One Arab World

Rice starts Mideast trip in Egypt

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who will meet Rice on Wednesday, has argued that the and should give Hamas more time to adapt its political positions.

Unlike Washington and the Israelis, Mubarak also says that Hamas could be the organization best able to reach a peace settlement with the Jewish state.

Egypt, which has a good working relationship with Hamas, also opposes threats to cut off financial support for the Palestinian Authority, saying this would push Palestinians toward what Mubarak called "extremism".

Under this scary look is a human being that is capable of much more than this. Instead of being afraid, lashing out, and encaging him why not genuinely try to win him over. Now try looking at the picture again.

This is how I feel about Hamas’s win. It is imperative that we find opportunity in everything. Withdrawal will serve nothing. A couple of weeks ago I put out this teaser of a project I have been working on almost since Hamas’s win. In collaboration with a few other parties I am going to be setting up a series of interviews with various Hamas members. I am going to combine those interviews with all the info I can dig up on the MP (Bio, stance,…ect.) We are going to podcast the interviews live.

As with the Chomsky interview I am going to give time to the readers to post questions they would like answered by the MP we interview in the comments section of this site.

We don’t know Hamas, few can even name more than a handful of members. I think it is crucial that we try to. I also think it is important that we try a different approach than the one used towards the PLO in the early nineties, (cutting off the money and movement of all the Palestinians. I say this under the argument that unemployment is already almost 80% and more impoverishment would only lead to a further gravitation to ideology. Also it didnt work the first time.) which is exactly what is going on now.

I have never heard a story like this.

The father of a Palestinian boy shot dead by Israeli soldiers said Monday he believes his son's spirit is alive in "every Israeli" after donating the boy's organs to Israelis waiting for transplants.

Khatib's son Ahmed, 12, was shot Thursday while Israeli troops conducted a raid in Jenin. The soldiers said the boy was carrying a toy rifle and they mistook him for a militant.

Ahmed died of his wounds late Saturday at an Israeli hospital. On Sunday, his kidneys, liver, lungs and heart were transplanted into recipients ranging in age from a 7-month-old baby to a 58-year-old woman and including Jews, Arabs and a Druse girl.

Can you imagine? Your 12 year old son dies at the hands of an Israeli soldier and you then turn around and donate his organs to Israelis that needed them? True the recipients had nothing to do with his killing, certainly no direct influence, but still. What amazing courage. I wish but honestly doubt I could muster logic and my convictions if put in similar circumstance and unfortunately neither do most Palestinians.

My only hope is that the inhuman strength of that man and his act of decency is not wasted. I hope critics of the Palestinians weigh the power of this act against their faults.

That said, I’m not holding my breath waiting for Little Green Footballs and the others to link to this.

The recent terrorist attack by a Jewish settler in the West Bank has demonstrated, once again, a theory I have entertained for a while.

A good friend and a man I look up to tremendously once told me that people are broken up into an 80% mid norm and 10% on each side that are basically, no pun intended, abnormal. I have since then broken it up further. Beyond the 10% that are too left or right to hold a conversation with, there is also an extreme case on either side, perhaps less than, say 0.1%, which, given the right circumstances and atmosphere, will go beyond annoying and enter dangerous.

I am sure most would agree that every culture or people have their fair share of psychopaths that are capable of deplorable acts. Everything from abortion clinic bombers, hate groups like the KKK, rebel dissenters and militias, and, of course, terrorists.

There is one common factor shared between these factions; one catalyst that fuels these extremities into action. Public dissent.

Regarding the KKK for instance, as we distance ourselves in time from white/black racism and slavery they continually weaken and become less acceptable socially. There has to be some public outrage for these groups to fester. The 9.9% on their side, at least, has to sympathize with them. Sure they, the 9.9%, wouldn't set fire to a cross themselves but they understand why it's done. As these ideals become more and more unacceptable this group sympathizes less and less. The 0.1% is still crazy, but they don't act, they whisper. They are the old white man that hates blacks or the German grandfather that hates Jews but will only tell you in secret (drunk too). Guess who they become when they see a gathering of sympathizers.

That is why you only see Jewish terrorism during peace deals. What else would motivate these factions in the Israeli population into this kind of action? The status quo before gave these Jewish extremists everything they wanted and more. Control of the West Bank and Gaza with the Palestinians packed into neat little corners. Now with the disengagement these extremist are pushed over the edge with the discreet support of 10% of the population, the ultra religious settlers, even though the majority of Israelis support the disengagement and the desire for peace.

But all of these stated factions above combined do not cause a threat even remotely close to Islamic Terrorism.

Why?

Because unlike the worlds 15 million Jews, there are 1.5 billion Muslims. 0.1% of 1.5 billion is one and a half million potential crazies, not just fifteen thousand, and they are just as pissed.

The solution? Target the minds of the reasonable and empower the masses.

The reasonable have the capability of change, while the unreasonable stay irrational, and hence, a waste of time and effort. What sometimes is viewed as flip-floppy is often intelligent response to circumstance. Likewise, what can be deemed as steadfast can often be nothing more than stubborn ignorance.

Start at the source.

Most will agree the epicenter of civilizations tensions are in its cradle, and as a further, and very current, microcosm in Gaza. The rapid economic growth and establishment of Palestine in Gaza is the ENTIRE world's responsibility if for no other reason than for the logical insurance of the world's dynamic growth and the flourish of humanity. 

Do what you can, and there is much to do. The new motto for blood donations is "consider yourself asked" and I will blatantly plagiarize that now.

There are literally hundreds of means and organizations by which you can help the Palestinians get on their feet regardless of your background. Look into it and do some homework. Find out which angle best suits your ideals. Post your findings at my site and I will make another post out of the best ideas.

There is one constant unquestionable; jobs. If you can find a way to get one job to Gaza you will have fought this "War on Terror" better than any army.

Here is a great example; those heroes are humanities saviors and the entire world is indebted to them.

Again I reiterate, I am willing to do my part right here, right now. I have two positions to fill in one of my start up companies. I will begin taking resumes for Architecture and Visualizations positions from Architects and Architectural Designers in Gaza that have access to a computer with a decent connection and a good mastery of English. If you live in Gaza or have someone there that would be interested please apply though our site.

Karim Elsahy

It is rare when I find the same constructively naïve mindset I try to maintain reflected in the media. This bit from CNN did just that, so I thought I’d share it.

This is the heroism I feel should be promoted and emulated.  Click Read More below to read the whole piece.

                            
                This post is for the Palestinians of Gaza.

We are on the dawn of disengagement. This step, though taken unilaterally and without your interests in mind, is half of what you, and your supporters, have been fighting for since I can remember. It is not all of historic Palestine nor is it the UN's partition plan; it is not even the 67 boarders.

The amount of land, at this point, is irrelevant. It is enough to build a viable state upon. That, for now, is enough.

Care about your lives and the lives of your children enough to alter your methodology. Grasp this one chance and let no one else mutter the phrase "the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity" again. On behalf of your supporters worldwide, the ones that were present at every march and protest, the ones that want nothing more in life than to see you thrive, I beg you; do not let this great opportunity turn into your worst catastrophe.

From a strategic and a negotiations perspective you could not have asked for more. Israel will end is 38 year occupation of Gaza, in its entirety and unconditionally for nothing; no accords limiting "the right of return", the status of Jerusalem, or the boarders of the rest of Palestine. Netanyahu even admitted so in his resignation letter. 

"From the first conversation when you (Sharon) presented your plan to me, I told you that I oppose unilateral withdrawal without anything in return…..To my sorrow, the security fence has not been completed around the settlement blocs, the Philadelphi Corridor will be handed over to the Palestinians, and worse than that, we will allow the Palestinians to open a sea port that will be open to the terror boats."

Read his entire letter, because if his doomsday prophecies come to light it will do nothing but help him win the next election, just as the second intifada did for Sharon, and with all the settlers out of Gaza by then, wreck havoc on your lands with his next invasion.

And for what?

Unite now. Step up and take the harder route of building up your lives. If this disengagement is met with a long period of quite two things will happen. There will be an outpour of foreign aid; schools, homes, facilities, hospitals, and eventually… jobs. At that point some international credibility and a track record will be enough to muster real international support and pressure on Israel to give up the West Bank as well.

Stand up to those that would sabotage your chances regardless of their intentions.

I, for one, will do my part right here, right now. I have two positions to fill in one of my start up companies. I will begin taking resumes for Architecture and Visualizations positions from Architects and Architectural Designers in Gaza that have access to a computer with a decent connection and a good mastery of English. If you live in Gaza or have someone there that would be interested please apply though our site.

Karim Elsahy

The following is a conversation I have been carrying out with a commenter named Ruth.

Ruth: "…I was quite impressed by your post. Only today I saw your remark in the comment section of Sandmonkey that you could not vote for him because he defined himself as pro-Israel and does not feel that brotherly about the Palestinians. So obviously you define (you're) being Arab and pan-Arab by being anti-Israel. I am disappointed."

Ruth was referring to the following comment I made on sandmonkeys  site

"It would be interesting to see someone with your views in a governmental position in Egypt. I certainly wouldn't vote for you. No offence but I read your very first post in which you proclaim being pro Israel but "not the biggest fans of Palestinians." That doesn't go over well with me but then again as you said; it doesn't matter. Law mitzabat, mitzabat. It would be interesting though."

Karim Elsahy

I was referring to sandmonkeys following post

"I am also pro Israel cause let's face it, after how more then 50 years and like 5 wars they earned their right to be here. A lot of them are second a third generation born in that land and they are not going anywhere. Not to mention I am not the biggest fans of Palestinians for a slew of reasons that I will probably delve into in future posts."

Sandmonkey

The conversation then continues as follows

Karim: I think the correlation between my personal preference of a candidate and his platform to my defining Pan Arabism as anti-Israel is more than a bit unfair. I would only wish that outsiders and mediators to the Israeli-Palestinian issue (non Israelis and non Palestinians) be neither pro nor anti anything.

Ruth: I cannot see that my linking of your political preferences and anti-Israelism is unfair, since this was the only argument you yourselves gave for rejecting (Sandmonkey)'s political platform. If this argument out of a myriad possible argument is the only one you mention then it must be somewhat central to your political beliefs.

According to your definition I am an insider (Israeli) and therefore entitled to have my opinion. How about yourselves? Do you qualify as an insider (Palestinian parentage) or are you an outsider and therefore claim to be objective?

The following is my reply to Ruth's last comment.

Let me start by quoting something I wrote on my Pray 4 Peace site.

"Too many people are too caught up in a dangerous cycle of "sides"."

When geared towards the Palestinian Israeli issue these "sides" are meant to delineate the engrossing factions much in the way common family feuds used to start. Just who is at the heart of the issue. Originally it was between Jewish and Arab (Christian, Muslim, Druze…) Palestinians. Then European Jews and their counterparts from the Arab world (ie Egypt, Syria…) stepped in. Once Israelwas created the whole world chose one side or the other; all the Arab countries and Palestinian sympathizers on one side and all the Jews and Jewish sympathizers on the other. So much so that the tiny spec of land of historical Palestine has become the epicenter of the world's debate. The land perpetually between dusk and night.

I very much realize the danger of this cycle as, if not more than, most do. I realize our eminent and collective destruction if we do not work together to stop it.

That said there is no way either side can or will let up unless one of the two happens. A/ the complete and utter destruction of the other side (either a repeat of what happened to the Native Americans or the European Jews of WWII) or B/ the gradual, cohesive psychological disarmament of both sides (a quasi mirror of the end of the Cold War).

I have attended every major Palestinian rally I could. I adopted a Palestinian boy and donate the majority of my modest charity to Palestinian causes. I want nothing more in my entire life than to live to see a free, independent, strong, and proud Palestine.

And I very much see my own hypocrisy as I am very much on the Palestinian "side".

The only difference is that I am also very willing, and trying, to forsake this inherent mentality. It is a lot like being one of two kids that got caught fighting where both refuse to be the first to apologize until the teacher gets them to apologize at the same time. (I love this metaphor because, as I am sure Ruth, or anyone else that has spent enough time in the region will agree, that's all we Middle Easterners really are; children)

So that is why I started Pray 4 Peace, not just for the Palestinian Israeli thing but for all of it. Because though the rest of the world may wear suits, they are just as stupid and immature.

Karim Elsahy

Sharon, with Cheney/Rove consent, is about to unilaterally (yes unilaterally) disengage from Gaza. Israel will control all of Gaza's borders, including the Mediterranean coast. Israel will retain control over Gaza's airspace as well as the Philadelphi route which separates Gaza from Egypt (talks to allow Egyptto maintain responsibility over the issue of the route have failed, although they may revert back again in a typically Middle Eastern satire of policy). Israel will build a canal (or not) down that route, a barrier 1km out to sea on their border, and a concrete Berlin style wall around the rest of it. The Israelis are going to blow all structures built in Jewish settlements up as they leave and hire Palestinians to clean it up. No air nor sea ports may be built without Israeli consent. They are, in effect, creating the world's largest prison.

If this wasn't all old and common news Arab blood would be boiling right now at the sheer audacity.

Is this the first time we have been in this position? One of utter defeat; humiliating and unsovereign degradation?

No.

67 and 2000 (out of the bunch) spring to mind anyone?

We have tried many tactics with Israel. Many have died and many more have suffered. We have been doing this for more than FIFTY YEARS. We have got to have the dumbest collective policy out there.

We were right to declare war on Israel when it was founded. Global sympathy for the Jews after Nazism was understandably vivid for anyone; enough to give them your land, no. But we lost. Fair and square. Had we, the Arabs, been in their place we would have done the same; exactly the same. And we would have defended it to our last. In this world that makes it as fair as it is going to get.

So we lost. Again and again we lost. But it was to humiliating to say we lost, or to admit we would have acted the same as the Israelis. So what did we do? We keep going at it. Again and again untill it became such a norm we are not humiliated by it anymore. Until the only way you can cope with it is to turn "the Jew" into some kind of religious juggernaut enemy (oh by the way I've met plenty of them and I'm yet to meet one that I'm not bigger than. I've also met plenty of really stupid, poor ones that don't care about world domination, so that one's off too. Sorry to disappoint.) Come on.

We lost people. Admit it and start rebuilding. Never fight a battle you know you'll lose? Stop banging your head against the wall? Enough? None of these make sense?

If my parents and theirs had selflessly taken it, admitted it, and started over, I would not be humiliated writing this now. Me; guilty of nothing other than getting born into this mess. Keeping consistent to a theme I seem to be developing here it is once again our parents fault but our responsibility.

Enough of this armed-struggle/cut-relations/sanctions deal. Here is what I think we should do.

Gaza isn't held hostage. Gaza is free. Gaza is bigger than Dubai and look what they've accomplished. They too are surrounded (by desert) and less than 5% of their GDP comes from available resources. The Palestinian Diaspora has also created in many ways a reflection of post WWII Jews. A group of people, bound by a common belief, dispersed into every corner of the world, primarily first world countries. These people have been exposed to and nurtured by the best elements of modernization. Economics, Democracy, Professionalism…ect. If even elements of stability can be pronounced after the withdrawal, the Palestinians will get there own "Aliyah" (a Jewish concept of return to their homeland) comprised of some of the worlds best doctors, authors, thinkers, scholars, and scientists. Combined with the guaranteed flooding of foreign aid, the Palestinians could create a truly magnificent place in Gaza. Imagine the world wide support and grassroots that back the Palestinian cause being given one last mission…to fund raise. Not to mention what first world nations would pay for stability in the region.

We lost and we are not, and haven't been for centuries, in an admirable position. Stop, understand and consolidate your position, build yourself up again; and then begin to figure out how to re-enter the world community with dignity.

I do not claim to be a religious scholar but I know this. Contrary to popular belief Islam was not spread like this or through violent conquest. Islam was spread much like the concept of Democracy is being spread today. An admirable ideal people could relate to and strived to join. A message to hard line fanatics; stop and think. Who would want to enter into a life you would portray like this?

Karim Elsahy