SPEED BUMPS

During the big space race of the 1960’s, NASA spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to develop pens that would write in the weightlessness of space. The Russians used pencils. Hold that thought.

In 1999 the National Transportation Safety Board reported 42,000 traffic deaths (that number has since increased to 51,000). Of those 42,000, about 20,000 died at the scene of the accident and 22,000 died at or on the way to the hospital. A plan was developed to reduce the death count, which, though it absolutely boggles the mind, does give us a clearer vision of the governmental thought process.

The NTSB began its trip with the assumption that the number of accidents on the road was a given, an unavoidable part of modern transportation, but that the number of deaths could still be reduced. Their solution was to have the auto industry install an SOS device in all cars that would automatically signal paramedics in the event of a collision, thereby saving time and lives. That's the part of the process where they were trying to develop pens instead of using pencils. That's the bush league part

I do not accept the number of accidents as a given - I see it as an inevitable result of lazy advertizing, corporate greed, and bad planning. Most fatal accidents are caused by exactly what you would think - excessive speed. Reducing speed would reduce the number of accidents (and fatalities). Can’t be done, you say? Bullshit! There are a dozen good ways to slow down American drivers, none of which would cost much, all of which would work. Here are a few.

- Slower cars. Duh! The top speed limit in America is 65 mph (there are a few places where you can legally go 70, but not many) yet most new cars can do 140. Why is that? It’s because the auto industry decided long ago to market them not as transportation vehicles but as race cars, as toys. The toy is powerful, therefore the owner is powerful. I don't think this marketing plan worth 51,000 lives every year. Perhaps they can think of something better. God knows they make enough money.
- Annoying alarms. Today’s cars have alarm devices that ring incessantly if the door is ajar, if the seatbelt isn’t fastened, if the passenger farts (not really, but that would be cool). Hello! How about a speed alarm?
- High tech. Install speed gun/camera/combo units on every mile of freeway. Money from speeding tickets would pay for each unit in a week. Use the excess to end world hunger and cure cancer. Repeat speeders lose their licenses.
- Rat yourself out (1). A computer chip automatically reports a car when it speeds.
- Rat yourself out (2). Attach a small transmitter to every speed limit sign in the city. When passing cars exceed the limit, the transmitter activates the computer chip and reports the car.

All of these solutions are painfully easy, but the require a population that is serious about reducing the number of deaths on the road.

“What if there’s an emergency? What if I have to get my wife to the hospital? I’m goin’ 90!” As far as I’m concerned, you’re out of luck. If you’re in that much of a hurry, chances are it’s your own fault. You simply do not get to endanger the entire community because you have a problem.

"But I'm a good driver and I like to drive fast!" You're a moron, and a dangerous moron at that. Rent a Porsche, drive out to Willow Springs race track, and race your ass off. Whiner!

September 11th was a great American tragedy, with 3,000 innocent people dying at the World Trade Center. The greater tragedy is that seventeen times that many people, equally innocent, die on the road, year after year, practically without notice.

Some traffic deaths probably are unavoidable. It is in the nature of the beast. But with a government and a people willing to look reality in the face, we can easily reduce the number by 50 to 75 percent. Cars are not toys

A foot on either side.

1 XCZR

THE AUGUST BOOK REVIEW

FOUNDING BROTHERS, by Joseph J. Ellis
Ellis is an exceptional historian who keeps one foot in the past and the other in the present, relating the pivotal events of American history to current events. He offers intimate examinations of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Hamilton, among others, bringing them to life as real people, not just historical icons.
His previous book, HIS EXCELLENCY, GEORG WASHINGTON, is equally informative and equally readable.
THE TENDER BAR, by J. R. Moehringer
This personal memoir by a Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper reporter is beautifully written and deeply moving. Moehringer received instructions in life from his Uncle Charlie, the bartender at a famous Long Island bar, who often said to customers, “The greatest contribution you can make to life in an organized society is to patiently wait your turn.” Five stars.
THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, by James Fenimore Cooper
Cooper’s 19th century novel about 18th century America is a classic and a fascinating read. Though the poetic writing style differs from contemporary books, its intimate description of the struggle to survive on the frontier is very realistic.
FOR WHOME THE BELL TOLLS, by Ernest Hemmingway
Another American classic, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and a total bore.

One foot on either side.

1 XCZR

PLAN B

Yesterday, Congress passed legislation allowing over-the-counter sales of the contraceptive, Plan B, to anyone eighteen or older. The “morning after” pill is fairly effective at preventing pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of sexual contact, and was previously available only by prescription. The law did not pass unnoticed.

Conservative groups, who would prefer legislation that made Plan A abstinence and Plan B marriage, loudly expressed their darkest fears, that easy access to this birth control product would lead to rampant promiscuity among teens. Research in countries where Plan B has been available for years refutes this theory. Of course, that’s how these groups feel about every birth control device. Their goal is to restrict sexual contact to married couples only. Needless to say, they would also like to place restrictions on who can get married.

Tell you the truth, if I were they, I’d be less worried about Plan B and more worried about rock videos. This popular form of sales/entertainment is little more than an erotic invitation to a non-stop love fest, BYOD (bring your own drugs). The not-so-subtle implication in most of them is that life is one big goddamn party, and if you play your cards right you can leave your brains, your upbringing, and your clothes at the door. Conservative groups may be worried, but Plan B is truly the least of their worries.

One foot on either side.

1 XCZR

AIRI STRIKE

Flight attendants at Southwest Airlines are going on strike today, using a plan called CHAOS: create havoc around our system. The idea is to walk off at random. So they might wait till a plane is all boarded, then walk out right before the doors close, leaving passengers stranded. Rude, but effective.

I can’t imagine what it is these guys are so angry about. Maybe it’s Southwest’s demand that they take a 40% cut in pay along with a 25% increase in working hours.

Southwest isn’t heartless, though. After stating their position they distributed a list of economic tips, aimed at helping employees survive the reduced salaries. Some of the tips were:

- Never shop when you’re hungry.
- Cut your children’s hair yourself.
- Don’t be shy about taking items out of the trash.

I give you my word, I am not making this up. If you have a Southwest flight coming up soon, check in with the strike first.

One foot on either side.

1 XCZR

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU IV

THE FINAL SOLUTION

There is something universal about the struggle in the Middle East, something that reflects the fundamental human struggle and makes it desperately important to find an appropriate solution. The immediate struggle is over "holy" sites, to which both Muslims and Jews feel they have an historical claim and a religious right. Christians, to their credit, are not trying to reclaim Jerusalem for Jesus – at least not at the moment.

We could try to discern whose claim is the more legitimate, but that would almost certainly lead to disagreement, anger, and disappointed, and would surely take us down a path to unending war. The solution, it seems to me, lies in the simplest rule for children on the playground: The swing is there for everyone to use – if you can’t share, you don’t get to play. Having said that, it behooves both Israel and the international community to do whatever is necessary to make any solution more palatable to Arab nations. Here's my solution:

- Create a Palestinian nation, borders to be decided by the international community (as in the British Mandate).
- Universal access to holy sites in Jerusalem.
- Zero tolerance for terrorism. A stronger U.N. must enforce security. Relations between Israel and the Arab nations cannot improve until Israel is relieved of the role of neighborhood tough guy.
- Isolate cheaters. Discourage countries from tolerating terrorism by completely cutting them off economically from the rest of the world.

I think that should do it. I’m not saying it would be easy, but it is most certainly necessary. We fail in the Middle East at our own peril.

One foot on either side.

1 XCZR

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU III

Here is the Jewish side of the Palestine story. While it has a different tone, it is not markedly less biased.

JEWS IN PALESTINE
The name Palestine, which means rolling or migratory, refers to a region of the eastern Mediterranean coast from the sea to the Jordan valley and from the southern Negev desert to the Galilee lake region in the north.

In AD 135, after putting down the second major Jewish revolt against Rome, the Emperor Hadrian wanted to blot out the name, "Provincia Judaea," so it was renamed, "Provincia Syria Palaestina," the first use of the name as an administrative unit. It was later shortened to Palaestina, from which the modern "Palestine" is derived.

After the fall of the crusader kingdom, Palestine was no longer an official designation. The name, however, continued to be used informally for the lands on both sides of the Jordan River. Under Ottoman rule (1517 to 1917) Palestine was attached administratively to Damascus and ruled from Istanbul. After WWI, the name was applied to the territory under the British Mandate for Palestine.

Confirmed historical dates and a continuous Jewish historical record in Palestine begin with the Second Temple period, starting with the return of exiled Jews from Babylonia (roughly, today's southern Iraq) in 538 BC. In 1099, Christian Crusaders conquered Palestine and took Jerusalem. It has not been under Arab rule since. The Christian Crusader kingdom lasted less than 100 years. Thereafter, Palestine was joined to Syria as a subject province, first of the Egyptian Mameluks, and then of the Ottoman Turks, whose capital was in Istanbul.

Arabs began a series of conquests in the 7th century AD under the leadership of the Prophet Muhammad during the rise of Islam. Muhammad was born in Makkah (Mecca) in the western part of the Arabian Peninsula. In 622, Muhammad founded the first Muslim community in Medina. His immensely popular message confronted the weakness of the Byzantine and Sasanian empires and led to the success of a series of dramatic conquests. Within 20 years of Muhammad’s death in 632, Muslim Arabs ruled a territory extending from Egypt deep into Iran. Palestine was invaded by Muslim Arab armies during this period, capped by the capture of Jerusalem in 638 A D. This was the start of 1300 years of Muslim presence in Palestine. In 715 AD, the site from which the prophet was believed to have ascended to Heaven on a night journey was arbitrarily associated with Jerusalem where the Dome of the Rock Mosque had been built in 687 AD by Caliph Abd al-Malik. Based on this association, the Al-Aqsa Mosque was built at the same site and the city became, after Makkah and Medina, the third holiest city of Islam.

THE SIGNIFIGANCE OF JERUSALIEM
Judaism made Jerusalem a holy city over three thousand years ago and through all that time Jews remained steadfast to it. The destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 AD looms very large in Jewish consciousness. In the words of its current mayor, Jerusalem represents… “the purest expression of all that Jews prayed for, dreamed of, cried for, and died for in the two thousand years since the destruction of the Second Temple.”

For Muslims, the role of Jerusalem is more complex, a combination of religious and political aspects. Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Koran and did not occupy any special role in Islam for a long period after Mohammed's death. Following the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in 636 AD, the new government did not make Jerusalem the political center of the area. This was fixed at Lydda. But in the Muslim view, Jerusalem, the city of David and Christ, became a very holy place, third only after Mecca and Medina, because of political developments.

Between 684 and 705 A.D., the people of what is now Iraq conquered the region in eastern Saudi Arabia, including the cities of Mecca, Madina, and Jedda. Syrian Muslims could no longer go to those cities. In order to give his followers a substitute for Mecca and Medina, the Caliph resolved to make Jerusalem a center of pilgrimage. He therefore set about to build a splendid mosque on the site of the Temple. In 691 'Abd-al-malik replaced this with the exquisite "Dome of the Rock" (Qubbet-es-Sachra), built by Byzantine architects, that still stands in the middle of the Temple area.

Then, in 715, to build up the prestige of their dominions, the Ommaid caliphs devised a masterstroke: they built a second mosque in Jerusalem, again on the Temple Mount, and called this one the Furthest Mosque (al-masjid al-aqsa, or Al-Aqsa Mosque), from a passage of the Koran (17:1) describing the Prophet Mohammed's Night Journey to heaven (isra'). With this simple act they retroactively gave Jerusalem a pivotal role in Mohammed's life, an entirely fictional role, however, since Mohammed never actually visited Jerusalem. (emphasis mine)

ZIONISM
The biblical word "Zion" is often used as a synonym for Jerusalem and the Land of Israel. Zionism is the international movement dedicated to the return of the Jewish people to Israel and the resumption of Jewish sovereignty in Israel.

Theodor Herzl, a Viennese journalist who wrote The Jewish State (Der Judenstaat) (1896), called for the formation of a Jewish nation-state as a solution to European anti-Semitism and the Diaspora (world-wide dispersion of Jews). Herzl, in Paris to cover the Dreyfus trial, was appalled by the virulent anti-Semitism he witnessed.

The term, Zionism, was first coined in 1893 by Nathan Birnbaum, who played a prominent role in the First Zionist Congress. From that gathering came this mission statement: "Zionism aspires to establish a homeland for the Jewish people, guaranteed by international law, in the land of Israel."

The close identification of the Jewish people with the Jewish land is manifest in every page of the Jewish Liturgy. To this day the Jewish people preserve the calendar of the land from which they were exiled. The seasons, which they mark with observance - the times of sowing and of planting, of harvest and of vintage - are not the seasons and the times of the lands in which they dwell, but of the land of their forefathers. With this emotional attachment to Eretz Yisrael, it is little wonder that, when conditions were right, a movement arose in Europe to bring about their return. Political Zionism invented neither the concept nor the practice of return. Rather, it appropriated an ancient idea and an ongoing active movement, and adapted them to meet the needs and spirit of the times.

Zionism was further fueled by continuing episodes of anti-Semitism that rose in frequency and intensity in the 19th century. The Zionist movement sought to solve the “Jewish problem," the problem of a perennial minority, a people subjected to repeated pogroms and persecution, a homeless community whose alienation was underscored by discrimination wherever they settled. Zionism aspired to deal with this situation by affecting a return to the historical homeland – the Land of Israel. The secularization of Jewish life in Eastern Europe led many assimilated Jewish intellectuals to seek a new basis for a Jewish national life. Opposed to Political Zionism were those like Chaim Weizmann, who were critical of Herzl's diplomatic efforts to bring about the realization of Zionism. Weizman called such efforts "naive and bound to failure."

Zionism synthesized the two goals - liberation and unity - by aiming to free the Jews from hostile and oppressive alien rule and to re-establish Jewish unity by gathering Jewish exiles from the four corners of the world to the Jewish homeland. However, Zionism itself was never a unitary endeavor - there were constant squabbles and internal political upheavals. Plus, not all Jews were Zionists; for many reasons, large numbers of Jews did not support all or part of the Zionist agenda. But because the Zionists were always in desperate need of money, non-Zionists became irreplaceable as generous givers. After World War II and the revelation of the true scope of the Holocaust, the militant Zionists and their goal of an immediate refuge homeland for Jews gained ascendancy. The end of the British Mandate and declaration of the State of Israel in 1948 was the culmination of almost a century of Zionist efforts.

THE BRITISH MANDATE
The British Mandate for Palestine was created by the League of Nations in 1920, following the defeat of the Turks, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The Mandate (the dimensions are noted in a previous post) was international recognition for the stated purpose of "establishing in Palestine a national home for the Jewish people." For its own political reasons, Britain used three-fourths of the Mandate to create Jordan, from which Jews were legally barred.

In 1923, Britain ceded the Golan Heights to the French Mandate of Syria. Jews were also barred from living there. Jewish settlers on the Golan Heights were forced to abandon their homes and relocate inside the western area of the British Mandate.

The balance of the Mandate was just 14,000 square kilometers. Jewish immigration was limited by the British from time to time, especially after Arab riots, and severely restricted after 1939, though Arab immigration was not restricted or even recorded.

By 1948, when the State of Israel was founded, 1.8 million people lived the western area of the Mandate, estimated to be 600,000 Jews and 1.2 million Arabs. Following the war of independence in 1948, the 14,000 square kilometers allotted to Israel were divided along cease-fire lines between Israel and Jordan/Egypt. In the end, Israel was left with 8,000 square kilometers, or 6.7% of the original Mandate territory. The remainder of western Palestine was annexed by Jordan – and renamed the West Bank - while 360 square kilometers were occupied by Egypt and called the Gaza Strip.

BACK TO THE FUTURE
As you can see, the historical view of Israelis is different from the Palestinians. I don’t find that shocking. During the American Revolution the founding fathers were a tad less than honest. Realizing that they were part of an historically important moment, and that they would be judged by future generations, they often distorted the reporting of events to make them fit some imagined ideal.

If some ancient Caliph was smart enough to see the political advantage of associating Jerusalem with Mohammad, more power to him. Whether or not that actually happened is impossible for us to know.
Final comments to come.

One foot on either side.

1 XCZR

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU III

Here is the Jewish side of the Palestine story. While it has a different tone, it is not markedly less biased.

JEWS IN PALESTINE
The name Palestine, which means rolling or migratory, refers to a region of the eastern Mediterranean coast from the sea to the Jordan valley and from the southern Negev desert to the Galilee lake region in the north.

In AD 135, after putting down the second major Jewish revolt against Rome, the Emperor Hadrian wanted to blot out the name, "Provincia Judaea," so it was renamed, "Provincia Syria Palaestina," the first use of the name as an administrative unit. It was later shortened to Palaestina, from which the modern "Palestine" is derived.

After the fall of the crusader kingdom, Palestine was no longer an official designation. The name, however, continued to be used informally for the lands on both sides of the Jordan River. Under Ottoman rule (1517 to 1917) Palestine was attached administratively to Damascus and ruled from Istanbul. After WWI, the name was applied to the territory under the British Mandate for Palestine.

Confirmed historical dates and a continuous Jewish historical record in Palestine begin with the Second Temple period, starting with the return of exiled Jews from Babylonia (roughly, today's southern Iraq) in 538 BC. In 1099, Christian Crusaders conquered Palestine and took Jerusalem. It has not been under Arab rule since. The Christian Crusader kingdom lasted less than 100 years. Thereafter, Palestine was joined to Syria as a subject province, first of the Egyptian Mameluks, and then of the Ottoman Turks, whose capital was in Istanbul.

Arabs began a series of conquests in the 7th century AD under the leadership of the Prophet Muhammad during the rise of Islam. Muhammad was born in Makkah (Mecca) in the western part of the Arabian Peninsula. In 622, Muhammad founded the first Muslim community in Medina. His immensely popular message confronted the weakness of the Byzantine and Sasanian empires and led to the success of a series of dramatic conquests. Within 20 years of Muhammad’s death in 632, Muslim Arabs ruled a territory extending from Egypt deep into Iran. Palestine was invaded by Muslim Arab armies during this period, capped by the capture of Jerusalem in 638 A D. This was the start of 1300 years of Muslim presence in Palestine. In 715 AD, the site from which the prophet was believed to have ascended to Heaven on a night journey was arbitrarily associated with Jerusalem where the Dome of the Rock Mosque had been built in 687 AD by Caliph Abd al-Malik. Based on this association, the Al-Aqsa Mosque was built at the same site and the city became, after Makkah and Medina, the third holiest city of Islam.

THE SIGNIFIGANCE OF JERUSALIEM
Judaism made Jerusalem a holy city over three thousand years ago and through all that time Jews remained steadfast to it. The destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 AD looms very large in Jewish consciousness. In the words of its current mayor, Jerusalem represents… “the purest expression of all that Jews prayed for, dreamed of, cried for, and died for in the two thousand years since the destruction of the Second Temple.”

For Muslims, the role of Jerusalem is more complex, a combination of religious and political aspects. Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Koran and did not occupy any special role in Islam for a long period after Mohammed's death. Following the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in 636 AD, the new government did not make Jerusalem the political center of the area. This was fixed at Lydda. But in the Muslim view, Jerusalem, the city of David and Christ, became a very holy place, third only after Mecca and Medina, because of political developments.

Between 684 and 705 A.D., the people of what is now Iraq conquered the region in eastern Saudi Arabia, including the cities of Mecca, Madina, and Jedda. Syrian Muslims could no longer go to those cities. In order to give his followers a substitute for Mecca and Medina, the Caliph resolved to make Jerusalem a center of pilgrimage. He therefore set about to build a splendid mosque on the site of the Temple. In 691 'Abd-al-malik replaced this with the exquisite "Dome of the Rock" (Qubbet-es-Sachra), built by Byzantine architects, that still stands in the middle of the Temple area.

Then, in 715, to build up the prestige of their dominions, the Ommaid caliphs devised a masterstroke: they built a second mosque in Jerusalem, again on the Temple Mount, and called this one the Furthest Mosque (al-masjid al-aqsa, or Al-Aqsa Mosque), from a passage of the Koran (17:1) describing the Prophet Mohammed's Night Journey to heaven (isra'). With this simple act they retroactively gave Jerusalem a pivotal role in Mohammed's life, an entirely fictional role, however, since Mohammed never actually visited Jerusalem. (emphasis mine)

ZIONISM
The biblical word "Zion" is often used as a synonym for Jerusalem and the Land of Israel. Zionism is the international movement dedicated to the return of the Jewish people to Israel and the resumption of Jewish sovereignty in Israel.

Theodor Herzl, a Viennese journalist who wrote The Jewish State (Der Judenstaat) (1896), called for the formation of a Jewish nation-state as a solution to European anti-Semitism and the Diaspora (world-wide dispersion of Jews). Herzl, in Paris to cover the Dreyfus trial, was appalled by the virulent anti-Semitism he witnessed.

The term, Zionism, was first coined in 1893 by Nathan Birnbaum, who played a prominent role in the First Zionist Congress. From that gathering came this mission statement: "Zionism aspires to establish a homeland for the Jewish people, guaranteed by international law, in the land of Israel."

The close identification of the Jewish people with the Jewish land is manifest in every page of the Jewish Liturgy. To this day the Jewish people preserve the calendar of the land from which they were exiled. The seasons, which they mark with observance - the times of sowing and of planting, of harvest and of vintage - are not the seasons and the times of the lands in which they dwell, but of the land of their forefathers. With this emotional attachment to Eretz Yisrael, it is little wonder that, when conditions were right, a movement arose in Europe to bring about their return. Political Zionism invented neither the concept nor the practice of return. Rather, it appropriated an ancient idea and an ongoing active movement, and adapted them to meet the needs and spirit of the times.

Zionism was further fueled by continuing episodes of anti-Semitism that rose in frequency and intensity in the 19th century. The Zionist movement sought to solve the “Jewish problem," the problem of a perennial minority, a people subjected to repeated pogroms and persecution, a homeless community whose alienation was underscored by discrimination wherever they settled. Zionism aspired to deal with this situation by affecting a return to the historical homeland – the Land of Israel. The secularization of Jewish life in Eastern Europe led many assimilated Jewish intellectuals to seek a new basis for a Jewish national life. Opposed to Political Zionism were those like Chaim Weizmann, who were critical of Herzl's diplomatic efforts to bring about the realization of Zionism. Weizman called such efforts "naive and bound to failure."

Zionism synthesized the two goals - liberation and unity - by aiming to free the Jews from hostile and oppressive alien rule and to re-establish Jewish unity by gathering Jewish exiles from the four corners of the world to the Jewish homeland. However, Zionism itself was never a unitary endeavor - there were constant squabbles and internal political upheavals. Plus, not all Jews were Zionists; for many reasons, large numbers of Jews did not support all or part of the Zionist agenda. But because the Zionists were always in desperate need of money, non-Zionists became irreplaceable as generous givers. After World War II and the revelation of the true scope of the Holocaust, the militant Zionists and their goal of an immediate refuge homeland for Jews gained ascendancy. The end of the British Mandate and declaration of the State of Israel in 1948 was the culmination of almost a century of Zionist efforts.

THE BRITISH MANDATE
The British Mandate for Palestine was created by the League of Nations in 1920, following the defeat of the Turks, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The Mandate (the dimensions are noted in a previous post) was international recognition for the stated purpose of "establishing in Palestine a national home for the Jewish people." For its own political reasons, Britain used three-fourths of the Mandate to create Jordan, from which Jews were legally barred.

In 1923, Britain ceded the Golan Heights to the French Mandate of Syria. Jews were also barred from living there. Jewish settlers on the Golan Heights were forced to abandon their homes and relocate inside the western area of the British Mandate.

The balance of the Mandate was just 14,000 square kilometers. Jewish immigration was limited by the British from time to time, especially after Arab riots, and severely restricted after 1939, though Arab immigration was not restricted or even recorded.

By 1948, when the State of Israel was founded, 1.8 million people lived the western area of the Mandate, estimated to be 600,000 Jews and 1.2 million Arabs. Following the war of independence in 1948, the 14,000 square kilometers allotted to Israel were divided along cease-fire lines between Israel and Jordan/Egypt. In the end, Israel was left with 8,000 square kilometers, or 6.7% of the original Mandate territory. The remainder of western Palestine was annexed by Jordan – and renamed the West Bank - while 360 square kilometers were occupied by Egypt and called the Gaza Strip.

BACK TO THE FUTURE
As you can see, the historical view of Israelis is different from the Palestinians. I don’t find that shocking. During the American Revolution the founding fathers were a tad less than honest. Realizing that they were part of an historically important moment, and that they would be judged by future generations, they often distorted the reporting of events to make them fit some imagined ideal.

If some ancient Caliph was smart enough to see the political advantage of associating Jerusalem with Mohammad, more power to him. Whether or not that actually happened is impossible for us to know.
Final comments to come.

One foot on either side.

1 XCZR

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU II

To have any understanding the struggle in Palestine it is necessary to understand the people. What follows here is an historical view of Palestine from the Arab side of the river.

I copied the dates and comments, straight from the Palestinian source in Google. I cannot take responsibility for its accuracy. What editing I did was primarily to shorten the length and soften the hyperbole. But you will be unable to miss the point of view and tone. Many of the facts are quite interesting. Equally interessting is which facts they chose to include.

THE ARAB PRESENCE IN PALESTINE

1,250 B.C.
Israelite conquest of Canaan
965 - 928
King Solomon (Sulayman), construction of the temple in Jerusalem.
586
Judah defeated by Babylonians, Jews deported to Babylon, and destruction of the Temple.
63 A.D.
Incorporation of Palestine into the Roman Empire.
70
Destruction of the second Temple by Romans, Jews exiled.
132-135
Suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Jews barred from Jerusalem and Emperor Hadrian builds a pagan city on its ruins.
330-638
Palestine under Byzantine rule, Christianity spreads.
661-750
Palestine administered from Damascus, construction of the Dome of the Rock Mosque ('Abd al-Malik
750-1258
Palestine administered from Baghdad by the 'Abbasid caliphs.
1099-1187
The Crusaders establish the "Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem".
1516-1917
Ottoman Empire administers Palestine from Istanbul.
1878
First Zionist settlement established under the guise of agricultural community.
1882-1903
First Zionists (25,000) enters Palestine as illegal immigrants from Eastern Europe.
1896
Theodor Hertzl, a Viennese publishes Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State), advocating the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine or elsewhere.
1896
Jewish Colonization Association starts aiding Zionist settlements.
1901
Jewish National Fund set up by the 5th Zionist Congress to acquire land (in Palestine) and 'make it Jewish'.
1904-1914
Second wave of Zionist illegal immigrants increas Jewish population to 6%.
1909
First Zionist Kibbutz established north of Yaafa.
1916
- January: Hussein-McMahon talks regarding steps leading to Arab countries/provinces' independence from the Ottoman empire.
1917
The Balfour declaration supports a Jewish state in Palestine.
1918
- September: British forces occupy Palestine
- October: World War I ends.
1919- 1923
- 35,000 more Zionists raise percentage to 12%, with 3% land ownership.
1920
- Fears of more immigrants causes five Jewish deaths, 200 injuries.
1921
- March: formation of the Haganah, Jewish underground terror organization - May: Anti-immigration protests cause 46 Jewish casualties.
1922
- June: White Paper excludes area east of Jordan river from the Balfour declaration, calls for organizing Zionist immigration according to economic capacity of Palestine.
- July: League of Nations approves British Mandate over Palestine.
- - Zionist Party calls for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine and east of the River Jordan. Stresses military aspects of Zionism.
1929-1939
- 250,000 more Zionists, now 30% of pop., 5.7% land ownership
1931
- Formation of Irgon, another Jewish terrorist organization,
1933
- -UK report concerns resettling Palestinian farmers expelled in favor of Zionist immigrants.
- December: UK development director publishes a report about Palestinian Arabs who lost their land thanks to Zionist settlements.
1935
- October: Zionist revisionists leave the World Zionist Organization and establish a new one aiming at "liberating" Palestine and East Jordan.
- 1936
- August: Fawzi Qawikji, along with 150 volunteers enter Palestine from Lebanon to help fight against the British occupation.
- 1937
July: Peel report recommends partitioning Palestine into Jewish state (33%) on best areas and one for Palestinian Arabs in addition to British protectorates including Jerusalem. Suggests forced transfer of Palestinians from the 'Jewish' sector if needed.
- July: Arab Higher Committee rejects recommendations, calls for Independence of whole Palestine with protection for the rights of all. Revolution continues.
- September: Arab National Conference rejects partition plans, calls for an end to British Mandate, Zionist immigration and transfer of land ownership.
October: British dissolve Arab Higher Committee and the rest of Palestinian political organizations. Five leaders expelled, Haj A. Husseini escapes to Lebanon.
1939
May: British House of Commons votes in favor of a white paper calling for: conditional independence of a Palestinian state after ten years, acceptance of 15,000 Zionist immigrants a year for 5 years, then by Arab agreement. 3,500-4,000 Palestinians killed in the revolt, plus 500 Jews/Zionists
1940 - 1945
- Over 60,000 Zionist/Jewish immigrants enter Palestine (over 20,000 'illegally'). Jewish population now 31%, land control 6%.
1942
- May: Baltimore conference for Zionist leaders convenes in NY, calls for "making Palestine a Jewish homeland"
1947
- September 26: Britain decides to end its mandate over Palestine.
- September 29: Arab Higher Committee rejects the partition plan.
- October 2: Jewish Agency accepts the partition plan.
- October 7 - 15: Arab League warns of Zionist danger after Mandate.
- November 27: Arab League warns of inability of Palestinians to face the Zionist armies without help and organization.
- December 21 - March 1948: Irgon and Haganah start coastal ethnic cleansing of Palestinian villages.
1948
- January - March: Jewish National Fund encourages the expulsion of Arabs from Haifa.
- - March 18: President Truman promises to support declaration of Jewish State on May 15.
- May 15: British mandate ends. Israeli state declaration takes effect.
- May 15 - 17: Lebanese soldiers enter north border, restore 2 villages.
- - May 15 - 28: Arab Army (East Jordan) crosses the river and takes positions in Jerusalem, captures areas from the Haganah.
- May 15 - June 4: Iraqi units enter Palestine and take position in Jenin-Nablus-Tulkarm triangle. Haganah expel villagers, occupies Jenin. Kicked out on June 3 -4 .
- - May 15 - June 7: Egyptian units cross the border and reach Isdod (coastal town). Some volunteers connect with Jordanian units near Bethlehem.

The next piece will look at the Jewish presence in Palestine.

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU

“The current crisis in the Middle East . . .” is a phrase that has opened more, deadly newscasts in the past half century than any other. We have grown used to it, we have become frightened of it, we have grown tired of it. Jews and Arabs have been killing each other since the founding of modern Israel in 1948 (longer, actually), and it has never been more dangerous than it is right now, or had more global implications.

I thought I knew where I stood on the Middle East till a recent conversation with a young Arab friend forced me to question some of my core beliefs about this struggle, made me realize my ignorance of certain critical facts. I hate when that happens. So, with no formal training in journalism, I turned to the universal source of information, the holy font from which all knowledge flows – GOOGLE!

Everyone wants to root for the right team, but it’s difficult to know which team is right when you aren’t a sports fan. What follows is an effort to define the playing field, the players, and the game in the Middle East. It is a clumsy effort, to be sure, but all the information is there for anyone interested enough who has a computer. First, the playing field.

PALESTINE
The geography of modern day Palestine (I’ll get historical later) was defined by the League Of Nations in the British Mandate at the end of WWI. It encompassed a region of the eastern Mediterranean coast from the sea to the Jordan valley and from the southern Negev desert to the Galilee lake region in the north. The Mandate was, “. . . international recognition for the stated purpose of establishing in Palestine a national home for the Jewish people." I’m not sure everyone saw it that way, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The area of the Mandate was originally 118,000 square kilometers or so. In 1921, Britain arbitrarily took 91,000 square kilometers, three-fourths of the Mandate, east of the Jordan River, and created Trans-Jordan (later, the country of Jordan) as a new Arab protectorate. Exactly why they did this is not clear, but it’s a safe bet that they saw some political advantage in it for England. The balance of the Mandate, approx-imately 14,000 square kilometers (about the size of New Jersey but without the fun of Atlantic City), eventually became the state of Israel, minus the Gaza Strip, which was carved off for Egypt.

PALESTINIANS
Ignoring antiquity for a moment, from about 1920 to 1948, anyone native to Palestine was called a Palestinian, regardless of religion. When Israel was founded, 1.8 million people lived in this area; about 600,000 Jews and 1.2 million Arabs. The Jews became “Israelis,” the Arabs remained “Palestinians.”

All Jews were welcome to become Israelis, especially those fleeing the horrors of WWII. What happened to the Arabs of the region is a matter of opinion. Either they were invited to stay – some did and some didn’t – or they were invited to leave. The truth of the matter is not apparent, it is buried deep in the sand, at least for me, but the result is clear. Over a million Arabs were left without homes and/or a livelihoods and became Palestinian regugees

Next, I’ll look at the players and discuss their historical claims on Palestine. Those are some pretty murky waters, but damn interesting.

One foot on either side.

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EXIT, STAGE LEFT

An article in yesterday’s L.A. Times reported an appeals court decision to retain the controversial, high school exit exam. Being a fair-minded paper, they gave some print space to both sides. I sent in the following letter:

Whenever I go to see my doctor I find myself perusing all the nicely framed diplomas on the wall. Not that I’m checking, really, just enjoying a little confidence-boosting moment. I would be loath to discover that he had flunked his medical school exit exam but was given the degree anyway. I don’t really care if he is a minority or if he has “language issues.” I’d prefer to think he was actually bright enough to overcome these obstacles and pass the exam.

There’s a lot of boo-hooing around town about the appeals court upholding the high school exit exam, how unfair it is. I am not impressed. What is unfair is giving a diploma to someone who hasn’t earned it. It is unfair to all those who did. If a high school diploma is to have any value at all, passing an exit exam that requires no more than eighth grade math skills and tenth grade English skills is about as low as you can set the bar. Any lower and you might as well sell diplomas at Farmers Market, next to the I SURVIVED HOLLYWOOD posters. Or just give them away with ipods – that way you’d be sure everyone had one.

One foot on either side.

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Travel Plans

When all the smoke clears, yesterday's news story about the “discovery” of an al Queda plot to blow up nine jetliners using liquid explosives might have a bumpy flight. I’m not saying it’s a lie, per se, but it’s a mighty convenient time for such a unifying threat to suddenly surface, what with Lieberman losing, the war news being so bad, and the president’s number being in the crapper and all. It sounds a little bush league to me.

As a result of the London arrests, travelers are backed up at airports from Heathrow to O'Hare, banned from carrying any liquids in carry-on luggage: drinks, shampoo, make-up, nada! Bottled breast milk will be tested . . . by breast owners.

In Los Angeles, Mayor Villaraigosa said, in a very authoratative voice, that shoe removal at security check points was no longer optional. Gees, I never got the impression that it was. Airport security always seemed to say, “Take off your shoes or take the bus.” Not much of an option, if you ask me. And what if the next bomber we catch, instead of putting a bomb in his shoe, makes a shoe into an actual bomb. Does that mean we will all have to fly shoeless from now on? Will we eventually be flying naked? Would we have to pay extra for that?

Putting the B in Bush League, the mayor also mentioned that Los Angeles would maintain a high level of “vigilism.” I’m pretty sure he meant vigilance, but you never know. He might even have meant vigilanteism - hard to tell. But it does seem to me if a man campaigns to take control of the L. A. U. S. D. he should probably bone up on his grammar.

One foot on either side.

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JOE BLOW

Joe Blow

Senator Joe Lieberman (in Yiddish that means “losing candidate”) has tanked in the Connecticut primary. The three-term senator, which is two terms more than any senator should have in my book, lost the race to a no-term, rich guy. Is America great or what?

Actually, this is a big league way to run a democracy. Lieberman believed in the war in Iraq, and to his credit, had the chutspah to stand up and say so, even if that meant siding with the opposition party and a mentally challenged president. The people of Connecticut disagreed and voted him out, despite the weighty advantages of incumbency and party support.

So, in the long run, this is a huge plus for us because it shows that our system, slow though it may be, eventually reacts to the will of the people. Yeah us!

One foot on either side.

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"SCOOP" - A SUPER POOPER

“SCOOP” – A SUPER POOPER

After several decades of prolific, witty, often profound writing and movie-making, up to and including “Match Point,” Woody Allen has hit a wall with “Scoop.” The perennially neurotic but adorable character Allen perfected as a young man in a dozen many films, is barely functional, much less amusing, as a senior citizen. His stumbling speech patterns seem less like anxiety and more like Alsheimers Disease.

The scenes look improvised rather than scripted, with both the direction and the editing fail to highlight what might otherwise have been an interesting plot.

Scarlett Johansan, voluptuous and attractive as ever, simply dies as a college journalist following the trail of a big murder story. As a young temptress she is irresistible, but as a quirky, post-pubescent youngster searching for a straight path she is totally out of place.

Hugh Jackman, as the suspected English murder is . . . handsome.

Not since “Ishtar” have so many stars tried so hard to produce so little.

One foot on either side.

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OH, THE MEL-O-DRAMA

Are you getting a little buzz from Mel Gibson’s drunk driving arrest? Don’t feel too guilty. It’s a natural instinct to enjoy the humiliation of the mighty, especially when they are mighty annoying. But there are aspects of the incident that are, at once, humorous, trivial, and disturbing. Sometimes they’re even hard to separate.

Beginning with the humorous, you have to admit, it’s pretty funny that such a self-righteous bigot manages to get himself in so much trouble, primarily by sticking his foot in his mouth. Reminiscent of Rush Limbaugh’s Viagra woes, it’s almost too good to be true. I mean I’m sorry for Melvin’s alcohol addiction problem and everything but I sure do appreciate his efforts to keep the rest of us laughing.

Moving on to the trivial, the very idea that celebrities are going to get the same treatment from police as civilians is an oxymoron. Hey - they are celebrities. They are special. They are going to get special treatment. Such is life. That doesn’t mean they get a free pass to rape and pillage, but it does mean that if the arresting officer chooses not to put Braveheart in handcuffs, so what! Personally, I’m glad to see a cop who has keen enough judgment to distinguish between someone who is a threat and someone who isn’t, and then act appropriately. Melvin, on the other hand, should get down on his knees and thank his lucky stars that the arresting officer, who happens to be Jewish, didn’t answer his anti-semitic tirade with a bullet to the head.

Speaking of anti-semitism, let’s remember that this is a guy who reportedly believes deeply in the Bible, but not in the reality of the holocaust. That should give you some insight into the fragility of his thinking, because if he doesn’t believe the holocaust actually happened, he must believe in some alternate truth, like a conspiracy of Jews devoted to perpetrating a world-wide hoax. And if that’s what he believes, he must be scared shitless of Jews. I would be. Who has the kind of power necessary to deceive the entire world – I mean other than the oil industry?

The fact that Mr. Gibson was driving at double the posted speed limit with triple the permissible level of alcohol in his blood is deadly serious. There are more than 50,000 deaths on the road every year, the majority of which are caused by some combination of excess speed and excessive drinking. This is not the first time Gibson has been stopped for drinking and driving. He is clearly out of control, and the community has a right to feel safe. At the very least, his driver’s license should be permanently revoked.

Finally, Gibson has made a second public apology, asked for a meeting with the Jewish community, and claims not to be an anti-semite. There are four or five different sides to this particular question of forgiveness (as there are to all Jewish ideas). What do you think? Leave a comment – let me know.

One foot on either side.

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