Thursday, November 22, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Dreams of Trespass
So when I started reading this book, I couldn't help but notice the high contrast between this and Under the Persimmon Tree. Menissi grows up in a traditional Muslim harem, and as she grows and learns more, she yearns to leave her past and explore the world. On the other hand, Najmah and her brother Nur are offered an opportunity to leave the chaos and fighting and go to America with Nusrat and make a new and better life. However, they turn down this gracious offer to return to their home in the Kunduz Hills, where their house has been demolished, and the Taliban still roam, to carry on their family traditions and to keep their father's land in the family. The difference in the mentality towards tradition is very interesting. I will write some more about it later, but for now, my family is having our Thanksgiving and I need to go visit.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Persimmon Tree Link & GOOD Articles (esp. 2nd one)
So this is excruciatingly late, but better late than never.
So Ian, Diane and I all read Under the Persimmon Tree and found it to be very one-dimensional and Americanized. So as I was looking for some sort of worldly link to this, I can across a speech Colin Powell made to the Heritage Foundation in 2002. I was reading through it and found this little snippet:
"We also have a deep and abiding national interest in bringing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to an end. With our friends in the region and the international community, we are working to bring about a lasting peace based on President Bush's vision of two states living side-by-side in peace and security. This peace will require from the Palestinians a new and different leadership, new institutions, and an end to terror and violence. As the Palestinians make progress in this direction, Israel will also be required to make hard choices, including an end to all settlement construction activity, consistent with the Mitchell Report."
If you want to read the whole thing, it's here.
Anyway, back to the Staples book. I wasn't so much dissapointed with her writing style, but the content of the book was somewhat wishy-washy. It seems to me this would make a great second-string Dreamworks production..."the tragic story of Najmah, the orphan, miraculously reuniting with her brother and saving the family land from their evil uncle." As topical as the book was, however, it also raised some important issues. Why were Americans bombing innocent people and their villages? Was it purposeful? And how does this affect our perception of the war, our soldiers, and the people in the Middle East?
I found an article written by Ramzi Kysia, a Muslim-American peace activist, working with the Education for Peace in Iraq Center, who was also in NYC the day the planes crashed into the twin towers. He talks of terrorism, and the things he observed on 9/11. He makes some chilling comparisons and really makes you think about what we are doing in retaliation of losing those 3000+ lives on the day that changed America. This excerpt from his article is very powerful, and really makes you wonder:
"How comfortable would we be if Iraqi warplanes flew over our skies, bombing our cities and towns every few days, over 12 long years - with absolute impunity? September 11 tells us.
...How comfortable could we be if Iraq had thousands of nuclear bombs, chemical and biological weapons, the most powerful military in the world, and was threatening us with destruction if we didn't do whatever they wanted us to do? September 11 tells us.
...The sign at the memorial in Union Park last year that stands out in my mind more than any other simply read, "We don't want this to happen to anyone else ever again." It does happen, all the time, all over the world. It happens here, in Iraq, every day.
...It happens when U.S. warplanes accidentally bomb civilians, over and over again. Our defense is "self-defense" - we bomb every time Iraqis challenge our right to control their skies.
...It happens when uncounted Iraqi children starve to death, every day, because our bombings and sanctions have deprived them of adequate income, adequate food, and access to safe drinking water. According to UNICEF and the Red Cross, among others, hundreds of thousands of children here have died because of U.S. actions against Iraq over the last 12 years. That's a children's 9-11 every month - 250 skyscrapers filled with babies and toddlers, crashing to the ground. Are these innocents any less real than those killed in New York and Washington last year?"
The full article, which I recommend, is here.
What are we doing?
So Ian, Diane and I all read Under the Persimmon Tree and found it to be very one-dimensional and Americanized. So as I was looking for some sort of worldly link to this, I can across a speech Colin Powell made to the Heritage Foundation in 2002. I was reading through it and found this little snippet:
"We also have a deep and abiding national interest in bringing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to an end. With our friends in the region and the international community, we are working to bring about a lasting peace based on President Bush's vision of two states living side-by-side in peace and security. This peace will require from the Palestinians a new and different leadership, new institutions, and an end to terror and violence. As the Palestinians make progress in this direction, Israel will also be required to make hard choices, including an end to all settlement construction activity, consistent with the Mitchell Report."
If you want to read the whole thing, it's here.
Anyway, back to the Staples book. I wasn't so much dissapointed with her writing style, but the content of the book was somewhat wishy-washy. It seems to me this would make a great second-string Dreamworks production..."the tragic story of Najmah, the orphan, miraculously reuniting with her brother and saving the family land from their evil uncle." As topical as the book was, however, it also raised some important issues. Why were Americans bombing innocent people and their villages? Was it purposeful? And how does this affect our perception of the war, our soldiers, and the people in the Middle East?
I found an article written by Ramzi Kysia, a Muslim-American peace activist, working with the Education for Peace in Iraq Center, who was also in NYC the day the planes crashed into the twin towers. He talks of terrorism, and the things he observed on 9/11. He makes some chilling comparisons and really makes you think about what we are doing in retaliation of losing those 3000+ lives on the day that changed America. This excerpt from his article is very powerful, and really makes you wonder:
"How comfortable would we be if Iraqi warplanes flew over our skies, bombing our cities and towns every few days, over 12 long years - with absolute impunity? September 11 tells us.
...How comfortable could we be if Iraq had thousands of nuclear bombs, chemical and biological weapons, the most powerful military in the world, and was threatening us with destruction if we didn't do whatever they wanted us to do? September 11 tells us.
...The sign at the memorial in Union Park last year that stands out in my mind more than any other simply read, "We don't want this to happen to anyone else ever again." It does happen, all the time, all over the world. It happens here, in Iraq, every day.
...It happens when U.S. warplanes accidentally bomb civilians, over and over again. Our defense is "self-defense" - we bomb every time Iraqis challenge our right to control their skies.
...It happens when uncounted Iraqi children starve to death, every day, because our bombings and sanctions have deprived them of adequate income, adequate food, and access to safe drinking water. According to UNICEF and the Red Cross, among others, hundreds of thousands of children here have died because of U.S. actions against Iraq over the last 12 years. That's a children's 9-11 every month - 250 skyscrapers filled with babies and toddlers, crashing to the ground. Are these innocents any less real than those killed in New York and Washington last year?"
The full article, which I recommend, is here.
What are we doing?
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Response to Dr. Kramer
This is going to be an ongoing blog. I will be adding things to it as I find them and explore more into the issues that Dr. Kramer brought up. I felt like his argument was somewhat one-sided and failed to acknowledge the other end of the story. Though some of his points were valid, and I respect his opinion, I feel that some things were left out. To be honest, I disagreed with him on several issues and I will explicate my views as I add more links to this blog.
Al Qaeda: Osama's Network of Terror
Background information about Osama Bin Laden and his connections with terrorists
Missing US soldiers 'tortured, killed' in Iraq
My first article. Dr. Kramer talked of torture of Iraqis and the inhumane treatment of people. What about the crimes they have committed against us as well?
US Military Deaths in Iraq at 3,858
WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS VIOLENT, DISTURBING IMAGES NEAR THE END
Beheading Desecration Article of Dead US Soldiers Released on Internet by Al Qaeda
Repsonse to Abu Gharib issue:
So my thoughts are, if they can brutally behead, murder, mutilate, and rip apart the bodies of our soldiers, then why the hell can't we get them naked and put them in sexual positions? I do not condone what they did, but the uproar about our misconduct seems astronomical, and what are we doing about the brutality they show us? I'd rather have someone exploit me than behead me. Why should the US be held to such a high standard and let our enemies get away with this shit? It's very disturbing. However you feel about the war in Iraq, truly you should be disgusted by the way our enemies there celebrate the killing and desecration of our soldiers' bodies.
Torture, Al Qaeda Style
VERY INTERESTING! If you want to see some drawings of their methods and photos of tools and victims, check this out. I'll also put some pics on here as an example. ***It was there, during an April 24 raid, that soldiers found a man suspended from the ceiling by a chain. According to the military, he had been abducted from his job and was being beaten daily by his captors. In a raid earlier this week, Coalition Forces freed five Iraqis who were found in a padlocked room in Karmah. The group, which included a boy, were reportedly beaten with chains, cables, and hoses. ***
Al Qaeda: Osama's Network of Terror
Background information about Osama Bin Laden and his connections with terrorists
Missing US soldiers 'tortured, killed' in Iraq
My first article. Dr. Kramer talked of torture of Iraqis and the inhumane treatment of people. What about the crimes they have committed against us as well?
US Military Deaths in Iraq at 3,858
WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS VIOLENT, DISTURBING IMAGES NEAR THE END
Beheading Desecration Article of Dead US Soldiers Released on Internet by Al Qaeda
Repsonse to Abu Gharib issue:
So my thoughts are, if they can brutally behead, murder, mutilate, and rip apart the bodies of our soldiers, then why the hell can't we get them naked and put them in sexual positions? I do not condone what they did, but the uproar about our misconduct seems astronomical, and what are we doing about the brutality they show us? I'd rather have someone exploit me than behead me. Why should the US be held to such a high standard and let our enemies get away with this shit? It's very disturbing. However you feel about the war in Iraq, truly you should be disgusted by the way our enemies there celebrate the killing and desecration of our soldiers' bodies.
Torture, Al Qaeda Style
VERY INTERESTING! If you want to see some drawings of their methods and photos of tools and victims, check this out. I'll also put some pics on here as an example. ***It was there, during an April 24 raid, that soldiers found a man suspended from the ceiling by a chain. According to the military, he had been abducted from his job and was being beaten daily by his captors. In a raid earlier this week, Coalition Forces freed five Iraqis who were found in a padlocked room in Karmah. The group, which included a boy, were reportedly beaten with chains, cables, and hoses. ***
Completely unrelated, but here is a link to some pictures of Israeli Soldiers and their actions with children in Palestine.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Under the Persimmon Tree
So I wasn't quite sure about what we were supposed to write for Monday, but I am going to give you my brief impressions of Under the Persimmon Tree by Suzanne Fischer Staples.
We begin in the small village of Golestan, Northern Afghanistan, in October of 2001, mere weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. There, we are introduced to a small family: Bada-jan, the father, Mada-jan, the mother, Nur, the brother, and Najmah, the sister. The Taliban are passing through the Kunduz hills where the family resides and this creates conflict for the small farming family. I don't want to give too much away, because I know other people may read this book, but the story is based on the journey of Najmah, and her travels to Peshawar, Pakistan, in search of her family. We also encounter Nusrat, an American teacher who is leading a small school for refugee children who have been displaced from the violence and corruption of the Taliban. Her husband Faiz is a doctor who has left to set up a medical clinic in Mazar-i-Sharif to help the mujahideen, the men fighting against the Taliban. Najmah and Nusrat cross paths in the middle of the story and their interactions and the relationship that blossoms between them is heart-warming in times of such adversity.
The images conjured in this book of the violence and terrorism of the Taliban are very real, and very disturbing. This book was written, as I've implied, after the September 11th attacks, and is based on the aftermath of those attacks, but instead of the American point of view, we are able to get some insight from the other side of the playing field. However, the author is American, and this book reflects an outsider's perspective. It is definitely a teen book, and the functionality of this text on a higher level is slim.
I also read the article that Allen sent to us about the abuses of the Israeli soldiers. Reading the ending of that where the men were breaking the limbs of the four year old Palestinian boy made me sick. And to think that they believe they are being "ethical" makes me worry most. How can a person break the limbs of a little child and feel good about doing it? What sort of mindset does someone have to be in to think that it's ok? And what the hell else is going on over there that we never hear about. What is becoming of the world? I mean honestly!
There have been periods of history in which episodes of terrible violence occurred but for which the word violence was never used.... Violence is shrouded in justifying myths that lend it moral legitimacy, and these myths for the most part kept people from recognizing the violence for what it was. The people who burned witches at the stake never for one moment thought of their act as violence; rather they thought of it as an act of divinely mandated righteousness. The same can be said of most of the violence we humans have ever committed. -Gil Bailie
We begin in the small village of Golestan, Northern Afghanistan, in October of 2001, mere weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. There, we are introduced to a small family: Bada-jan, the father, Mada-jan, the mother, Nur, the brother, and Najmah, the sister. The Taliban are passing through the Kunduz hills where the family resides and this creates conflict for the small farming family. I don't want to give too much away, because I know other people may read this book, but the story is based on the journey of Najmah, and her travels to Peshawar, Pakistan, in search of her family. We also encounter Nusrat, an American teacher who is leading a small school for refugee children who have been displaced from the violence and corruption of the Taliban. Her husband Faiz is a doctor who has left to set up a medical clinic in Mazar-i-Sharif to help the mujahideen, the men fighting against the Taliban. Najmah and Nusrat cross paths in the middle of the story and their interactions and the relationship that blossoms between them is heart-warming in times of such adversity.
The images conjured in this book of the violence and terrorism of the Taliban are very real, and very disturbing. This book was written, as I've implied, after the September 11th attacks, and is based on the aftermath of those attacks, but instead of the American point of view, we are able to get some insight from the other side of the playing field. However, the author is American, and this book reflects an outsider's perspective. It is definitely a teen book, and the functionality of this text on a higher level is slim.
I also read the article that Allen sent to us about the abuses of the Israeli soldiers. Reading the ending of that where the men were breaking the limbs of the four year old Palestinian boy made me sick. And to think that they believe they are being "ethical" makes me worry most. How can a person break the limbs of a little child and feel good about doing it? What sort of mindset does someone have to be in to think that it's ok? And what the hell else is going on over there that we never hear about. What is becoming of the world? I mean honestly!
There have been periods of history in which episodes of terrible violence occurred but for which the word violence was never used.... Violence is shrouded in justifying myths that lend it moral legitimacy, and these myths for the most part kept people from recognizing the violence for what it was. The people who burned witches at the stake never for one moment thought of their act as violence; rather they thought of it as an act of divinely mandated righteousness. The same can be said of most of the violence we humans have ever committed. -Gil Bailie
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