Information on Iraqi War

The following web site was pretty interesting. It outlays all the money spend on the Iraq war, and gives examples of what we could have done with the money instead. The total amount increases by the millisecond, and you can even specifically narrow down the spending in your own community. The site is called the National Priorities Project.

Cost of War

The following is a video I found on YouTube that illustrates just how horrific war can be to both the soldiers and the innocent bystanders. The injuries abstained by the children sends chills down my spine, and the mass graves put in perspective how much life has been lost in this war.

Iraq - Crimes Against Humanity

Iraq Invasion

The Iraq Invasion has become known as the Second Gulf War or Operation Iraqi Freedom. It's official start began on March 20, 2003, and although it was opposed by the United Nations, the United States and its backers continued with their plans, in order to confiscate the supposed Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Upon further investigation, there turned out to be no WMD, but I think the most beneficial outcome of this situation was the liberation of the Iraqi people from the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, who was captured and removed from power on December 13, 2003. By helping the innocent Iraqi's who suffered from this tyrants power for decades, I believe the occupation of Iraq was more than beneficial. On January 31, 2005 the Iraqi Transitional Government was set to draft a new constitution for the Iraqi people, so then could live free lives without the fear of punishment or death. Restoring power to the people was a step in the right direction.

Israel Lobby vs. Israel Lies

The two pieces of reading required for today's class were by far the most interesting and consuming of all that I have read for this class so far. The Israel Lobby by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, and it's rebuttal, "Debunking the Newest-and Oldest-Conspiracy" by Alan Dershowitz present many arguments on why to be pro-or-anti Israel support. The television debate between the two provided insight into their individual views as well.

Mearsheimer and Walt provided a paper that is full of research, facts and statistics, and while it still isn't clear to me exactly why the United States supports Israel, there are many things presented that make me question exactly why no one has raised and issue about the amount of support we provide for them, when they are strategically useless, and in my opinion, they act like a spoiled child when they don't get their way. It is argued in "The Israel Lobby" video provided by americanfreepress.net, that while many disagree on the portrayal of United States and Jewish leaders, the one thing that Mearsheimer and Walt point out is that the issue of Israel is taboo and no political leader in the United States really wants to debate it.

Dershowitz rebuttal is disappointing. He addresses some of the issues presented in "The Israel Lobby" most of the paper attacks the sources, and argues that they "are taken out of context." Sources are taken out of context all the time, and I was hoping to see him actually debate the issues at hand instead of simply split-hairs over sources. He does point out that Israel lobbies don't always win US favor, especially when they are competing with Saudi lobbies, who win out a majority of the time. He also brings up the issue of "Paranoid Style of American Politics" which refers to the paranoia of the exaggerated influence of one party on specific governmental policies.

All in all I learned a lot about the Israel Lobby, and frankly I am not happy with what I see. Israels treatment of the Palestinians can be compared to the holocaust many of their ancestors experienced during World War II. The other thing I don't understand is Dershowitz argument that the Jews just want "a small democracy in which Jewish culture can thrive". Israel is not a democracy and never will be as long as church and state intermix. When the US broke off from England, they struggled for year to build a country and economy on their own, with threats of domination from all direction. We didn't take hand outs or rely on one particular country to establish our democracy. If Israel wants its democracy so badly, maybe they should have to actually work for all of the hand outs they are receiving, and maybe they would appreciate it a little more...

Palestine: Peace Not Aparthed

Apartheid - "Any system or practice that separates people according to race, caste, etc...."
I will be one of the first to admit that I do not know much about many of the situations that have arisen in the Middle East over the last few decades. I am sure that there are many others just as ignorant as me in this subject, which is probably why there are so many misunderstandings about Arab/Israeli relations. Jimmy Carter's Book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid is very informative, and while I am still not an expert on this subject, I know a great deal more about the current situations in the Middle East than I did before.

One thing I tried to remember while reading this book is that it is a personal perspective, and a good selection is part of Carter's recollection of the events during his presidency.

PLO - Palestine Liberation Organization....In other words, the group that serves as the voice of the Palestinian people.

Resolution 242 - Recognized sovereignty and political independence of every state in the Middle East including Israel.

According to Carter, during his presidency, he attempted to make peace between the Arab and Israeli nations. The Camp David Accords were negations that took place between Palestinian and Israeli leaders in effort to resolve the following problems: Israeli troop withdrawal from Arab countries, the rights of Palestinians, the rights of Israelis, respect for Jewish holy spots and the sharing of Jerusalem, which is a religious land mark for Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Carter also gives several statics about Gaza, and since the withdrawal of Jewish Israelites, the poverty rate of the Gaza strip has soared. More than half of its population is under 15 years-old, and the per capital income has decreased 40% in the last three years.(176)

I really liked the introduction of the book that listed the chronological events of Middle East turmoil. It gave a nice over view of what even the earliest of times were like. The conflict between the Israelis and Arabs dates back to biblical time, when the Israelis were forced to flee Egypt under Moses' command. Several of the maps throughout the reading we helpful to understand the exact location that was being discussed. The issues between people of Arab and Israeli descent has been present for centuries, and it has only been made a world issue over the last half a century or so. The stubbornness, portrayed by Carter in the book, sounds like it is an issue that can be traced back to hurt ego's and the inability for peace in a world that will never truly understand the meaning of "peace" The idea of a Zionist country almost seems unattainable. A nation based purely on religion would never succeed because there will always be someone who questions beliefs or values or falls out of the religion and follows different views. In seeking a safe-haven for their descendants, Israeli people have cause more conflict than resolve persecuting Arabs who inhabit their country, and Arabs who persecute Jews living outside of Israel have mounted to this growing tension, that has no positive ending in sight.

Wild Thorns

One thing I found very intriguing as I finished up Wild Thorns was the passion and love that several of the characters had for their country. Basil, for instance, illustrates a typical young man who is willing to do anything for his country. He gathers with his friends at the local cafe to discuss the politics and even risks going to prison to stand up for his beliefs. He quickly realizes, though, how much he doesn't understand and how naive he actually is. A lot of parallels can be drawn to many of today's youth, and their response to the 9/11 attacks. Usama is another example of youth and resistance. He returns to his country in order to bring about change, or at least attempt to do so. He criticises his family and friends for succumbing to the ways of the Israelis. What I thought to be interesting was that he sits and criticises, but he was the one who left for several years while the occupation was occurring, instead of staying and helping support his family. What I think is even more baffling is that his solution to the problems in West Bank can be solved by martyring himself and killing several innocent people only trying to provide for their families.

Wild Thorns

It is disappointing to say that I do not know much about the West Bank/Israeli conflict, which is almost embarrassing to say with all the turmoil and new coverage about conflict in this particular area. Upon reading Wild Thorns by Sahar Khalifeh, I was motivated to find out more about this situation.

West Bank is a land locked territory that lies between the Jordan River and the Middle Eastern countries. Most of West Bank is under Israeli military occupation, and many of its citizens are Palestinians. It is not a country, simply an occupied territory, and its inhabitants are not citizens, they are just people without a homeland and permanently displaced from anything remotely similar to what one could call a homeland.


This idea comes to life vividly in Wild Thorns. The central character, Usama, returns home to West Bank, with the intention of becoming a martyr, blowing up the buses that shuttle Palestinian workers to and from Israel everyday. Upon returning home, he is greatly disturbed at what occupation has done to his family and to his people. At one point, he shouts "Oh what has happened to us?" in response to the environment he find himself surrounded in. His mother firmly believes that the occupation will be ended by God himself, but Usama isn't to sure about this.



I thought that Khalifeh did an excellent job in her description of what West Bank occupation is like. She captured the emotions of the characters through her vivid descriptions. There were several instances where she maintained a stream of consciences with both Usama and Adil that allowed us the insight into their minds. Adil was my favorite character. His struggles made you empathize with him, and he was a strong man, who took care of his family no matter what it took. He was a slave to the nine mouths he had to feed, plus the kidney machine that ran his fathers life, and he worked and sweated and bled for all of them, a characteristic that is rare now-a-days.

Palestinian Stories

All of the stories we were assigned to read for class had a unique and interesting perspective. Most of the stories described what life was like under occupation, and the experiences each of the character had in their personal struggles.

My favorite story that I read was "If You Were A Horse..." by Ghassan Kanafani. It is a father/son story, where the two struggle with their relationship, mainly because a lot of the time, the father tells the son that "if he were a horse, he would shoot him." Anyone looking in on this conversation should be greatly disturbed by its content. It is later that we learn about his father's love for horses, and his mother's tragic death when she was stomped by a horse. I thought the use of superstitions in the story really illustrated the point Kanafani was trying to send, which was the strength and power superstitions can have on a relationship. His father is afraid of the son because of a strange birthmark, similar to that of the horse that killed his mother. The son struggles with this and later blames himself for his father's death. This was the most suspenseful of the stories I read, because I really just wanted to understand why his father wanted to shot him, and it isn't until the end of the story that we understand why.

Another story I thought was interesting was "Stealing Away, We Returned" by Rasmi Abu Ali. This was a very brief story about occupation of what I am guessing to be Palestine, by the Jewish people. The narrator and her mother travel to remove some personal items from her deceased grandfather's house. On their return journey, they are stopped by men with machine guns, and the narrator describes the meeting as "we simply froze, knowing that our time had run out." I cannot ever imagine being confronted with that situation or how I would respond to having a gun pointed at me. These people were very brave for enduring what the did, and I commend each and everyone of them for the struggle and hardship they faced.

I also liked the story "A Hand In the Grave" by Kanafani. I didn't really understand the message or hidden meaning behind the story, but I found it more humorous than anything else. The narrator and his colleague decide to rob a grave in order to further their medical education. Upon doing so, Sahail, the narrators friend, sticks his arm in a dug up grave in order to grab the skeleton that has been buried there for many years. He goes historical, and later insane because he believes he stuck his fingers in the corpse's eyes. His reaction, at first scared me because I thought he was about to be eaten by some ancient zombie. I broke out laughing when I realized he was reacting this way because he touched its eyes. The character development in the story was very good, and I really enjoyed it.

Men In the Sun

I absolutely loved the short novella, "Men In the Sun". The first part of the story was a bit confusing when there was switching between characters, but the last 20 pages or so ties all these characters together. To give a short synopsis, the story follows four main characters: Abu Qais, an older man trying to escape occupation and create a better life for his family. Assad is trying to make his way to Iraq after borrowing money from his uncle, in order to escape an arranged marriage with his cousin. Marwan is trying to find a job to provide for his family, after his father left for another woman and his brother decided to get married. The last character, Abu Khaizuran, the man who offers to free the previous three of their land restraints.

Abu Qauis plans to escape after a detailed description of of his family and the life he has spent with them. His good friend Saad had escaped to Kuwait, and returned to tell him of all the benefits that come with the risk of the journey. His wife, though, doesn't like the idea or the risk involved. I probably would have agreed with his wife on this.

Assad is a young man trying to escape to Iraq and a marriage he wants no part in. He borrows money from his uncle, the same uncle who is trying to marry him to his daughter, in order to make the trip. He feels slightly remorseful about this, but only for a moment.

Marwans story was probably the one that I found to be the most interesting. His brother has escaped Kuwait, and married, forgetting about supporting his family. His father left many years before for a woman who was missing a leg, but had lots of inheritance money. I personally find this digesting, but cultural difference appear to make this acceptable

Abul Khaizuran is the one that brings the entire story together. He has possession of a lorry, a motor truck, and offers all three of these men safe passage out of Palestine, so they can all achieve the dreams they have. The mission appears like it will be successful, and I believe that Khaizuran is sincerely trying to help these men escape. He puts much effort into assuring they don't roast to death in the water tank of the lorry and he "doesn't slow the lorry down" for anything. It is only at the end when we see them rob the three dead corpses of their valuables, when I questioned whether or not he cared. The final line of the story, "Why didn't you knock on the sides of the tank?" left a chill to run up and down my spine. It seems almost sad how close these three seem to become, and how tragically the novella ends. I wasn't expecting the result and I was a little more than upset about it. My fairytale mind saw these men escaping and making better lives for themselves, but that would have been to perfect, and rarely do things end the way you want them to.

The Koran

The two stories that we had to read from the Koran were quite interesting. The first one, entitled Maryam, is some what of the story of Jesus' birth, according to Islamic view. The second one, House of Imran, give the basic rules for living according to Allah's word. I read both of the surahs is the Shakir translation.


Maryam, or Mary is the twist on the Biblical version of Mary's virginal conception, the birth of Jesus, and all that comes after. There were certain parts of the surah that were strikingly similar to the Bible, for example, when she says "When shall I have a boy and no mortal has yet touched me, nor have I been unchaste?", this is the exact same thing she says in the Bible when the Angel Gabriel appears to her to tell her she is with child. There are some differences as well. For example, the Koran states that Mary gave birth to Jesus under a palm tree, while the Bible says this occured in the stable. One thing I found particularly interesting is that the Koran has Jesus speaking and performing miracles while he is still an infant, which there is no trace of in the Bible. Muslims do not view Jesus as a reincarnation of God, but instead the hold him as a very wise prophet who could perform miracles, which is a major difference between Christianity and Islam.

The second surah, entitled Al-E-Imran, or The House of Imran, covers several different things. The first few verses tell readers what it means to be a good Muslim, and how to honor Allah. "Our Lord! make not our hearts to deviate after Thou hast guided us aright, and grant us from Thee mercy; surely Thou art the most liberal Giver. " This verse was probably my favorite from this surah, because it is asking Allah to guide the Muslims and show them mercy even when they have done wrong. The surah goes on to tell about the birth of Mary, daughter of Imran, and her upbringing. It give the family tree of Imran, tracing roots to Jesus the prophet. The remainder of the verse states that followers of Allah must fear and be patient, and thier time in heaven will come. There were a few frightening things in this surah, and isnt for the closed minded. It requires complete subordination from those who choose to follow and live Islamic law. I personally don't know if I have that much trust in anyone to place my life in their hands completely, no questions asked.