May 2008

The other day I came across a disturbing article on the Huffington Post about John Hagee‘s loony statements. I swear these American evangelical “leaders” really sound just like some of the crazy nuts we have here. I suggest we throw them both together for a nice little episode of… The Holy Room.

So, God sent Hitler to massacre the Jews because that’s His will? Nice Hagee! Very nice!

The first thing that popped into my mind was “hah! I bet McCain will have to get rid of Hagee’s endorsement now. He can’t afford to associate himself with a guy saying this kind of crazy stuff. He can’t risk pissing off Jewish voters. But Rod Parsely and his hateful remarks against Muslims? Naaa, he’ll probably keep quiet. After all, it seems like he enjoys pandering to the evangelical right, and too many of them support that sort of inflammatory talk. Why risk being a Muslim-lover?”

So yes, those were my cynical thoughts, and that’s why I was very surprised yesterday when I came across this at Little Green Footballs:

McCain rejected the months-old endorsement of Texas preacher John Hagee after an audio recording surfaced in which the preacher said God sent Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the promised land. McCain called the comment “crazy and unacceptable.”

He later repudiated the support of Rod Parsley, an Ohio preacher who has sharply criticized Islam and called the religion inherently violent.

… in an interview with The Associated Press, McCain said he rejected Parsley’s support, too.

“I believe there is no place for that kind of dialogue in America, and I believe that even though he endorsed me, and I didn’t endorse him, the fact is that I repudiate such talk, and I reject his endorsement,” McCain told the AP.

Thank you McCain. You did the right thing. You’re starting to look better now. Although I would really appreciate it more if you could explain to me why you suddenly switched your stance on torture after ranting against it for so long.

But for now, good decision dude.

On a related note, given the religious views involved, I’ve always found the close political relationship between evangelicals and Jews when it comes to supporting Israel very odd.

Related:

• How Would a Sudanese Vote in the 2008 US Elections?

Dear hijabi/conservative Muslim sisters in da house, I have a little present for you. It’s called ‘We Love Hijab‘ and I’m finding it quite amusing. Maybe you will too.

Speaking of hijab, Ali has another amusing post about it.

I’ve been happily exchanging emails behind the scenes to get you all some insider information on the great life-saving work carried out in Darfur by the humanitarian organization AmeriCares. The following are answers by Christoph Gorder, AmeriCares’ VP of Emergency Response to the few questions I asked. If you have any extra questions, feel free to add them in the comments section and I’ll try and get them answered in a potential interview I might do with the CEO of AmeriCares in the future. Anyways, for now, enjoy this insider-info.

Is it more costly to fly directly into Darfur ?

Guessing the question really is: “Is it more costly to fly directly into West Darfur than into Khartoum , and then deliver goods overland to Darfur ?”

Airlifts are expensive and AmeriCares airlift into West Darfur this week was no different. This airlift — our 10th — cost $130,000. And like every driver and commercial airline knows, the rising cost of fuel is severely impacting the final price tag. AmeriCares flew the same route into West Darfur in 2007 for $86,000. The cost of delivering humanitarian aid is skyrocketing.

The question of cost demonstrates the classic example of the choices, both financial and logistical, that AmeriCares makes when providing emergency relief. The situation on the ground in Darfur is so insecure that delivering the goods overland from Khartoum would put the people delivering the goods and the goods themselves at great risk. While costly, flying the supplies directly into West Darfur ensures that they are delivered into the hands of people who will use the supplies within miles of the landing site. Our main concern is saving lives and restoring health to the people of Darfur . If the option is saving money or ensuring that our aid is safely and effectively delivered, we’ll always choose the option that best guarantees assistance reaches those who need it most in a time effective manner.

How did AmeriCares manage to get permission from the Sudanese government to conduct these direct flights? Were there any difficulties AmeriCares faced in getting this permission?

As with the delivery of goods into any country, there are laws and regulations that must be followed to gain entry. It isn’t surprising that as war rages on, the Sudanese government is extremely cautious about the people and goods flowing in and out of the country. We worked closely with our partner on the ground to complete all of the necessary paperwork and gain the necessary approvals to deliver this shipment of goods. Our long-standing relationship with the Darfur ministry of health, which receives medicines and medical supplies from our airlifts, also helps to ensure we gain access and can deliver goods effectively.

AmeriCares has a long track record of working with the Sudanese government and partner organizations on the ground to deliver life-saving medicines and medical supplies. This is our 10th airlift since 2004 and we have two more airlifts planned for this year. AmeriCares believes that our respect of and adherence to government rules, strong relationships with on-the-ground partners, and supply of life-saving medicines is what allows us to continue airlifts and provide relief to people displaced by the unrest in Darfur.

What’s the positive impact these airlifts are having on the ground? Is it measurable?

AmeriCares airlifts of medicines and medical supplies save lives, prevent the spread of disease and restore health to people living in refugee camps across Darfur . Since 2004, nearly all of the pharmaceuticals distributed in West Darfur have been delivered by AmeriCares. Our deliveries include medicines to combat malaria, cholera, respiratory problems, meningitis, diarrhea, birth trauma and wound infections — all common medical conditions faced by people living in refugee camps. AmeriCares airlifts serve a displaced population of more than 400,000 in West Darfur alone. Since 2004, we’ve delivered more than 152 tons of medicines and medical supplies into North, South and West Darfur

Thank you AmeriCares for your excellent efforts. You guys are awesome!

By the way dear readers, for something relevant, let me just say I received an email from ‘Save Darfur’ a while ago responding to the questions I posed to them. Finally. They’ve also issued a statement denouncing JEM’s attack on Khartoum. It’s good to see them being critical instead of simply providing unconditional support to Darfur’s rebels.

Roi Ben-Yehuda, an Israeli Jew, wrote an open letter to his country. It’s basically a self-critique which he received support and criticism for.

Apparently Roi is also a friend of Raquel Evita Saraswati, Irshad Manji’s assistant and coordinator of Project Ijtihad. Raquel blogged about a relevant conversation she had with him last year.

Thoughts?

On a related note, there is also a discussion started here by Raquel about the same topic.

And Google. And Yahoo!

So Google and Yahoo are involved in concealing search results in China that might reveal “undesirable” things the Chinese regime doesn’t want its people to see. And now I hear that Cisco is helping the same lovely regime lay more bricks in its Great Firewall?

WTF?

Nice Cisco, keep selling your technology and continue strengthening China’s internet censorship system. That’s exactly what we need.

I’m glad those companies are getting questioned in DC for such ludicrous behavior.

At first, I was skeptical when I came across this.

“Even if the Iraq ‘terrorism’ data are included, there has still been a substantial decline in the global terrorism toll,” said the 2007 Human Security Brief, an annual report funded by the governments of Canada, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden and Britain.

Pay attention to the countries in bold. If Switzerland isn’t trustworthy and very neutral then I don’t know what country is.

“We have concluded that the expert consensus (on terrorism) is probably misleading,” Andrew Mack, director of the Human Security Report Project, told a news conference.

Despite apparent declines in terrorism deaths, many U.S. think-tanks continue to report sharp increases.

Interesting, so the Swiss say there’s a decline and US think-tanks say the opposite.

Data of the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT), funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, points to more than a fourfold increase in worldwide deaths due to terrorism from 1998 to 2006. The sharpest increase came after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

I’m just speculating here but could MIPT be crafting misleading reports simply because a drop in terrorism will mean a drop in the next budget they’re given by Homeland Security? Hellooo, no terrorismo, then no big need for MIPT to exist si?

But hey, you know what, we could completely turn this around the other way.

While a drop in terrorism could mean an American success, it could also be the Swiss and Canadians telling America “hey, okay enough. You won. Now it’s time to pull your troops out. Your job is done. The world is safer now. Go home yankees! You’ve spilled enough blood. Thanks, we appreciate it. No more wars please. That’s it, gracias!”

Ah, all I know is that Iraq is witnessing a sharp decrease in violence. Now that has got to be a good thing. There should have been a Surge a long time ago. Better late than never.

The article hits points I’ve wanted to bring up here on numerous occasions but still haven’t yet.

Let’s just say I’m not a true fan of mainstream hip-hop. I prefer blues and jazz instead. Old school hip-hop is the real deal. Even with all that was left to be desired, at least rappers like Tupac were genuine.

You see, today hip-hop is mostly commercial superficial garbage with almost zero intellectual value. 50 cent types? No thanks. No more. They’re getting tiring. Keep the beats but eliminate the negative image and lyrics please. On top of that, continue innovating the original and revolutionary production styles. Timbaland is a fine example of a music producer doing that. The way he merged dance music elements like trance synthesizers together with hip-hop beats is genius.

But hey…

At the end of the day, truth however is thuggish rap sells. It sells really well, and as long as there is demand, there will continue to be supply.

Yeah, and it’s entitled “Islamic Unity Conference.” I think it was held in Iran, and it was clearly awesome. I’m actually so jealous, I wish I could have attended it.

Seriously, with hard-working scholars/”scholars” like these I must say I’m pretty damn optimistic that Muslim unity is just around the corner.

Like totally!

Looks like they’re having a lot of fun, don’t you think?

Now this is something you don’t come across everyday. Although they do seem to be secular Jews which still doesn’t change the aforementioned fact.

Finally! Expect heavy blogging activity including one or two long blog posts soon. Some festered thoughts need to be unleashed baby! Oh yeah!

LOL! This is sooo funny!

Ray Hanania is an Arab Christian, a Palestinian, and I must say that if there’s any one particular thing I like about him then it’s his pragmatism. Unlike many – Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims – he embraces the reality.

Check out his article “60 years and going nowhere — Palestinians must embrace reality: The One-State Solution is the No-State Solution”. I agree with his important overall point.

He also has a new book out called “The Catastrophe: How the fanatic secular Arab left and the extremists religious right have prevented peace and blocked the establishment of a Palestinian State.”

Irshad Manji was recently in Indonesia and brought up an idea I found amusing and interesting:

During the Question and Answer session, a woman from the local Islamic political party disputed our call to democratize ijtihad. When she needs her teeth fixed, she said, she goes to a certified dentist, not some shmo (or Mo) spreading the gospel of indie thinking.

I must tell you that I hear the dentist analogy all the time. While it’s unoriginal, it’s also effective among Muslims who equate creativity with scientific formulas. Effective, that is, until now.

One of the professors on my panel responded to the woman this way:

When dentists and doctors harm people with their decisions, they can be sued for malpractise. Sister, if you’re going to liken religious authorities to medical professionals, then Muslims should have the right to sue mullahs when their conclusions harm people. And, in effect, that’s what Irshad Manji is doing by exposing their damage in the court of international public opinion.

Right on. Let’s keep ‘suing’ them!

Andrew Heavens has a nice list of possible reasons for JEM’s recent attack on Khartoum:

1. A bloody PR move to get JEM some headlines
2. Retribution – to bring some of Darfur’s suffering to Khartoum
3. Humiliation of Khartoum and exposure of holes in its security system
4. Chad-backed revenge for the two Khartoum-backed rebel raids on N’Djamena
5. The move of a mad, power-hungry warlord
6. A move to break the stalemate in the Darfur peace process AKA Operation Longarm
7. Distraction while JEM prepares for an offensive on El Geneina
8. A genuine coup attempt
9. The first stages of a coup attempt to test for support among army and opposition
10. Creating chaos in the capital leading to the breakdown of the state

As for why the rebels managed to reach all the way until Khartoum, apparently the army was prevented from properly responding due to fears of a fifth column. The defense minister actually spoke about this in parliament when he was getting grilled over his failure of protecting the capital.

Thing is, it is now clear that the battle in Umdurman wasn’t exactly fully fought between the rebels and the Sudanese army but mainly between the rebels and the Sudanese security forces who are thought to be more loyal to the government. Still though, the parliament isn’t satisfied with the defense minister’s explanation and many have demanded his resignation plus setting up an investigative committee.