LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 24/09

Bible Reading of the day.
10:38 It happened as they went on their way, he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. 10:40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she came up to him, and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister left me to serve alone? Ask her therefore to help me.” Jesus answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,  but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Talking ourselves to death: Obama must get tough on an increasingly dangerous Iran. By: Mort Zuckerman 23/03/09
Only Assad can make it clear that Syria is embarking on a new path-The Daily Star 23/03/09
 (With Hezbollah)Sunday… day of horror. Future News

A Raw Deal for Muslim Women. By: Patrick Poole. Pajamas Media 23/03/09
Whither Pakistan? Dare One Criticize a Muslim Country?By: Carol Gould. Pajamas Media 23/03/09

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for March 23/09
Fatah says deputy PLO head in Lebanon 'assassinated. Israeli News/AP
Palestinian official killed by bomb in Lebanon/Los Angeles Times
Lebanese Central Bank head says country will withstand global ...Los Angeles Times
Hariri Kicks-Off London Visit-Naharnet
Jumblat Made Up His Mind on Election-Naharnet
Lebanon Receives U.S. Military Equipment
-Naharnet
Arab Council of Ministers urges against terrorism.Future News
Sfeir Fears Imbalance Following Decision to Lower Voting Age-Naharnet
Jumblat Made Up His Mind on.Naharnet
The Chouf leader, disappointed.Assafir-Al Liwaa newspaper
Tashnag Doesn't Expect Understanding with Phalange, Stresses Alliance with FPM, Murr-Naharnet
Arslan will Run in Elections with the Spirit of Reconciliation-Naharnet
Hariri to Meet with British Foreign Minister
-Naharnet
Abu Jamra Not to Attend Cabinet Meetings under Saniora, Content with Ashrafiyeh Candidacy
-Naharnet
State Budget Won't Make it to Cabinet before 'Total' Understanding is Reached
-Naharnet
Ongoing Negotiations Surrounding Administrative Appointments
-Naharnet
From Israel Jailer to Samir Qantar's Lawyer
-Naharnet
Fares after Meeting Hariri in Paris: I Will Not Run in Elections
-Naharnet
Baroud Urges Arab Interior Ministers Conference to Set Up Anti-Organized Crime Bureau
-Naharnet
PSP Hits back at Muallem, Demands End of Syrian Meddling in Lebanon
-Naharnet
Several Arrested in House Raids in Connection to Police Station Attack
-Naharnet
Amin Gemayel Warns Lebanon is Headed for 'Dangerous' Period
-Naharnet
News Analysis: Syrian-US relations show sign of thaw-Xinhua

Pope delivers mass for more than 1 million in Angola-(AFP)
Lebanon calls for Arab anti-organized crime bureau-Xinhua
Lebanon should be wary of foreign powers, armed groups: former presidentGemayel. Xinhua
Lebanon's election race intensifies as parties court allies-Daily Star
Beirut ready to host joint Arab law enforcement office - Baroud-Daily Star
Palestinians say army dogs 'soiled' Iranian food aid-AFP)
Sfeir urges reflection after voting age lowered-Daily Star
Moallem backs normal ties with all Lebanese leaders-Daily Star
Failure to understand political Islam is 'dangerous-Daily Star
Accused Paris bomber 'target of anti-Arabism'-(AFP)
Lebanese start-ups get help from 'angels-Daily Star
Family feud leaves two people dead in Palestinian camp-Daily Star
French takes backseat to English among Lebanese citizens-(AFP)
'All Francophonie are a little bit Lebanese-Daily Star
AUB campaign replants forests - one tree at a time-Daily Star
Netanyahu looks to reassure Cairo over Lieberman choice-(AFP)
Khamenei seen as asserting his authority over relations with Washington-(AFP)

Fatah says deputy PLO head in Lebanon 'assassinated'
Security sources say Medhat Kamal, three other people killed while driving car near refugee camp outside Sidon
Reuters Published: 03.23.09, 15:01 / Israel News
The Palestinian political movement Fatah said one of its officials Kamal Medhat, the deputy head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in Lebanon, was killed by a roadside bomb there on Tuesday. Describing the attack as an "assassination", Fatah spokesman Fahmy al-Zaarir in the West Bank told Reuters that the PLO chief in Lebanon, Abbas Zaki, was also visiting the Mieh Mieh refugee camp where Kamal died but that Zaki was uninjured.
Zaarir said it was too early to speculate on who was behind the attack. "Kamal Medhat was killed along with four of his bodyguards when a roadside bomb exploded as his convoy drove by, near the entrance to the camp," Munir Maqdah, in charge of security at Lebanon's 12 refugee camps told AFP.
Medhat was also a former intelligence chief for the Fatah movement in Lebanon.AFP contributed to this report

Talking ourselves to death: Obama must get tough on an increasingly dangerous Iran
Sunday, March 22nd 2009,
By: Mort Zuckerman
New York Daily News
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/03/22/2009-03-22_talking_ourselves_to_death_obama_must_ge.html
President Barack Obama must get tougher when it comes to dealing with Iran.
Iran is making fools of everyone.
Even as it lies about its closeness to acquiring nuclear missiles, it continues to menace the political order throughout the Middle East, pressing on with rocketry and rearming Hamas and Hezbollah. And that mischief is nothing compared to what it will do if it is allowed to become a nuclear power.
President Obama's tentative video overture to the Iranians on Friday must not become an opportunity to let them buy more time for their nuclear program.
Nuclear Iran will be a threat to U.S. national security, worldwide energy security, the efficacy of multilateralism and the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Having defied the world so brazenly, it will be emboldened to use terrorism to threaten or subvert others in the area. And Iran, through its support for Hezbollah and Hamas and the Ba'ath Party in Iraq, has the capacity to put direct pressure on Lebanon, Syria, the Palestinians and the Iraqis. Tens and perhaps hundreds of thousands would join radical Islamist groups in the belief that Islamism is on the march.
Fundamentally, a nuclear Iran represents a unique threat. The fear of mutually assured destruction has long restrained other nuclear powers. There is a real risk that Iran is not rational, that driven by its mad hatreds it will act in ways that are irrational, even self-destructive. "Death to America!" has provoked the Iranian street for over a quarter of a century and is the venom upon which an entire generation of Iranians has been raised. The dominant Ayatollah Khameini reiterates that Iran's differences with America are more fundamental than political differences.
Every U.S. administration since 1979 - yes, including the last one - has reached out to the Iranians. To adopt President Obama's inaugural metaphor, every open hand has met a clenched fist. It is the same dismal story with five years of efforts to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions.
It is not that the Iranians don't want to talk - they do. That's all they want to do, play for time. They seek the technical know-how that will give them the breakout capability to produce nuclear weapons in a short period. They are in the midst of producing stockpiles of low enriched uranium. They are adding centrifuges faster than the UN Security Council can step up the pressure and are learning about the art of connecting a large number of centrifuges to a vast amount of pipe work, while maintaining everything in a vacuum.
Simultaneously, they are enhancing their ability to launch long range ballistic missiles, a potential delivery system of nuclear weapons. What madness it is to empower Iran to do what it most likes to do - hold hostages, in this case the entire region.
The clock is ticking inexorably, a race against time that Iran is winning, getting nearer every day presenting the world with an Iranian bomb as a fait accompli.
What can be done? The UN has failed to persuade countries like Russia and China to cooperate in a rigorous sanctions' effort. Far from it, they are actually profiting from the sanctions policy by doing deals in the energy field and selling Iran weapons.
Fortunately, Iran has an economic Achilles' heel - they are dependent on imported gasoline for 40% of their refined fuel. Furthermore, they require new investments in their energy industry to maintain current production. Reduced oil prices have put a great strain on their economy. Discontent is growing among its citizenry suffering from inflation, unemployment and poverty.
We must press harder to coordinate four measures: 1) an arms embargo; 2) a ban on exports to Iran of gas and other refined products to cripple transport; 3) a global boycott of the entire banking system of Iran, instead of helping them as European banks are; and 4) a prohibition on Western countries supplying spare parts to the oil industry.
The object, clearly, is not to punish the Iranian people but to force their leaders to act in the best interests of their people and of regional peace. It is the Iranian people who stand to gain the most from the cultural and economic liberations that would follow a sound agreement. And by that I mean a package deal that includes maximum safeguards and control of their nuclear program, and the complete cessation of enrichment activities inside Iran. But there is no certainty that economic sanctions will work in time, leaving us with two unacceptable options: living with a nuclear Iran or acting militarily to prevent it.
The Iranian leaders' judgment is that the current administration is ready to let diplomacy run on and on and on. Many in Iran believe the U.S. may be reconciling itself to the idea of living with an Iranian nuclear missile - even though it would be in the hands of an expressly genocidal regime.
Who would have imagined that President Obama may well determine his historical legacy and reputation on the basis of the way he deals with Iran?

Lebanon should be wary of foreign powers, armed groups: former president
www.chinaview.cn 2009-03-23 02:18:38 Print
BEIRUT, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Former Lebanese President Amin Gemayel said Sunday that Lebanon should be wary of foreign interventions and domestic armed groups on the road of rehabilitation, local Naharnet website reported. "Sovereignty can not be completed as long as some want to give a part of it to Iran, Syria or the Palestinians," Gemayel said in a conference gathering his Phalange party leaders in the eastern suburb of Beirut. Hinting at the Shiite Hezbollah-led opposition, Gemayel said "I dare say we are in a period of rehabilitation." His remarks came prior to a campaign for the general election scheduled for June 7 in which his son, Sami Gemayel, is running. Earlier in the day, Sami Gemayel told the Voice of Lebanon radio that there is a party in Lebanon that owns arms other than the Lebanese army and enjoys foreign connections, referring to Hezbollah's armed forces. Amin Gemayel, a Christian leader from the ruling coalition, served as the country's president from 1982 to 1988. He lost his parliamentary seat to a candidate from Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun's bloc in 2007. His another son Pierre Gemayel, then a member of parliament, was assassinated in 2006.

Sfeir Fears Imbalance Following Decision to Lower Voting Age
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir has raised fears of a power imbalance following parliament's approval of a draft law to lower voting age to 18.
Sfeir on Sunday urged Lebanese leaders to thoroughly examine a decision allowing 18-years-old the right to vote before cabinet approval.
"The issue of voters' age has become a subject of discussion. One has to contemplate the effects of amending the law allowing 18-year-olds the right to vote prior to passing it," Sfeir said during his Sunday sermon. The daily An Nahar on Monday quoted parliamentary sources as saying that Sfeir's stance "was not a surprise."
The sources did not rule out that Sfeir's position will have a direct impact on the issue "whether this government is going to examine the draft law or its successor."
Al Liwa newspaper, for its part, quoted sources in Bkirki as saying that Sfeir's stand is based on his keenness to keep up the "formula of coexistence" and maintain the balance among the various Lebanese sects in line with the Taef Accord. The sources said Sfeir's fear of a power imbalance was not only due to this decision, but from decisions that could follow, such as allowing children to acquire citizenship through their mothers. One source described such decisions as a "violation of the distribution of balance in equal shares." Beirut, 23 Mar 09, 08:38

Sfeir urges reflection after voting age lowered
Daily Star staff
Monday, March 23, 2009
BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir called for "reflecting on the repercussions" of amending the law allowing 18-year-olds the right to vote prior to passing it. During his Sunday sermon at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Bkirki Sfeir said: "The issue of voters' age has become a subject of discussion. One has to contemplate repercussions before ratification." Lebanon's Parliament on Thursday approved a bill lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 but the measure will not come into effect in time for the June parliamentary election. The law needs to be cleared by the Cabinet within four months before being ratified. Lebanon's electoral law was amended last September ahead of the June 7 vote which will pit the March 14 Forces against the opposition. But MPs at the time refused to adopt some amendments including lowering the voting age and introducing a quota for women in Parliament. Also in his Sunday sermon, Sfeir said Pope Benedit XVI's Africa tour reflects the efforts of the Catholic church in assisting the continent's residents combat all sorts of aliments. - The Daily Star

Only Assad can make it clear that Syria is embarking on a new path
By The Daily Star

Monday, March 23, 2009
Editorial
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem responded positively over the weekend to the olive branch recently extended to Damascus by Lebanon's parliamentary majority, the March 14 Forces. The Lebanese coalition had issued its election campaign a week earlier calling for an "end the conflict with Syria" and the constructing of "normal and amicable relations ... on the basis of brotherhood, equality and common interests."
During an interview with Al-Jazeera, Moallem on Saturday reciprocated by stressing that Damascus was ready for normal relations with all Lebanese leaders, including parliamentary majority leader MP Saad Hariri, saying: "We have a big heart, we forgive."
This exchange of friendly words is a welcome development, as it signals the potential end of a nasty feud between Damascus and Lebanon's parliamentary majority that had long prevented the two countries from negotiating a new framework for formal bilateral relations.
However, the shift in position on the part of Damascus still needs to be officially confirmed by the country's top leader, Bashar Assad. Because Moallem is one of the region's most seasoned diplomats with a long-time record of service for his country, his words carry significant weight, but they still fall short of representing the official position of the Syrian state. Only Assad can make it clear that his country is moving in a new direction with regard to official policy toward Lebanon.
Once an official policy is articulated by Assad, the Syrian leadership can then act to minimize the influence of the parties and individuals in Lebanon who seek to assert their own interpretations of Damascus' positions, often to the detriment of improved bilateral relations. A clearly defined position outlined by Assad will set the record straight, and will allow the soon-to-be-fully-launched Syrian Embassy in Beirut to position itself as the official channel through which Damascus conveys its stances on policy matters. It would also pave the way for Lebanon and Syria to build a strong partnership that will bring multiple benefits to both states.

Jumblat Made Up His Mind on Election
Druze leader Walid Jumblat has made up his mind on the upcoming elections.
Media reports on Monday said Jumblat ultimately settled the question – leaving the Druze seat in Aley vacant to pave the way for his rival Cabinet Minister Talal Arslan. Jumblat said his decision to leave the Aley seat unfilled was aimed at "maintaining unity in the Mountains and safeguarding a Druze-Druze agreement reached on May 11 following the bloody events of May 7." Regarding the Shouf constituency, Jumblat told the daily Al Liwa that he has decided following consultations with allies in the March 14 forces to name Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan "to preserve the majority's unity in the election battle."
This leaves the Shouf election list as follows:
- Druze (two seats): Walid Jumblat and Marwan Hamadeh.
- Sunni Muslims (two seats): Mohammed Hajjar and Alaaeddine Terro.
- Maronite Catholics (three seats): George Adwan, Dory Chamoun and Elie Aoun.
- Roman Catholic (one seat): Nehmeh Tohmeh.
As to the Aley district, the list remains unchanged – Druze candidate Akram Shehayeb will run on Jumblat's ticket.
Beirut, 23 Mar 09, 10:28

Tashnag Doesn't Expect Understanding with Phalange, Stresses Alliance with FPM, Murr
Naharnet/Tashnag Secretary-General Hovig Mekhitarian said he did not expect to reach an understanding with the Phalange Party over the Metn electoral list.
Mekhitarian told As Safir daily in remarks published Monday that his last meeting with Phalange Party's central committee coordinator, Sami Gemayel, did not come up with any electoral result, adding that he didn't expect to reach an understanding with the party given the current political and electoral circumstances.
The Phalange offered a "certain cooperation proposal but … we can say that there is nothing serious," Mekhitarian said. "With all my respect to Sheik Sami Gemayel, the possibility of understanding requires dialogue on a higher level particularly with (former) President Amin Gemayel," the head of the Armenian party told As Safir.
He said he was ready to meet with Gemayel if the latter wanted to visit Mekhitarian. As Safir also quoted Sami Gemayel as saying that he does "not understand what prevents the Tashnag from having a good political relationship with the Phalange."Asked about what the final decision of the Tashnag would be regarding Mustaqbal movement MP Saad Hariri's offer, Mekhitarian said that the party was awaiting the majority leader's return from Britain."Then we will explain to the people about our viewpoint whether it is negative or positive," he told As Safir. Mekhitarian also stressed that his party will stick to its alliance with Gen. Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement and with MP Michel Murr. Beirut, 23 Mar 09, 09:02

Arslan will Run in Elections with the Spirit of Reconciliation
Naharnet/Youth and Sports Minister Talal Arslan said Monday that he will not run in the upcoming parliamentary elections on the basis of March 8 or 14 forces.
"I won't run in the elections in the Mountains on the basis of March 14 or 8. But through the reconciliation spirit that I kicked off on May 7," Arslan said during a tour of the town of Kfarmatta. He said the reconciliation spirit defends the resistance in the Mountains. He stressed that he wants to run in the elections on "the basis of diversity in the Mountains." "Neither me nor my allies want parliamentary seats at the expense of people's blood, strife and traditional division," he said.
Beirut, 23 Mar 09, 13:11

Hariri to Meet with British Foreign Minister
Naharnet/Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri will travel to London on Monday to meet with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and other British officials.
According to Al-Mustaqbal newspaper the two are expected to talk about the situation in Lebanon and the Middle East in general as well as the countries' bilateral relations. Additionally Hariri is expected to me with Mustaqbal supporters in Britain and hold meetings with various Arab ambassadors to the kingdom.
The trip to London comes a little over two months before Lebanon's June 7 parliamentary elections and follows Britain's announcement in early March that it would begin dialogue with Hizbullah's political wing. Beirut, 23 Mar 09, 08:45

Abu Jamra Not to Attend Cabinet Meetings under Saniora, Content with Ashrafiyeh Candidacy
Naharnet/Deputy Prime Minister Issam Abu Jamra will not be attending any cabinet meetings under the leadership of Fouad Saniora in the foreseeable future.
Abu Jamra told the Kuwaiti daily newspaper Al-Siyassah in comments published on Monday that, until he is given an office in the Grand Serail, he "will not attend any cabinet meetings which are under the leadership of PM Fouad Saniora." Regarding his candidacy in Beirut's first district, the Free Patriotic Movement member called himself a "symbol" of the area, enjoying wide popular support, and contested the notion that his running was an insult to the people of Ashrafiyeh. He added that he was content with the decision of his bloc not to nominate him for the Orthodox seat in Marjayoun by saying that "the movement that I am aligned with has [its own] strategy." Syrian Social Nationalist Party member Assaad Hardan has instead been nominated for the seat. Abu Jamra criticized Democratic Gathering MP Marwan Hamadeh's recent comments that FPM leader Michel Aoun would be "forbidden from entering Ashrafiyeh," explaining that the people of that area would make their own choices in the elections. Additionally, he defended what he called Aoun's recent "spastic rhetoric," adding that it did not stem from claims of his recent drop in popularity. Abu Jamra also assured that he is not afraid of any alliance between the Armenian party Tashnag and March 14. Tashnag is expected to announce its final electoral decisions in the very near future. Beirut, 23 Mar 09, 13:04

State Budget Won't Make it to Cabinet before 'Total' Understanding is Reached
Naharnet/No progress has been made with the talks and contacts carried out by Finance Minister Mohammed Shatah to resolve a budget crisis, the daily An Nahar reported Monday. It said that unless "total understanding" is reached, President Michel Suleiman will not submit the 2009 state budget to Cabinet.
Meanwhile, pan-Arab daily Al Hayat quoted ministerial sources as saying that efforts undertaken by Suleiman through contacts with Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Fouad Saniora have cratered an "understanding" on the budget that is likely to see light at Cabinet's next meeting on Thursday.
The sources said Thursday's Cabinet session is expected to see a "breakthrough" in the budget crisis. Al Akhbar newspaper, for its part, quoted opposition sources as saying that the much-talked about "compromise" is the same one reached during a meeting at Baabda nearly two weeks ago – allocating LL 60 billion for the Council for the South. On March 10, Suleiman was finally able to bring together Berri and Saniora in a bid to mend the relationship that has deteriorated over the Council for the South budget – still the key obstacle in the path of approving the 2009 state budget. Beirut, 23 Mar 09, 11:09

From Israel Jailer to Samir Qantar's Lawyer

Naharnet/Yamin Zeidan once proudly worked as an Israeli jailer, locking up the country's most notorious Arab prisoners -- until he performed an ideological somersault and became their lawyer. Zeidan's two brothers were Israeli army soldiers killed in the line of duty, including one shot dead by Hizbullah, which last year handed over two dead Israeli soldiers in exchange for Zeidan's highest profile client: Samir Qantar. Zeidan is an Israeli Druze -- an Arabic-speaking sect that serves in Israel's army and has traditionally been fiercely loyal to the Jewish state but increasingly finds itself marginalized and identifying with the mainstream Arab minority.
The criticism remains muted, and the vast majority of Druze, including Zeidan, say they want equality with Jewish citizens, not a break from Israel. But the loss of confidence raises a troubling question: If the Jewish state cannot win the hearts of its most loyal minority, will any of Israel's non-Jews ever feel they belong?
Zeidan, like his two older brothers and almost all other Druze males of his age, planned to join the Israeli army when he turned 18. But three months before he was to be drafted in 1996, a Hizbullah sniper killed his 22-year-old brother Saleh. His only other brother, Fouad, was killed by a Palestinian militant in the West Bank years earlier. Zeidan was exempted from service as his family's sole surviving son, but felt unfulfilled. "I wanted to be a military man, like my brothers," said Zeidan, who is now 30. He joined Israel's prison administration and also began studying law. He became a jailer at the maximum-security section of the Hadarim prison, where Israel keeps its most notorious militants. Among them was Qantar, a Lebanese militant who was serving a life sentence for allegedly killing an Israeli man and his 4-year-old daughter by smashing her skull.
"In the Israeli mind-set -- which was my mind-set -- they were terrorists and killers," Zeidan said.
But pride in his new job turned to doubt.
Prisoners spoke articulate Arabic, prompting Zeidan to improve his Hebrew-inflected informal Arabic. He developed a sense of shared culture with the militants he locked up and began to ask questions when one prisoner called the Druze "traitors" during a heated debate.
"I realized the cause that made these men go to prison was also my cause," Zeidan said. "We are part of the Palestinian tragedy."
After a year of locking up Arab prisoners, he quit the service, finished his law degree and became a defense attorney. Months later, Zeidan returned to the same prison to visit Qantar. The man, also a Druze, asked Zeidan to represent him.
"That was a historic meeting for me. One day I was Samir Qantar's jailer. The next, I was his lawyer," Zeidan said.
Zeidan passed on Qantar's fiery letters in support of Hizbullah to his brother in Lebanon, even though the group being praised was the same one that killed Zeidan's brother. "My place will be at the battlefront," Qantar wrote in one. After 29 years behind bars, Qantar was released in July in a swap with Hizbullah.
Despite his newfound beliefs, Zeidan said he struggled with passing on messages lauding his brother's killers. "They are still my brothers," he said.
Illustrating his family's jumbled identities, a stone memorial for his brothers on a Galilee mountain ridge is etched in Hebrew, but their names are written in Arabic.
Zeidan's flip is part of a quiet shift among the some 110,000 Israeli Druze, where criticism of Israel is palpable. Druze frequently complain on local Arabic radio of discrimination and unequal budgets for their councils, and a Druze village has filed a landmark lawsuit against the national government, claiming discrimination and demanding more funding.
Rekad Kheredin, the mayor of the Druze village of Horfesh, said a generation ago, Druze leaders would never have gone public with such a dispute so as not to embarrass the government. Public discontent was heightened after police quelled a violent riot by Druze in 2007 with live fire. Although most of the injured were police, angry Druze said the forces were heavy-handed.
Their criticisms reflect those of the wider Arab minority, who form around a fifth of Israel's 7 million citizens. They have equal rights under the law but face discrimination in government budgets and employment, and have poverty rates higher than those of the country's Jews.
The issue of Israel's uneasy relationship with its non-Jewish minorities took on new urgency with last month's parliamentary election. An ultranationalist movement called Yisrael Beitenu (Israel Our Home) emerged as the country's third-largest party, and it based its campaign on demanding that Arabs pledge allegiance to the Jewish state or lose their citizenship.
For now, army service, a bellweather of Druze loyalty to Israel appears to be unaffected. Israel's military says 82 percent of Druze men called to conscription served in 2007. By contrast, most non-Druze Arabs in Israel are hostile to the idea of any form of national service.
In the Feb. 10 elections, Druze were on parliamentary lists for most parties seeking election, including radical Arab parties and even Yisrael Beitenu.
Rajih Kaddour, the Druze head of Israel's radio news service in Arabic, says his people are eager to perform their duties as citizens, but want equality in return.
"Are Druze ready to be Israelis? I think the answer is yes," he said. "But is Israel ready to give equal rights to Druze? I don't think Israel, as a collective, has absorbed the Druze."(AP) Beirut, 23 Mar 09, 08:30

Fares after Meeting Hariri in Paris: I Will Not Run in Elections
Naharnet/Former Deputy Prime Minister Issam Fares said he will stick to his decision not to run in the upcoming elections.
Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri met Fares twice in Paris on Thursday and Friday. The two men discussed election-related issues. Beirut, 23 Mar 09, 09:19

Baroud Urges Arab Interior Ministers Conference to Set Up Anti-Organized Crime Bureau
Naharnet/Interior Minister Ziad Baroud on Sunday called on delegates attending an Arab Interior Ministers' Council Conference in Beirut to set up an anti-organized crime bureau to counter drug trafficking, immigrant smuggling and e-crime. Baroud stressed in opening remarks at the 26th conference held at the Phoenicia Hotel in downtown Beirut the need to "strengthen agreements at the level of anti-terrorism among Arab States." He said that maintenance of security is associated with three basic principles, including preserving state dignity, winning people's confidence in public institutions and the ability of security services to cope with crime. Baroud stressed the need for Arab cooperation in this regard "to fill in the gaps."He pointed to the urgent need to establish an Arab bureau to fight organized crime, expressing Lebanon's willingness to host a conference on the creation of this office. Beirut, 22 Mar 09, 16:36

PSP Hits back at Muallem, Demands End of Syrian Meddling in Lebanon
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party media officer Rami Rayyes on Sunday responded to remarks by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem that PSP leader Walid Jumblat should decide what he wants from Damascus. "What the (PSP) party wants from Syria is an end to meddling in Lebanese affairs," Rayyes said in a television interview. He stressed that the PSP had "never" stood in the way of establishing normal ties between Syria and Lebanon. Muallem, in an interview with al-Jazeera satellite television, referred to his country's relationship with the Druze chief, saying: "Jumblat has to decide what he wants, if he wishes to visit Syria we shall take that into consideration.""We basically did not submit such a request," Rayyes confirmed. Beirut, 22 Mar 09, 18:39

Several Arrested in House Raids in Connection to Police Station Attack
Naharnet/Several people have been arrested in connection to an attack on a police station in the southern city of Tyre, the National News Agency reported Sunday.
It said the detainees were suspected of involvement in Saturday's attack on Tyre's police station where a number of young men hurled stones at the police post following the arrest of Hoda Shaar. Mrs. Shaar was detained Saturday after stabbing a police staff sergeant in the chest as patrol officers pursued her son, Fawzi, who is a wanted suspect. Meanwhile, head of Judicial Police Brig. Gen. Anwar Yehya, accompanied by Sidon police station commander Col. Youssef Abu Khalil, visited staff sergeant Fadel Saleh at Jabal Amel hospital in Tyre. Beirut, 22 Mar 09, 18:18

Amin Gemayel Warns Lebanon is Headed for 'Dangerous' Period
Naharnet/Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel on Sunday warned that Lebanon is headed for a "dangerous" period. "We are going through a difficult and dangerous period," Gemayel said. "I also dare say we are in a period of rehabilitation," he added. He indirectly attacked Hizbullah, saying: "Sovereignty cannot be complete as long as some wish to give part of it to Iran, Syria or the Palestinians." Beirut, 22 Mar 09, 20:30

Yemeni Condemned to Death For Israel Contacts
Naharnet/A Yemeni court on Monday condemned an Islamist to death for establishing contact with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and offering to collaborate with the Jewish state. Bassam al-Haidari, 26, was found guilty of writing directly to the prime minister of Israel by email, offering to work for the Jewish state.
Another defendant Imad al-Rimi, 23, was sentenced to five years in prison and Ali al-Mahfal, 24, to three. "The court... sentences the first defendant to death in the case of making illegal contact with the Zionist Jewish Israeli entity," Judge Hassan Elwan said. "This is unfair; you have sentenced me without any proof of these accusations." Mahfal shouted from the dock. The defendants said they wanted to appeal. The three men went on trial in January, accused of operating under the name of the little-known Organization of Islamic Jihad and spreading false news of attacks on government buildings, embassies and foreign interests in Yemen in 2008.(AFP) Beirut, 23 Mar 09, 10:07

Hizballah and Iran Open New Contacts As West Engages

Magnus Norell
March 23rd 2009
The Cutting Edge
http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=11206&pageid=20&pagename=Security
In early March, the British government reestablished contact with Hizballah, reversing a ban that had been in effect since 2005. The move comes less than a year after Britain decided to actually tighten the ban on Hizballah and outlaw its military wing. The decision not only highlights the lack of a coordinated EU policy regarding the Shiite movement, but also complicates EU and U.S. efforts to formulate a coherent and unified policy toward Lebanon and Iran.
Britain's new policy position toward Hizballah, which will certainly be mimicked by EU members that do not already have dealings with the Lebanese movement, was justified by Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell, who stated that "We have reconsidered the position . . . in light of more positive developments in Lebanon." One of the "positive developments" was the establishment of the new Lebanese unity government last July, which reinstated Hizballah ministers and ensured that it would hold an effective veto over government decisions.
Although the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office clarified that it was only exploring contacts with Hizballah's political, not military, wing, the organization itself makes no such distinction. Hizballah welcomed Britain's policy shift, with the organization's spokesman Ibrahim al-Moussawi stating, "This policy revision is a step in the right direction and we shall see how it translates in practical terms."
Lebanon, Hizballah, and the EU
Differences between the United States and the EU are easily visible in the conduct of certain European countries, such as France and Italy, with Hizballah and Lebanon. Traditionally, countries like France have pursued their own foreign policy toward Lebanon without necessarily coordinating with the rest of the EU. Both France and Italy have provided soldiers to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), but are sensitive to initiatives that could endanger their troops. At present, there is a "gentlemen's agreement" between UNIFIL and Hizballah's militia south of the Litani River, whereby UNIFIL does not aggressively look for weapons inside villages and towns, and Hizballah refrains from carrying or displaying weapons openly. This arrangement is in direct conflict with UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which states that no forces other than UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces can have weapons in the area. In addition, Hizballah has not only replenished its stocks since its 2006 war with Israel, it has also rebuilt defensive positions throughout the south.
Although it has not conducted terrorist attacks in Europe for many years, Hizballah is still active there, mainly engaged in financial, logistical, and recruiting operations, as well as political activities aimed at legitimizing the movement in the eyes of the Western audience. A recently released German intelligence assessment estimated that 900 Hizballah members (an increase of 100 from previous reports) live in Germany alone. Hizballah has also used Europe as a launching pad to send operatives into Israel to conduct surveillance and attacks.
EU's Hopes for Obama
EU policy toward Hizballah has been the topic of debate for some time. The U.S. decision to designate Hizballah as a terrorist organization was never affirmed by the EU, nor was it adopted by any major EU country. On the contrary, a common denominator of EU policy toward Hizballah (and its relations with Lebanon) has been to prefer engagement to confrontation, using the rationale that engagement offers a chance to influence the movement's policy and conduct. Not only has this approach failed to achieve any real results, the organization has actually rearmed and strengthened its position in Lebanon during talks with the EU.

The EU is optimistic about the Obama administration's new policy of engagement in the Middle East. Brussels hopes that Washington will be more inclined to listen to the EU when it comes to devising new policy initiatives toward the Middle East, presumably involving less pressure and more engagement with troublesome regimes such as Tehran.
EU's Iran Policy
To complicate matters, Britain's policy shift comes amid ongoing tensions between Iran -- Hizballah's main backer -- and the West on a number of issues, primarily Iran's nuclear program. As for relations with Iran, the so-called EU troika (UK, France, and Germany) has continued to press the Islamic Republic to change its nuclear policy with a combination of economic incentives and sanctions. (It should be noted that past EU sanctions on Iran were in response to proliferation and that the European body has been unwilling to impose sanctions on Iran for supporting terrorism and terrorist organizations.)
After several years of pursuing this policy of inducement, however, the EU cannot point to any breakthroughs with Iran on the nuclear front. Furthermore, the British change of policy to "explore" contacts with Hizballah is clearly intended to prepare for Hizballah's possible electoral victory in June. If Hizballah wins, or gets enough votes to be Lebanon's new kingmaker, Britain (and likely the EU) hopes to be in a privileged position with the government in Beirut. Since Iran and Syria are aware of the lack of U.S.-EU policy coordination toward Hizballah, any disagreements on Hizballah and Lebanon will certainly be exploited by Tehran and Damascus.
The U.S. administration's commitment to new Middle East initiatives and the EU's eagerness to cooperate with Washington could pave the way for real change in the region. But for that to happen, it is paramount that Brussels and Washington be on the same page. At present, U.S. and EU policies toward Hizballah are not in sync, making any new initiative from the West for post-election Lebanon difficult to implement and unlikely to succeed. Moreover, Britain's public decision to reestablish relations with Hizballah despite its repeated violations of European and international law could seriously undermine joint U.S.-EU initiatives toward Hizballah and Lebanon in the future. As such, coordination should be a key priority for both the EU and the United States.
Britain's recent move on Hizballah could also be interpreted by European and U.S. allies in the Middle East as an attempt to curry favor with Iran. To remove that doubt and ensure effective U.S.-EU initiatives toward Iran, the Obama administration must publicly convey its goal: to alter Iran's present drive toward achieving nuclear weapons capability, preferably through forceful sanctions and real incentives. The EU will have to look inward and decide how far it is prepared to go in pursuit of such policies.
**Magnus Norell, a Fulbright scholar, is a visiting fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where his research focuses on the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hizballah

Sunday… day of horror

Date: March 23rd, 2009 Source: Future News
Hezbollah takes advantage of all possible opportunities in order to throw the threats and warnings to all those that oppose its points of view and doesn't submit to its opinions of orientation and ambiguous objectives.
To Lebanon, Sundays are to note in the diaries of the Lebanese as “the day of horror". This day is dedicated to the spokesmen of this organism who scatter themselves in the villages and the alleys under pretext of condolences or events in order to throw their bluffs.
And paradoxically, they don't ever promise nor specify to their "Spectators" the discounted destiny, if they accomplish the asked mission, without mentioning the economic and social situation or to speak of opportunities of employment and development. Hollowing, what is necessary for them that the situation remains in stagnation in order to be able to collect their "Spectators" by the slant of the “clean political money?”
More astonishing, the prejudices and the attacks thrown against the Arab countries that have according to Hezbollah, to acquit the invoices of destruction and to participate in rebuilding the schools and the roads, whereas it praises and hails other States.
Once a Leader or an Arab responsible mentions a project of a "compromise” or "peace" with the Israeli enemy, he turns into
"Traitor". Besides, to make the sleeve of the Syrian régime, “opposing” an American intervention aiming to lead direct negotiations with the Zionist entity, require from them the adoption of the politics of the ostrich, burying the head in the sand.
The eminent question that arises: "how to make a Resistance?" However, how to face the aftermaths of this Resistance? No one is interested, so much that there are the Arabian States that are in charge of the reconstruction. During this time, the régimes Syrian and Iranian bargain the blood of the martyrs in the American and European markets. A new fad of Hezbollah: "all winners in the elections must respect the Lebanese Constitution". But what to say if they lose? Why the Constitution has not been respected during one year and half, leading to the agreement of Doha. Another marvel of Hezbollah! This organism claims a government that protects the Resistance. However, the fundamental question that arises: who protects the government?

The Chouf leader, disappointed
Date: March 23rd, 2009 Source: Assafir - Al Liwaa newspaper
Druze leader MP Walid Jumblatt disclosed, today the reason behind the attack he launched yesterday on some members of his parliamentary bloc
Jumblatt, the head of “Democratic Gathering” parliamentary bloc told As-Safir daily “Michel Aoun and others accuse me of obstructing the return of the displaced from Brih, and unfortunately no MP of my bloc dares to respond to these allegations for electoral reasons.” He added “they are trying to hold me accountable for the Lebanese civil war and its consequences, while some members of my bloc only care for catching the train. I feel bitterness and grief because of this opportunism.” Brih is a Christian village in the mountains of Chouf and the displaced issue is still hanging along with two other regions of the mountain. He noted the issue of providing money for displaced fund is related to the file of the Council of the South “closing both funds must be done simultaneously and the rest of the displaced files must be tackled by the ministry of habitation or any other ministry.”The issue of the Displaced Fund and the Council of the South has been a controversial matter for quite some time and is still waiting to be cleared by the Cabinet in order to release this year’s fiscal budget. Jumblatt explained the stance he declared yesterday about his willingness to give up his candidacy for others “there are many candidates in Chouf and it is very difficult to be a policeman amid a traffic jam.”Jumblatt is the most powerful leader of Chouf and is undergoing a dilemma in the upcoming parliamentary elections to preserve an acceptable representation that fits his status.

Arab Council of Ministers urges against terrorism
Date: March 22nd, 2009 Source: Future News
The 26 Arab Interior Council of Ministers started Sunday at the Intercontinental Phoenicia hotel in Beirut lasting 2 days, to discuss the means of confronting boarder threats and terrorism. Lebanese Minister of Interior Ziad Baroud asserted that the establishment of security is related to a legal state and to the confidence of people in the institutions and to the security services ability to counter crimes.
With the presence of 18 Arab ministers, Baroud saw that “security and rights are the plates of the balance, and the ministry of Interior prevail if this equation succeeds.” “As for countering terrorism, the Arab countries accomplished a big step in adopting the Arab agreement to counter terrorism, and regarding the serial crimes, there is a need to initiate an Arab office to oppose it,” added Baroud, representing President Michel Suleiman.
“The social and economic security is still a principle pillar and maybe the best preventive measures to preserve security,” concluded Baroud.
On the other hand, Saudi minister of Interior Emir Nayef Bin Abdel Aziz said that “the Arab World is witnessing reconciliations to face the challenges that would reflect negatively on our countries’ security.”
He reminded of the initiative of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz at the Kuwait summit that established an Arab reconciliation and solidarity, leading to more secure, and stable future. The Saudi minister stressed on the necessity of applying the joint security Arab agreements to be able to face threats. Muhammad Bin Ali Kerman, the council’s secretary general asserted that “countering terrorism is a priority,” adding “the crimes increased in quality and number in an non-preceded way and became a big threat to all Arab states.”

A Raw Deal for Muslim Women
Incidents like the Buffalo beheading won't stop while Islamic leaders and institutions continue to adhere to theology that tolerates wife beating.
March 21, 2009
By: Patrick Poole
Pajamas Media
The February 13 beheading of Aasiya Z. Hassan by her husband Muzzamil Hassan, as reported here at Pajamas Media by Phyllis Chesler, has stunned the American Muslim community. This honor killing is particularly shocking because Hassan co-founded the Bridges TV network, which was created specifically to combat negative stereotypes of Muslims and to supposedly present Americans with an alternative “moderate” form of Islam.
However, the official response to this tragedy from the Muslim community has not been helpful. As observed earlier this month by the Salafi Burnout blog, the individual chosen by the Muslim Alliance of North American (MANA) to respond to the “moderate” Buffalo beheading tragedy is Mauri Saalakhan, who reportedly has admitted to beating his own wife. Saalakhan’s response to the Hassan honor killing is posted on MANA’s website. (Saalakhan has also previously been discussed here at Pajamas Media, regarding his support of terrorist organizations and his close connection to New York Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks).
Several days following the initial post concerning Saalakhan’s abuse of his wife, one of his supporters posted a purported response from Saalakhan defending his conduct, which was then included in a separate post on the Salafi Burnout blog:
The allegations — which I have since discovered are now on a number of extremely hostile anti-Islam, anti-Muslim websites — are UNTRUE. I have never beaten up any woman in my life. There have been a number of occasions in the PAST (not the present), and few in number, when I have struck a woman with an open hand — an admission that I am not proud of — but I have never beaten a woman! And on the few occasions when this did happen — with three (I can count them) exceptions — it was in response to being struck first.
So Saalakhan’s supposed response to these accusations of domestic violence is the standard Ike Turner “bitch had it coming” defense. His position of “I might have beat my wife yesterday, but I’m not doing it today” apparently clears him of any taint of hypocrisy.
It should be noted that while Saalakhan argues that these accusations came from “hostile anti-Islam, anti-Muslim websites,” a Muslim runs the Salafi Burnout blog. Many of the comments posted on the blog — again almost all from the Muslim community — expressed horror at MANA’s extremely poor choice of respondent to address the Buffalo Islamic honor killing. They also condemn the glaringly hypocritical response to the domestic violence epidemic that is part and parcel of the anti-woman, pro-violence, Wahhabi-driven ideology that unfortunately now dominates institutional American Islam.
Examples of this hypocrisy aren’t difficult to come by. Observe the response to the Hassan incident by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), which bills itself as the largest Islamic organization in the U.S. The open letter posted on its website fails to mention the breakout session on “And Beat Them Lightly …” at the 2006 ISNA National Convention, hosted by former ISNA president and current ISNA board member Muzzamil Siddiqi.
In addition, Jamal Badawi, another member of the current ISNA board of directors and one of the most respected Islamic scholars in North America, openly advocates wife beating. In an article published several years ago entitled (coincidentally) “Wife Beating,” he allows the practice under certain circumstances, as long as the woman isn’t hit on the face. And in a fatwa (an official Islamic religious ruling) issued jointly by Badawi and Siddiqi in April 2004 on Islamonline.net, they outline six different scenarios that permit wife beating according to the precepts of Islamic Shariah law.
In November 2007, I reported on Badawi’s appearance on behalf of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Student Association (MSA) — both organizations closely aligned with ISNA — at Ohio State University. Badawi’s topic at this university-funded presentation was on “Interfaith Relations — the Islamic Perspective” (notwithstanding his advocacy of domestic violence and his extensive ties to the international Islamic terrorist network). He was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the recent Holy Land Foundation terrorism finance trial (the defendants received guilty verdicts on all 108 counts) and was also identified in another trial exhibit as one of the North American leaders of the extremist Muslim Brotherhood.
Domestic violence is not limited to any segment of the community — ethnic, religious, or otherwise — but the utter abdication of responsibility by the leading Islamic organizations is compounded by their hypocritical promotion of the anti-woman, pro-violence agenda as represented by their most prominent spokesmen and scholars. In fact, both Siddiqi and Badawi serve on the ISNA’s Fiqh Council of North America, which they bill as the top Islamic religious ruling body in the U.S. (with Siddiqi serving as the group’s chairman and Badawi on the executive council). And despite their present position that Buffalo beheader Hassan had a long and well-known history of domestic violence (that they are promoting to absolve themselves of any responsibility), these organizations could have cared less how many wives Hassan had gone through (three, in fact) as long as he was doing their bidding — a point well made by Dr. Zuhdi Jasser of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy.
It is a positive development that moderate Muslims are speaking out against Islamic leaders who openly promote and practice domestic violence. But until they find better leaders than Saalakhan, Siddiqi, and Badawi, and institutions like MANA, ISNA, and CAIR abandon their theology that tolerates wife beating, there is little hope that things will improve for women in the Muslim community anytime soon.
Patrick Poole is a regular contributor to Pajamas Media, and an anti-terrorism consultant to law enforcement and the military.

Whither Pakistan? Dare One Criticize a Muslim Country?

The world needs to switch its paranoia mechanism away from Israel to the turbulent tinderbox that is Pakistan
March 23, 2009
By Carol Gould
Pajamas Media
What I find so interesting about the present turmoil in Pakistan is the continuing and disproportionate hatred heaped upon Israel in the British media, despite the appalling chaos in the Muslim nation created during partition by Mohammed Ali Jinna and with the blessing of the Earl Mountbatten.
No one ever mentions the fact that one million people died during partition in 1947. The British media have obsessed for decades on the “millions” of Arab refugees whose descendants live in camps because of the advent of the Jewish state in 1948. For years it has been all the more intriguing to me that the Guardian could have printed an article entitled “Israel Simply Has No Right to Exist” (Faisal Bodi, January 3, 2001) and that not one Jew in Britain came out onto the streets to defile the Guardian Building, burn copies of the newspaper, or create mayhem around the country at the idea of Israel ceasing to exist. Imagine if I had dared entitle this piece, or the Pajamas piece I wrote in December, “Pakistan Simply Has No Right to Exist.” I would have had to escape to a remote island in the Antarctic.
Israel came into being in the same timescale as Pakistan at the twilight of the British Empire. The similarity ends there. What I try to tell angry Britons at the dinner table or in the workplace is that Israel rose from the ashes of the Shoah and that a people facing global annihilation was entitled to a small strip of land that had already begun to bloom after a hundred years of cultivation by previous generations of Jewish immigrants. Unlike in Pakistan, other faiths can worship inside Israel. Unlike in Pakistan, gay men and women can stage an annual parade. And except for Islamic terrorism from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah, Israel is a safe holiday destination for people of all nationalities and religious beliefs. In Britain it is customary for young people to enjoy a “gap year” and I always tell my incredulous friends that Israel is an ideal destination for safety and home-style comforts. They either break into a tirade about not sending their children to an “apartheid state that engages in genocide” or they simply do not believe me, thinking it a military garrison with tank commanders in Ray-Bans using Christian and Palestinian children for target practice.
When Daniel Pearl ventured into Pakistan to explore the world of Anglo-Muslim shoe-bomber Richard Reid, he was kidnapped, murdered, and mutilated. Israel-haters will argue that Rachel Corrie ventured into Gaza and was killed by an Israeli bulldozer. The difference is that Danny Pearl thought he was entering a bustling metropolis but ended up being shown not-quite-traditional Pakistani hospitality.
But no, the Muslim community in Great Britain rails about Zionists under every bed when it ought to be engaging in frank discussions about the endless chaos and violence in Pakistan. The majority of British Muslims are Pakistani; I live in a community that is heavily Muslim and my nearest neighbors are Pakistani. (I often try to explain to my fellow Philadelphians the vast contrast between life in a major American city and that in what Melanie Phillips calls “Londonistan.”) I have watched Iqbal grow up and am now watching his little children grow up. On 9/11 Iqbal shocked my street by laughing and saying, “America finally got it in the neck,” but he has tried to mend fences with me. Notwithstanding this we know his children only watch Islamic television channels. If one takes a walk one finds oneself in a densely populated area of Muslims with endless shops, cafes, and pharmacies owned by Pakistanis, Iranians, Palestinians, and other Middle Eastern nationalities; what engages this population when its spokespeople appear on the BBC and other channels is the issue of the Palestinians.
The anger of the young Muslims loudly demonstrating against a British military parade on March 11 will ring alarm bells because the turmoil in Pakistan is expected by many to reverberate on Britain’s streets. On March 16 demonstrators in Pakistan blamed the national unrest on anger at the U.S. and its drone attacks on Taliban hideouts. This is nonsense; the world knows that the turmoil relates to the firing of judges by Musharraf and the instability that has reigned since the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. It has been reported that many young Anglo-Muslims, including the “airline plot gang,” study in radical madrassas in both Britain and Pakistan; the anger generated by this situation has spilled over onto the British mainland.
The present discord inside Pakistan was preceded by the recent fatal terror attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore on March 3, the worst incident of violence in world cricket since fans at Lord’s Cricket Ground threw missiles at the Australian team in its match against Pakistan in June 2001. No cricketers died in the Lahore attack because the grenade thrown at their bus did not detonate; eight policemen were killed. (I had to chuckle when I saw Imran Khan saying the level of protection provided the Sri Lankans was a disgrace; here was the same man I had seen in 2005 at Canary Wharf joining an angry mob whose all-day rhetoric included the comparison of modern Muslims to an emasculated Hitler between the two world wars, rendered powerless by the Western powers.) The future of international cricket inside Pakistan is in doubt; in 2001 cricketer Steve Waugh warned “someone will be killed.”
On March 16 at a meeting of a group for which I volunteer, an elderly British colleague said, “It enrages me when I think that the Jews came here in 1945 after seeing such unspeakable things perpetrated on their people, but not one of them rose up against British Christians; radical Muslims have never been threatened with annihilation like the Jews, but come here and use Britain as a platform for their grievances.”
Here is what I have to say to our huge population of Anglo-Pakistanis: It is time to get your own house in order. It is time to stop demonizing enlightened, democratic, and dynamic Israel, which spends a great deal of its valuable man-hours and woman-hours defending itself against Islamic violence. When Israel “goes soft” it suffers. Now that Musharraf is gone from Pakistan the Taliban is gaining ground. In May 2005, Imran Khan inspired thousands of Pakistanis to take to the streets when Newsweek reported that American forces had defiled a Koran in Guantanamo Bay. I foresee the day when we will wake up one morning and find Pakistan overrun by extremists as loathsome as the ayatollahs of Iran.
There is a wonderful British expression, “teaching my grandmother to suck eggs,” which means I need not tell PJM readers this, but for those not in the know or who might live on Mars, India and Pakistan are nuclear; instead of the media railing about the mortal danger from Israel and its putative nuclear capabilities, I suggest the world switch its paranoia mechanism to the turbulent tinderbox that is Pakistan and engage with this country’s monumental crises before the world evaporates not from Israeli actions but from a crazed Taliban with a bomb.
**Carol Gould is the Philadelphia-born author of Don’t Tread on Me: Anti-Americanism Abroad, Spitfire Girls, and A Room at Camp Pickett, a play about her mother’s experiences as a WAC in World War II; she has just completed films about black GIs and GI babies. Carol has been a panelist on BBC's Any Questions?, hosted by Jonathan Dimbleby, and is a commentator on Sky News, Press TV, the BBC World Service, and Five Live.