is unique and no amount of study, lab reports, biopsies, would substitute from the need to dig deep and treat each human as the unique creature, that they are. The biopsies are here, and the results are negative, I can hear the cries all over the hospital, not the cries of joy but the cries of shame and embarrassment, they are, the geniuses, so called doctors and plumbers, are proven wrong again. They look at their degrees and they start to question everything, the theory, the seven years for medical school, their professors. See, they were taught that the theory is never wrong, that if the theory and reality collide, then reality must be wrong, then the patient must be wrong, then the patient is not responding to the theory, see how dangerous this mental analysis is, the patient is the last of the concern, they-the patients-are just annoying creatures that doctors must attend to them, to prove their theories, nothing more, nothing less. The biopsies are in, and the doctors are scrambling to see what they can do, what went wrong, not with them, but with the patient, the results are in, and now it is time for the war room at the hospital to come up with a genius answer to their mistakes, to their negligence, to their arrogance, to their elitist look at anything and anyone that is called human, the book, in their book, is more important than the human, the human is the genipigs, nothing, no one, the book is everything, the book that got them their degrees and not the human. They must adhere to their professors, books and theory no matter what and in that course, the human is irrelevant. The biopsies are in and the plumbers/doctors are still in the war room, with the red light on, the doors closed, studying not what went wrong with them, their theories, their diagnosis, all that is irrelevant, what is relevant to them is how they can save face, that is it what all about, saving face and behind and not saving life, saving life can wait, but the theory cannot. The biopsies are in and the war room is still in and everyone is waiting for the big one to decide, and the decision is here from the big one, of course you need to inform the patient of the results but then you must follow that or doing that, with straight face, with a disappearing smile, with a serious demeanor and you must tell the patient that you care about them, that it is all about the patient and that, it is all about saving life and not saving budgets, and not expanding the hospital and not about buying another managed care, or taking over another investment, and it is not about the stock prices and the shareholders, and that it is all about you, the genipigs, the nobody, the annoying creature, that is called a human being. The biopsies are in and the resolution is; more tests, more Scans. The biopsies are in, but the reassuring result that all doctors were waiting for is not in, all the doctors/plumbers wanted really is for the theory to be proven right, is for the theory to match the results. But it did not, it did not, and the only solution is to order more of the same, more torture to the patient, more running around different labs to satisfied the craziness in those that were for seven years been tortured by the medical apparatus, and now, that they have themselves become part of that apparatus, it is their time to practice the same thing, it is time for them to enjoy the joy of showing how the theory is paramount to anything else; the problem is in you, the human being.

The Druze Leader, Walid Jumblatt, El-Beik, ( البيك, وليد جنبلاط‎) Analysis by Jamil Shawwa

*El-Beik Switches positions and switches alliances faster and more frequent than a baby in a candy store- I love to keep using this analogy. He learned the lesson early on and mastered the deadly political game in Lebanon.

A deadly game for those that do not know how to play it or do not want to play it, but not for the Beik.

In 1976, at the height of the Lebanese civil war, his father the former and late leader of the Druze in Lebanon and the leader of the Socialist Progressive Party, was assassinated by the usual suspect in Lebanon, Syria, El-Beik knows that and the whole world knows that-could be others but Syria for years carried that 'honor'; the honor of being known as the killer and the assassin and the murderer in Lebanon.

His father, Kamal Jumblatt, was not like the son, probably he would have wished to be as clever as the son, maybe he would have been here and the son still in **El-Mukhtara being the playboy he is and leaving the politics and baby-sitting Syria to his old man.

***The Druze, a tribe, a religion, a way of life, exists in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel. There is a whole mountain area in Syria named after them, the Druze Mountain, in Arabic, Jabal El-Druze. The most prominent Druze families have been Jumblatt, Arslan and Al-Atrash in Syria, Jumblatt is the strongest now and he has been for years, Arslan succumbed to this fact. Still, the two families are relatives; I think Walid’s mother is from the Arslan family, Mai Arslan. Walid Jumblatt is also considered the supreme leader of the Druze all over the world.

He managed to gather them from all countries where they exist, in two conferences so far, the first was in Amman- Jordan few years ago and the second was in Lebanon just few weeks ago; every leader came including the Druze leaders in Israel. In Israel, the Druze live well, they are loyal citizens of the State of Israel and they serve as soldiers and officers in the Israeli military.

In Lebanon, they maybe have the most say; they make and break things as every clan or religious group in Lebanon. In addition, Walid Jumblatt in Lebanon plays the role of the Arab Nationalist who he is not and the Arab nationalism itself is an idea and an illusion that never really flew or got traction anywhere, it was a romantic concept that never been explained, identified or materialized and probably never will unless new thoughtful inclusive leaders come along and recognize all ethnic groups that make up the Middle East now.

Walid runs and leads the Democratic Progressive party and claims to be the savior of the poor and he is one of the largest landlords in the area. In Lebanon, the tribe, the group, the family is more important than the country, in Lebanon, there is no country, but a land that is divided by old families and deep-rooted hatreds.

Alliances change and leaders who do not keep up are assassinated. Walid Beik mastered all this. In 2005, the Sunni leader and former prime minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated, the whole world condemned, and the United States ordered Syria to leave Lebanon, Syria has been in Lebanon since 1976 as a peacekeeping turned occupying force and did not leave until after 2005 and the assassination of El-Hariri.

Jumblatt at the time accused Syria directly of assassinating Hariri and called the Syrian president Bashar El-Assad, retarded and criminal. He stayed on that position until recently, it was time again to switch sides, there is an international criminal court waiting to indict the suspects in Syria and Lebanon for the assassination of the Lebanese leader El Hariri.

Now, few days ago, Elbeik paid a visit to his on and off enemy, Syria and Bashar El Assad, and declared from there that Syria is a "true" ally of Lebanon and that he made a mistake by condemning Syria.

Actually, he apologized for being honest, he knows honesty is a not a word the Lebanese political politburo likes to hear, it is not a word the Lebanese or the Syrian regimes understand or believe in or appreciate. In politics anyway, it is not easy to be honest and maybe you do not have to or you cannot be honest all the time but some can master the game more than others.

El-Beik so far has done it.


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* Old, original Turkish- from the day of the Ottoman Empire- title of respect. The rank used to start with Afandi, then Beik or Bek, then the top, Pasha. Now in the Middle East, these titles are used but not officially, they are not titles given by the state any more.



** The residence of the Jumblatt family and the symbol of the Druze power and presence.



*** "Theologically, Druze consider themselves "an Islamic Unist, reformatory sect". The Druze call themselves Ahl al-Tawhid "People of Unitarianism or Monotheism" or al-Muwaḥḥidūn "Unitarians, Monotheists." source and qoute from Wikipedia.