[Austin-ghetto-list] USA through other eyes

[Roger Baker]

My 'ol friend Tim Jones (whom some of you may know from way way back in
Austin) sent this at the bottom. Apparently there are many in the
Mideast who feel this way. I assume it would be politically incorrect
for the US media to try to do scientifically valid polls among Arabs,
Egyptians, etc. Such polls could reveal things that are true about
grassroots opinion but which we don't wish to know. That is certainly is
true here in the US -- as the lack of media coverage of local antiwar
demos indicates. For a week or so Fox was all war, all the time, in tone.

Here in Austin, the anti-war movement is suddenly pretty active, and students
now seem to be radicalizing after quiescence in the 1980's and 1990's.
On Wed., a mideast expert spoke to a UT audience of about 300, and 
tomorrow there will be a peace march to the Capitol, which may have
a few thousand I would guess. 

I think the public is beginning to wonder if this war against terrorism
will be a simple matter of playing Rambo, or whether it means a police state.

(although it is already a police state compared to any comparable county
if you're poor or black or brown, and especially in Texas; we have 2
million locked up in the US at any one time). 

-- Peace, Roger



PS: Incidently, "Hubbert's Peak" by Ken Deffeyes, a Princeton geologist,
is a mindblowingly good and readable book in terms of documenting the
science behind the energy crisis. I read it all since last night. He
predicts the peak between 2003-2009 at the extreme range, with about
2005 being his best guess.
When the oil peak hits, it could make our current war against terrorism
look almost fun by comparison, yet the oil peak is entirely predictable. 

We're a world civilization in denial, trying to block the truth until it
becomes impossible to avoid. You can see that with global warming, and
the list goes on. At least we can count on Allah as a last resort to get
us through this troubled life, when all else fails.

        *********************************************



This report from an Italian journalist appeared in the Wall Street Journal's
European edition. September 19, 2001.

International Commentary
How Lebanon Reacted to the News

By Elisabetta Burba, an Italian journalist.

Where were you on Sept. 11, when terrorists changed the world? I was in
Beirut, at the National Museum, enjoying the wonders of the ancient
Phoenicians with my husband. This tour of past splendor only magnified the
shock I received later when I heard the news, and saw the reactions all
around me. Walking downtown, I realized that the offspring of this great
civilization were celebrating a terrorist outrage. And I am not talking
about destitute people. Those who were cheering belonged to the elite of the
Paris of the Middle East: professionals wearing double-breasted suits,
charming blonde ladies, pretty teenagers in tailored jeans.
Trying to find our bearings, we went into an American-style cafe in the
Hamra district, near Rue Verdun, rated as one of the most expensive shopping
streets in the world. Here the cognitive dissonance was immediate, and
direct: the cafe's sophisticated clientele was celebrating, laughing,
cheering and making jokes, as waiters served hamburgers and Diet Pepsi.
Nobody looked shocked, or moved. They were excited, very excited.
An hour later, at a little market near the American Embassy, on the
outskirts of Beirut, a thrilled shop assistant showed us, using his hands,
how the plane had crashed into the twin towers. He, too, was laughing.
'What They Deserved'
Once back at the house where we were staying, we started scanning the
international channels. Soon came reports of Palestinians celebrating. The
BBC reporter in Jerusalem said it was only a tiny minority. Astonished, we
asked some moderate Arabs if that was the case. "Nonsense," said one,
speaking for many. "Ninety percent of the Arab world believes that Americans
got what they deserved."
An exaggeration? Rather an understatement. A couple of days later, we headed
north to Tripoli, near the Syrian border. On the way, we read that
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who donated blood in front of the cameras,
was rejecting any suggestion that his people were rejoicing over the
terrorist attack. "It was less than 10 children in Jerusalem," he said.
In the bustling souq of Tripoli, we started looking for the Great
Mosque, a
1294 building with a distinctive Lombard-style tower. But in that labyrinth,
nobody spoke anything but Arabic, which we don't speak. Finally, in a dark
shop, we found an old gentleman who knew French. His round white cap showed
that he was a devout Muslim. Leaning on his stick, he managed to get on the
street and with most exquisite manners gave us directions. Common decency
survives all.
Once at the Mosque I donned a black chador, but our Lonely Planet guide
attracted the attention of a hard-looking bearded guy all the same. "Are you
Americans?" he asked in a menacing tone. Our quick denial made him
relax. He
gave us the green light to go in. But very soon afterward we were again
approached by a fat young man. He turned out to be one of the some 350,000
Palestinians who live in Lebanon, unwelcome by most of the population and
subject to severe hardships. Hearing we were Italians, first he recited like
a prayer names of Italian soccer players. We were relieved at first that he
wanted to talk about sports, but he soon moved on to politics and the
"events."
"My people have been crushed under the heel of American imperialism, which
took away our land, massacred our beloved and denied our right to life. But
have you seen what happened in New York City? God Almighty has drawn his
sword against our enemies. God is great -- Allah u Akbar," he said.
I heard these appeals to religion so often that I needed some theological
help. "How can God do evil?" I later asked an Arab friend, a businessman
with an international background. "According to what I learnt in my
catechism, God lets evil happen. He doesn't do it," I said, and he answered:
"The Quran has the same teaching, but blood calls for blood." What about
compassion? I asked, pointing out that Jesus Christ had offered the other
cheek. Isn't Allah also always called the Merciful? "He is, but when a
people has been begging for a piece of land for 52 years and it has
experienced only bloodshed, what can you expect?" But the victims of the
World Trade Center were civilians, I insisted. "In the new intifada, 500
Palestinians have been killed. America didn't give a damn, so why should
Muslims care now about those who died in the twin towers? It's hard, but
that's the way they see it."
I couldn't help it: I kept remembering how a day earlier, in Germany,
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder had talked about a clash of civilizations.
On Thursday night, in the Christian northern part of Beirut we heard some
loud noises. "Probably they are celebrating the attacks," some one told us
when we asked. You mean the Maronite Christians are also celebrating? I
asked. "Yes, they also feel betrayed by the Americans," came the response.
On Friday, the national day of remembrance for the victims in Europe and the
U.S., I was relieved to see that the Christian church in the Sahet Aukar
district was packed with people holding a candlelight vigil. Less comforting
was the thick barrier of soldiers and check points that protected the
church.
'Terrorists?'
Heliopolis, in the Bekaa Valley, was the Sun City of the ancients. Nowadays
it is called Baalbek. Near its lavish temples stands the stronghold of the
Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite Party of God. Along the clean alleys
that lead to the Hezbolla's stronghold there are hand-made posters of
bearded young men. "They are martyrs," explained a well-dressed, cultivated
Arab man who had just gotten out of his Mercedes. "They fought until
victory: the withdrawal of Israeli occupants. So they became a model for the
all Arab world." Weren't they terrorists? We asked. "Terrorists? What about
the Israelis who kill women and babies?"
In the seven days we spent in Lebanon, we saw one young Arab woman with
teary eyes. "The stories of the victims touched me,", she said, and I began
to regain my trust in humanity. Then she added: "But in a way I am also
glad, because for once the Americans are experiencing what we in the Middle
East go through every single day."
Back in Italy, I received a phone call from my friend Gilberto Bazoli, a
journalist in Cremona. He told me he witnessed the same reactions among
Muslims in the local mosque of that small Lombard city. "They were all on
Osama bin Laden side," he said. "One of them told me that they were not even
worthy to kiss his toes."
-- From The Wall Street Journal Europe