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Rome, Jerusalem, Khartoum
On March 4, 2009, the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for the President of Sudan for war crimes and crimes against humanity. As a Sudanese-American, I was struck by my own reaction to the ruling, which was a simultaneous surge of relief tempered by unease. I felt relief because, in truth, the Sudanese government [...]
Qaddafi: One State Solution
As I live and breathe, I cannot believe what I am saying: I agree with Qaddafi. His published opinion piece on the New York Times is measured, moderate and forward looking. He made one major mistake by insisting that the Palestinians weren’t forced to flee their homes by the Yushiv’s army at Israel’s founding in [...]
Inauguration Day: Burying the Gaza Dead
I missed the inauguration of Barack Obama this morning because I was burying the Palestinians dead in the Gaza War. I woke up this morning at 10:00 am after an unusually deep and prolonged sleep and realized that I missed the inauguration ceremony. As I got up, a bit surprised, for I had gone to [...]
One State Solution
The Lede Blog on the New York Times published a post titled “Could There Be a One State Solution?” It was quickly taken off the New York Times homepage. I wrote the following comment in response. The one state solution has been gaining credence among intellectuals and the general populations in Israel/Palestine (especially Palestinians) because [...]
The Logic of Power
Perhaps Israeli commentators dominating the American airwaves recently are right. If the Palestinians were in Israel’s proverbial shoes, they would have done the same thing. If the Palestinians were a persecuted minority in Europe, a third of whom were killed during a massive Holocaust and then escaped to a land with weaker states where they [...]
Islamists at the Gate, But It’s Okay
The recent spate of piracy along the coast of Somalia around the Gulf of Aden has refocused international attention on Somalia and for good reason. Somalia is the latest example of how the West’s “Anything but Islamists” mantra has hurt Western interests and the wider Middle East region as well. The piracy off the coast [...]
Friedman Watch: Thomas Friedman Gone Wild
In today’s New York Times, Thomas Friedman outdid himself in a piece titled, simply, “Pakistan.” He made the interesting observation that there was not a mass protest in Pakistan against the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, akin to the ones seen in the wake of the publication of the Danish cartoons depicting the Muslim prophet, Mohammed, [...]
Arab/Muslim American Lobby?
Throughout this year’s campaign, I have been a strong supporter of Barack Obama. I have volunteered for his campaign in Nevada, driving through the southwest desert from my idyllic Los Angeles orange groves to lend my hand of support. I worked the phone banks with his campaign as well and tried to convince concerned Americans [...]
Existential Anxiety
While Reverend Wright’s timing is opportunistic and his motives are egotistical and narcissistic, his remarks on the United States are not terribly off mark. The United States support of dictators in the Middle East for the last 60 years, along with its sanctions against 5 Muslim countries did have alot to do with the September [...]
Obama, the Disappointment
Henceforth, March 4th is a day that shall live in infamy. I have always respected Barack Obama, ever since he burst into the national spotlight, literally, on the stage of the Democratic National Convention in Boston. I esteemed him for his judgment on the Iraq war and admired his courage to speak out against the [...]
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