From owner-freebsd-chat Sun Oct 21 13:58:35 2001 Delivered-To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Received: from best.llama.com (llama.com [63.194.69.194]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id AD40A37B401 for ; Sun, 21 Oct 2001 13:58:26 -0700 (PDT) Received: (from the@localhost) by best.llama.com (8.9.3/8.9.3) id NAA12550; Sun, 21 Oct 2001 13:58:25 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from the) Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2001 13:58:16 -0700 From: Sam Habash To: Terry Lambert Cc: chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Islam (was: Religions (was Re: helping victims of terror)) Message-ID: <20011021135816.A12222@llama.com> References: <1003617187.3bd1fba3d31ff@webmail.neomedia.it> <1003617187.3bd1fba3d31ff@webmail.neomedia.it> <4.3.2.7.2.20011020213927.048a1780@localhost> <200110211547.f9LFlIB27704@dungeon.home> <3BD32635.EC54F003@mindspring.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline User-Agent: Mutt/1.2.5i In-Reply-To: <3BD32635.EC54F003@mindspring.com>; from tlambert2@mindspring.com on Sun, Oct 21, 2001 at 12:47:01PM -0700 Sender: owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Terry Lambert stated (among other things): > I think most people in the West see the correct reaction > to Palestinians is to say "you lost; get over it, quit > whining, and go on with your lives; if you don't like it, > as Israeli citizens, you get to elect representatives, so > elect people who will do what you want". Yet another statement of the Way the World Ought To Be by Lambert. I didn't know that Palestinians in the occupied West Bank had citizenship. Maybe Israel should have just annexed "Judea and Samaria", so that the "Palestinians" there could have done just that. If the Israels didn't have to deal with that very question, they would have done so long, long ago. 34 years later, we see the consequences of leaving the question of the West Bank and Gaza up in the air. Relatively little is mentioned in the US about the Israeli Arabs who -have done- and -do- just as you been asking. Oh, but they aren't Palestinians then, right? I find this interesting reading: http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/arabstat.html Overall, it's bad to look to Israel as a "guiding light" in such matters...I really do not care to adopt the tactics of a garrison state, despite what the Israeli lobby in the United States would like for Americans to pay, er, think... assssination and collective punishment have no place in societies dedicated to preserving the rule of law, period...the terrorists would like for nothing better than to have their purported victims continue their dirty work. Yes, I am a US citizen. Yes, I am "Palestinian" by national origin. I do not believe that a state run by Arafat's Fatah would be in the best interest of anybody who values freedom and democracy, since Arafat and his organization are corrupt, murderous thugs that have used the plight of the Palestinian people for their own advantage. However, I am not one to contest the will of the people there, as misguided as I feel that it is. Or are we truly against self-determination because Palestinians are all terrorists and deserve to have their houses demolished, their people arrested, beaten, and tortured, etc.? The Israelis, as rotten as their record has been--Ariel Sharon himself is *directly responsible* for thousands of civilian deaths (c.f. http://electronicintifada.net/forreference/keyfigures/sharon.html)-- at least *have* a track record as a pluralistic, multiethnic society. Despite the massive economic and emotional toll their occupation of the West Bank has inflicted, and the shocking level which the Israeli lobby will go to protect continued US aid, and the corrupting influence of said aid, I hold a fleeting hope that Israel will come to its senses and not continue on its path of brutality and aggression. I liked it much better when the chat was about FreeBSD, but there's no chance of that happening any time soon, is there? --Sam To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message