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Barack Obama is the target of this well-aimed blow, but his thinking is exemplary of that of the majority of so-called “opinion leaders” in the US: Journalists, academics, and politicians. 

Mr. Obama, Meet Mr. Jihadi
By Barry Rubin

Barack Obama says regarding his thoughts after 9/11:

The essence of this tragedy, it seems to me, derives from a fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers: an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity and suffering of others. Such a failure of empathy, such numbness to the pain of a child or the desperation of a parent, is not innate; nor, history tells us, is it unique to a particular culture, religion, or ethnicity. It may find expression in a particular brand of violence, and may be channeled by particular demagogues or fanatics. Most often, though, it grows out of a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair.

and that my friends is what you get with a Harvard education.

It is sort of like the famous scene from Indiana Jones in reverse.

You may remember that Jones is confronted by a sword wielding powerful warrior (Afghan-type clothes) who swings his sword at him showing off his great skill. Jones pulls out his gun and shoots the guy once. This brought a big laugh when I saw the film in a theatre. This is called: Western technology wins.

Now here’s my version. Jones, the epitome of modern sophisticated man in his expensive clothes and superior education, confronts the man with a brilliant series of arguments as to why it is in the warrior’s interest to focus instead on raising his living standards, make peace, and get his own state. The warrior pulls out a small knife and cuts off Jones’s head. Jones’s colleagues then say that Jones had it coming due to his past sins, that we must understand the suffering that led to this violence, this shows the need for more negotiations and concessions, etc.

This is called: asymmetric warfare.

While Obama poses as the great cosmopolitan there is something very much in common between his statement on the September 11 terrorists and what he has to say on the rural and small town Americans, who he believes are attracted to their views only through low living standards, ignorance, and the follies of religion.

No one can think in a manner different from him. No one can hold another belief system and act on it. They are merely evincing, to use the Marxist term for it, false consciousness. He will educate them both directly by material goods and by proper information.

Ironically, this is the epitome of imperialist thinking and it is also intolerant and demeaning in the way that historic racism was. To run a country you must understand that other people have their own set of beliefs and interests; that they think differently from you; that you just cannot buy them off; that their behavior is not just a result of your mistakes in the past but of their own history and culture (which determines even how they react to your own behavior).

Not to mention the fact that the September 11 hijackers mostly came from wealthy families and the wealthiest of them all was Usama bin Ladin.

He might have grown up partly in Indonesia, he may have lived as a Muslim until age 10, but Obama’s mentality is extraordinarily unsuited to understand the Third World, Middle East (or other dictatorships), terrorists (and their far more numerous supporters), or even the American people as a whole.

Perhaps Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran put it best, if I might paraphrase him: Anyone who thinks we staged a revolution because of the price of watermelons is a fool.

Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), with Walter Laqueur (Viking-Penguin); the paperback edition of The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan); A Chronological History of Terrorism, with Judy Colp Rubin, (Sharpe); and The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley). To read and subscribe to MERIA and other GLORIA Center publications or to order books, visit http://www.gloriacenter.org.

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, terrorism, 9/11

News item:

[Palestinians] heaped praise on Lebanese prisoner Samir Kuntar, who killed four people in 1979, and Dalal Mughrabi, the Fatah woman who led the 1978 Coastal Road Massacre that claimed the lives of 36 people.

Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza took to the streets to celebrate the prisoner deal. Chanting slogans in support of Hizbullah, many distributed candy and pledged to continue the fight until all Palestinian prisoners were freed.

Palestinians also demonstrated in support of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who has been charged with genocide in the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who is currently visiting Malta, welcomed the prisoner swap and sent greetings to Kuntar.

[A top Fatah official] described Kuntar as a “big struggler” and Mughrabi as a “martyr who led one of the greatest freedom fighters’ operations in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

“Samir, Mahmoud Abbas here. I just wanted to congratulate you on getting out of the Zionist jail. All of us Palestinians are proud of your big struggling against Zionist oppressor 4-year-old-girls.”

“I hope it doesn’t bother you too much that you are sharing the spotlight with Dalal Mughrabi, who, although a woman and probably a whore, killed 27 Zionists (13 of whom were children), as well as Hassan al-Bashir, although the millions that he murdered were only black Africans who are worthless except as slaves.”

“But you have to admire someone who commits a big genocide, don’t you, Samir? Did you know that I was an admirer of the greatest freedom fighter of them all, Adolf Hitler? I even wrote a book defending him.”

“We are having a great party today, just like we did on 9/11, celebrating the defeat of the racist Zionists. Keep up the struggle!”

The Palestinians: truly a class act.

Technorati Tags: Palestinians, genocide, Samir Kuntar, Abbas, Dalal Mughrabi, terrorism

Technorati Tags: Regev, Goldwasser, Israel, IDF

Now that the obscene trade with Hezbollah is almost a done deal — supposedly it will take place on Wednesday, with brutal child-killer Samir Kuntar and others crossing the border into Lebanon at Rosh haNikra — we can start being afraid of what will be given up to Hamas in trade for Gilad Schalit.

This is much more problematic, because Schalit is almost certainly alive, while Hezbollah will be returning only bodies. Once again, Israel is being forced to make a “Sophie’s choice” between alternatives that are both horrible. Leave Schalit to die in captivity — or guarantee further kidnappings while releasing murderers who will certainly kill again.

And as always, there is an element of psychological torture involved.

YNet reports:

According to the report, Israel and Hamas previously had agreed that during the first stage of the prisoner swap 350 Palestinian prisoners will be released in exchange for Shalit’s transfer to Egyptian custody. In the second phase an additional 100 prisoners will be freed upon the soldier’s arrival in Israel, and 500 more Palestinians will be returned two months after Shalit’s release.

The Palestinian source said Israel has also backed down from its agreement to release all of the female Palestinian prisoners and is particularly against freeing Amna Muna, who was charged and convicted for her involvement in the murder of 16-year-old Ofir [R]ahum in January 2001.

Amna Muna is another great hero of the Palestinian  ‘resistance’. Like Bus of Blood murderer Dalal Mughrabi, she is loved and venerated as an example for Palestinian womanhood. Muna (also spelled ‘Mona’ or ‘Mouna’) was 25 and working as a journalist in Ramallah when she met Ofir in an Israeli chat room. Posing as a tourist or new immigrant (accounts vary) named ‘Sali’, she established an online relationship with him over a period of months, and ultimately arranged a meeting. Ofir traveled from his home in Ashkelon to the bus station in Jerusalem, where Muna picked him up. She drove him to a secluded spot near Ramallah, where they met her confederates, several Fatah terrorists who shot Ofir 15 times and buried his body.

Here’s an excerpt from their last chat, the day before the murder, from Newsweek:

ofir 15/01/01 i don’t know if iI have enough to come back to ashkelon

sali 15/01/01 16:04 i told you I will bring you back to tel aviv in my friends car but she will be with us..is it ok coz I am afraid to drive at night

sali 15/0101 16:35 you don’t know how much I am waiting for wednesday but we have to say bye till wednesday

ofir 15/01/01 16:35 bye

sali 15/01/01 16:35 love you dear

In prison she has become something of an activist, recently leading a hunger strike for better treatment of what are called Palestinian political prisoners. There’s no doubt in my mind that she will go home — if not in this prisoner exchange then in the next one — to a festive Fatah celebration.

There is a way to stop this, at least in the future, and that is to establish a death penalty for terrorist murderers. Perhaps now Israelis have had enough, and it will be possible. The European Union would scream bloody murder (so to speak), but I wonder how long it will take before they are placed in exactly the same position?

Technorati Tags: Israel, Amna Muna, Ofir Rahum, Samir Kuntar, Gilad Schalit, death penalty, terrorism