Israel Palestine Blogs

The late Tariq al-Dhahab

Yet another tale of two brothers, this time in Yemen and it is not about brotherly love. What drives a man to kill his brother? For Cain in the Garden of Eden it was jealousy that God preferred his brother Abel’s sacrifice to his own; in effect the God of Genesis wanted blood. Several Abbasid caliphs were adept at taking their brother’s lives, a royal custom that knew no geographic or cultural boundaries. The American Civil War is remembered as a family conflict in which brother at times fought brother. When fratricide does occur, it is always a sad affair, whether the passions are aroused by politics, religion or a more mundane jealousy.

The two Yemeni brothers are Tariq and Hizam al-Dhahab. Tariq gained international attention on January 16 when he seized control of the Yemeni town of Rida’ and declared himself Amir of a new Islamic regime. A self-important proponent of Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (as useful a banner as any these days in this region), Tariq was related to Anwar al-Awlaqi by marriage and this made the event all the more newsworthy outside of Yemen. But the purpose of the raid, which was symbolic more than bloody, was to negotiate release of prisoners and not jumpstart a new caliphate. After nine days they pulled out when Hizam’s brother Nabil was released, but the main impetus was opposition within his own tribe against such actions. (more…)

In our book on the Israel lobby, John Mearsheimer and I emphasized that it was "wrong -- and objectionable -- to argue that Jews or pro-Israel forces 'control' the media and what [it] says about Israel." Instead, we argued that groups and individuals in the lobby work overtime to monitor what the media says about Israel, and to bring pressure to bear on reporters and editors who said things these groups or individuals didn't like. The lobby didn't "control" the media in a direct or conspiratorial fashion; it just sought to influence media coverage in a variety of sometimes heavy-handed ways, much as some other interest groups do. We documented numerous incidents where media organizations faced pressure to alter their coverage. As a former spokesman for the Israeli consulate in New York put it, "Of course, a lot of self-censorship goes on. Journalists, editors, and politicians are going to think twice about criticizing Israel if they know they are going to get thousands of calls in a matter of hours. The Jewish lobby is good at orchestrating pressure." (Note: "Jewish lobby" was his term, not ours). As an anonymous interviewee told journalist Michael Massing, "the pressure from these groups is relentless. Editors would just as soon not touch them."

Discourse about this topic has opened up a lot in recent years, but the same tactics are still on display. Case in point: the warning shots fired at the New York Times' new bureau chief in Jerusalem, Jodi Rudoren, which began when the ink on the press release announcing her appointment was barely dry.

What was Rudoren's scandalous transgression? She had the temerity to send a pleasant (but hardly effusive) response to a tweet from Ali Abunimah, who is the author of a book advocating one state for Israel and Palestine. Whatever you may think of Abunimah's views (I happen to think he's wrong on that issue), he's not a violent extremist and there's nothing inappropriate about Rudoren responding to him as she did. Rudoren also tweeted some positive things about Peter Beinart's forthcoming book The Crisis of Zionism.

Well, before you could say "hasbara," Rudoren was being chastised by a familiar list of commentators, including Adam Kredo of the Washington Free Beacon, Shmuel Rosner of the Jerusalem Post, and Josh Block, the former AIPAC staffer who recently led a despicable effort to smear the Center for American Progess. And of course Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic, self-appointed Supreme Jurisprudent of What is Permissible to Say about Israel, got into the act as well. (Goldberg's sudden interest in fair-minded reporting is especially amusing, given his penchant for making up lies about those with whom he disagrees.)

Rudoren had done nothing wrong, of course. Her job as a reporter is to reach out to a wide variety of interested parties, to describe the situation on the ground as she sees it, and to render intelligent judgments about what she observes. I frankly don't envy her the job given how politicized the issue is. It remains to be seen how good a job she will do, but the obvious purpose of this little exercise in intimidation was to put her on notice. Her critics were sending a message: "If you write things that we don't like (and especially anything that might present Israel in a negative light), then we're going to raise a stink and try to get you to start pulling your punches."

As I've said ad nauseum, this situation is not healthy for the United States or for Israel. If Americans get a one-sided diet of reportage about this conflict, we are going to misunderstand it and we are going to keep making stupid or ill-informed decisions. We're also going to be less capable of giving our Israeli friends sensible advice, which all states need from time to time. Israel's staunchest backers shouldn't want a cheerleader at the Times' Jerusalem bureau; in fact, the more you care about Israel, the more you want someone who'll tell you the truth, even when some of it might not be pleasant to read or hear. Otherwise, you might not find out what's really happening until it is too late.

P.S. Readers here will probably be aware of the tragic death of Times' reporter Anthony Shadid, who suffered a fatal asthma attack while covering the violence in Syria. I don't think I ever met Shadid, and my only experience with him was being on a couple of radio talk shows. His reporting on Middle East affairs was intrepid, insightful, fair-minded, and often eloquent, and his death is a loss for us all. My condolences to his family and to anyone who knew him well.

Anthony Shadid died in Syria today of asthma. He brought out the humanity of the people he wrote about in a way that set him apart.

He was also from Oklahoma City where the Shadid family is well known and respected. He went to the University of Oklahoma for a year and helped establish the Anthony Shadid-St. Elijah Award which is given to our most gifted student of the Middle East each year for travel and study in the region.

Here is his New York Times obit

Just met with Eilon Schwartz, formerly of the Heschel Center, as he described the work of this new Israeli think tank to allow a dialogue space for politics to reshuffle in Israel. It is one of several new think tank-type initiatives to reinvigorate a healthy, Israeli democracy outside the typical right-left bounds. You should listen to their weekly The Promised Podcast on iTunes, RSS, and iCast. Discuss it on Facebook.

Diverse PennBDS conference attendees. (Photo: Sara Jawhari)

On February 4th, 2012, hundreds of students, professionals and academics gathered at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia for a national BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) conference, organized by the University’s PennBDS student group.

The conference gained plenty of attention in the weeks leading up to it from local and nation-wide pro-Israeli groups and individuals. In speaking to some of the PennBDS leaders, some had doubts the conference would occur, due to all the built-up controversy. Luckily, the determination of the PennBDS organizers and supporters outweighed the slanderous accusations and malicious bullying of opponents of the conference. More than 60 organizations nationwide signed on in support of the conference, including Palestinian, Jewish, and Israeli groups. As one of the speakers stated after graciously congratulating the organizers, "If a conference was put on, and it didn't receive any controversy or attention, did it really happen?"

The conference kicked off with an inspirational address by award-winning Palestinian American author, Susan Abulhawa, and Omar Barghouti, a human rights activist and co-founder of the 2005 Palestinian civil society boycott call. Barghouti sent in a special video message in support of the conference, "Our South African moment has arrived… we shall prevail over apartheid."

Due to the expected high security at the conference, media was not allowed into all lectures/panels, but I am honored to present to you some highlights of the conference through photos I took over the course of the weekend. Neither photos, nor any amount of words could possibly describe the inspiration and wisdom gained from the wonderful speakers, but I hope to convey some of these stimulating moments through the following photos. Enjoy and, as always, "join us on the right side of history."

A number of vendors sold shirts that read "Un-occupy Palestine," "Freedom," and other popular sentiments, with proceeds going to non-profit efforts on the ground in Palestine.
(Photo: Sara Jawhari)

Ali Abunimah, Palestinian American journalist and co-founder of the Electronic Intifada, gives keynote speech. Despite threats and malicious attacks of speaker leading up to the conference, not one person stood to oppose anything Abunimah said: "We're here for Khader Adnan, a Palestinian who was jailed without charge and has been on hunger strike for 49 days and can die any second. Thirty five babies and five mothers have died at Israeli checkpoints… we are here for them too." (Photo: Sara Jawhari)

"Lessons from the South African Struggle" with speakers Helena Cobban, Bill Fletcher, Jr., et al., with moderator Professor Amy Kaplan. "Was the Montgomery bus boycott a boycott against buses?"  (Photo: Sara Jawhari)

Journalist and author Max Blumenthal and professor and journalist Sarah Schulman lead the "Zionist Response to BDS" panel. Schulman recently authored a groundbreaking New York Times op-ed on the "pinkwashing" of the Israeli human rights abuses, in which she described submitting hundreds of research documents leading up to the eventual publication of the article. Blumenthal read a humorous chapter out of an up-coming book he is currently penning. (Photo: Sara Jawhari)

PennBDS organizers speak to a curious passerby. New attendees were welcomed to speeches so long as there was room left in audience. (Photo: Sara Jawhari)

Max Blumenthal, Helena Cobban and Philip Weiss lead a workshop titled "Palestine and the Media." Here, Weiss is given a round of applause on being number one on the Anti-Defamation Leagues hateful list of the "Five of the Most Anti-Israel Individuals." Cobban was number three on the list. (Photo: Sara Jawhari)

Dina Omar, Remi Kanazi and Susan Abulhawa lead one of the final sessions of the conference, titled "BDS and Literary Expression." The speakers spoke on the place of literature, poetry and spoken word in Palestinian resistance. "Art, poetry, literature are powerful weapons/tools to break down the lies, myths, racist stereotypes that are spread," Abulhawa says. "We don’t need to fight them, we just have to tell the truth." (Photo: Sara Jawhari)

Conference opener and author of the International best-selling novel Mornings in Jenin Susan Abulhawa sits at a booth for "Playgrounds for Palestine," an NGO she founded dedicated to upholding the Right to Play for Palestinian children. Palestinian olive oil from various villages is sold to benefit the organization. (Photo: Sara Jawhari)

Attendees kept activists worldwide updated throughout the conference by live Tweeting during every session using the hashtag #PennBDS. (Photo: Sara Jawhari)

I’ll bet if I asked you what Israeli journalism needed more than anything, the first thing out of your mouth would be: we need yet another English language clone of the Jerusalem Post (Hebrew). I knew we’d see eye to eye on that one.

Yes, Israel already has one English language Likudist daily, one English language pro-settler news portal, and one Hebrew language Bibiphilic daily funded by an American Jewish billionaire. Israelis just can’t get enough of the neocon media brand. And everybody knows that there’s way too much truly independent or, God forbid, liberal-progressive journalism in Israel.

So to fill this gaping need into the breach steps David Horowitz with the rather shamefacedly titled, The Times of Israel. No, not the far-right firebrand ranter David Horowitz, but the soft-right former Jerusalem Post editor, David Horowitz. I tell ya, can’t tell your right- wing David Horowitzes without a scorecard.

Like any self-respecting right-wing editor starting a new media venture, you need a suitable billionaire with loads of pro-Israel baggage. Horowitz has found his Rothschild in Seth Klarman, owner of the Boston-based Baupost hedge fund family.

In terms of his domestic politics, Klarman seems to be a soft-core Republican who spend about $100,000 every election cycle on mostly Republican candidates (though he does know on which side his bread’s buttered and he does throw some money the Democrats’ way).

But on Israel, Klarman is a fierce pro-Israel advocate with no subtlety or nuance to his views. As Phil Weiss made clear in a November profile, Klarman is a major funder of the David Project, Friends of the IDF, the pro-settler Central Fund of Israel, and Ir David, a settler enterprise attempting to Judaize East Jerusalem under the guise of historic Jewish archaeological claims. He drops a cool mill a year on Birthright Israel as well.

Laughably, Horowitz claims that he will maintain strict editorial control of the new enterprise. To emphasize that point, Mr. Klarman felt the need to have his say with a personal editorial statement of his own. So much for editorial independence. The new venture will supposedly be free of political affiliation and have no allegiance to any politician. Horowitz claims it will feature a broad spectrum of opinion: all the way from Benny Morris on the “left” to Alan Dershowitz on the “left” (that’s a joke).

We now have Sheldon Adelson sinking $40 million a year into Yisrael HaYom. A few years ago, we had a Levi Strauss heir drop $7 million to fund Pajamas Media. Now we have Seth Klarman. Israel needs these far-right pro-Israel billionaires like it needs a hole in the head.

Steven Spiegel - What is happening in Egypt? What is the meaning of arresting Americans and where is the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty?

What is happening in Egypt is that the white knight that was supposed to preserve stability is a dead man walking.

That is the military you mean?

That is the military. The victory just twelve months ago perceived the uprising as the outcome of the democratization process in terms of a squash game: You politicians and civilians will be free to play ball inside the walls, but we the military will determine where the walls and the roof are, and we’ll make sure the ball does not exceed those boundaries. So you want to do socio-economic, political policy, that’s fine, but there are three clusters of interests that you are not going to touch: They are national, organization and personal. National, nobody will conduct policy that risks security friction with Israel—you don’t want to be exposed. Second, nobody will conduct a policy that risks U.S. military aid to Egypt. The Egyptian military budget is all taken by salaries and constant domestic expenditures. There is no money for procurement either spare-parts or new weapons, that all comes from the American FMS (Foreign Military Sales). These are the national interests that we will preserve. The organizational interests are: nobody will touch the military budget, it will be outside of civilian oversight. And nobody will touch the military’s substantial economic interests. The Egyptian military is mega producing machine, producing civilian goods of any type, from televisions and VCRs to street lamps. This is the military income for the military organization as such, and for retirees. The personal interests: Egyptian officers will not be subject to prosecution by civilian courts.

That was the story 12 months ago, 10 months ago, 8 months ago, with time the Egyptian military – the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces – grew political incompetent and was outmaneuvered by the Muslim Brotherhood, step-by-step on the sequence of political process, on the timing of political process and on the substance of the political process. This process of castrating the military by political maneuvering reached obviously its peak with the election results, which gave the Muslim Brotherhood the legitimacy of a majority, or at least a potential plurality in parliament. And the next two points of contention are no longer as threatening to domestic stability as they seem just five months ago than is the composition of the 100 person committee that is supposed to draft a new constitution. The army was going to determine that, no longer so. And the timing of the presidential elections, the army wanted it in 2013—as far as possible from the revolution so that they can run some ex-uniform for president, and time would allow spirits to subside, the people to be less hostile to someone who was previously associated with the Mubarak administration—that is no longer the case, the elections will be in June 2012. The army has loss one struggle after another. If the large processes were not enough, it was even such tragic incidents as the football match massacre in Port Said two weeks ago, where seventy plus people were killed in a football match. This allowed the Muslim Brotherhood to blame the military for what happened there, not just for the incompetence for security on site, but for having instigated it in order to demonstrate what happens when you go civilian rather than listen to the military for law and order. So, we have a situation that things are getting out of hand.

The NGO story with the 19 Americans detained is another outgrowth of this story. It started off with the Muslim Brothers trying to evade investigation of the sources of funding that they used in the election. They got hundreds of millions of dollars from the Gulf, which were illegal spent in the elections. So the way to go was to blame the NGOs for doing the same. They had a minister, the Minister of International Cooperation who was a holdover from the Mubarak era, a female, who found this as an opportunity to cleanse herself of the sin of being associated with the previous regime by becoming more anti-American and more patriotic than anybody.  In this situation where there is no responsible adult in the neighborhood, patriotism is going wild, populism is going wild and even risking relations with the United States, which they cannot afford—not just for strategic reasons, but even for immediate economic reasons. Without a U.S. supported position there is not going to be any money from the IMF, from the World Bank and probably not from Europe either. So we see Egypt losing any central force that preaches reason and we see forces competing for populism for cheap headlines, and there is no adult in the neighborhood to call it into order.

Is the peace treaty still secure between Israel and Egypt? And what happens to these arrested Americans?

The peace treaty as a policy, the peace treaty is secure. From everything I can tell, from everything I hear, there is no intention to challenge the peace treaty. However, the peace treaty can fall victim to something very different. As you know, the security situation in the Sinai is beginning to look like an island of Afghanistan. You have islands of al Qaeda; you have islands of Salafis, the Bedouin community there is 550,000 strong having been neglected by the central regime for decades making a living on smuggling everything from weapons to women, and have been infiltrated by al Qaeda-like ideologies. We are building a fence to secure our border and that fence is going to deprive them of their livelihood, and I’m afraid that they will go for more violent ways of earning money. On contract for Iran, on contract for al Qaeda, on contract for elements in Gaza and with SA-16s and SA-18s allegedly have been reached those ground to air missile and reached the Bedouin trades from Libya over the past months. Just imagine one scenario, an Israeli helicopter is shot down from over Israeli airspace from a missile in Sinai. Do we send our air force into Egyptian sovereignty, to take care of it? This is just one scenario, how the peace treaty can fall victim to the failure of the Egyptians to secure their sovereignty in the Sinai.

And the Americans, do you see them getting out or not?

I can only tell you following President Obama’s telephone call to Mohamed Tantawi that there was an effort to make it happen. The fact that it hasn’t happened is probably the most striking recent evidence of the extent to which the military has lost its influence over policy.

That is a frightening ending. Tell me, do you therefore believe the Muslim Brotherhood is simply going to take over?

No, the Muslim Brotherhood is taking over, there is no doubt about that. I didn’t see that in such dark colors as some others. I think the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood is mostly intelligent people, who understand the difference between being in the opposition to an repressive regime and being responsible for 85 million Egyptians. Their foreign currency reserves went down from 36 billion to 10 billion and counting. They are going to have to take very harsh economic measures when expectations are that the opposite would be the case—the average Egyptians says we got rid of corruption we should have prosperity. What is going to happen is not only subsidies on basic foodstuffs will not be deepened, they will be removed. You are going to have social unrest in Egypt for a long time to come as a result of harsh economic realities. The Gulf is very stingy with resources until it sees a stable Egyptian administration. Europe has its own difficulties and it is not in the mood for coughing billions and billions for Egypt, the U.S. likewise. And if that was not enough than what we just discussed, the Egyptians misbehave. The Muslim Brothers will have a tremendous challenge from the Salafis who will stay out of government in order to try and strengthen their base the next time around with the same electorate. So the real question is when the Muslim Brothers prove unable to deliver for the Egyptian people, with unrealistic expectations. Will the liberals use that time to get their act together? I don’t know. If they do, they have a shot in the next Egyptian government, the elections after this. If they don’t, Egypt may slide further in the direction of more extreme religious elements like the Salafis.

This is a very stark image, and obviously we are hearing that Egypt is in real trouble and this is an ominous sign for both the United States and Israel.

We had thirty years of a good neighborhood; we have to get adjusted to a very difficult reality.

Note: This phone conference took place on February 8, 2012.

Aleppo after two car bombs: Ehsani writes on Sunday, “Aleppo back to normal today. People learning to live with this stuff. Becoming like the Lebanese.”

Ayman al-Zawahri addresses Syrias, urging Muslims to fight for their Syrian brothers and urging Syrians to fight for freedom and liberation and to take heart in the support of the Muslim Umma against the cancerous and deeply sectarian regime of the Assads. “Wounded Syria is still bleeding day after day, and the butcher (Assad) isn’t deterred and doesn’t stop,” said Zawahri,

al-Qaida’s Plans for Syria: It is worth reading what al-Qaida strategists planned for Syria back in 2006. They believed that Syria would become the battleground after Iraq. Here are a few excerpts from the Quoted Wright article:

U.S. officials: Al Qaida behind Syria bombings
By Jonathan S. Landay | McClatchy Newspapers,February 10, 2012

Jihadist Opportunities in Syria
By Kamran Bokhari | February 14, 2012
Security Weekly, Strafor

Al Qaeda’s Zawahiri calls for war to oust Syria’s Assad
By Elizabeth A. Kennedy, Associated Press / February 12, 2012

Arab League calls for joint mission with U.N. in Syria

Syria forces shell Homs, Saudis push U.N. resolution

Syrian state media: Gunmen assassinate army general in Damascus
By Associated Press, February 11, 6:10 AM

Ehsani writes: “Egypt stocks largest rise globally in jan 2012. They were up 28 percent. I guess salafists are not so bad for business after all.

Farid Zakaria: Arming the Syrian Opposition is Risky

Journalist accompanied rebels

Video: Syrian soldiers defect to fight against government

Aleppo bears the brunt in another day of carnage and defiance
By Alastair Beach, Saturday 11 February 2012

For Iraqis, Aid to Rebels in Syria Repays a Debt
By TIM ARANGO and DURAID ADNAN

A New Transition Council is to be Established, according to “Syria Politic”. It will call for Jihad

الإعلان خلال أيام عن “مجلس انتقالي” يسعى لـ”الجهاد”

13 Ùبراير 2012 : خاص ØŒ سيريا بوليتيك

الشيخ الزعبي وأسامة مارديني

علم “سيريا بوليتيك” أنه سيتم الإعلان خلال الأيام القليلة القادمة عن مجلس جديد لبعض أطرا٠وجهات المعارضة السورية تحت اسم “المجلس الإنتقالي” وأن من أبرز أهدا٠المجلس “الجهاد”ØŒ على حد تعبير المصدر الذي كش٠هذه المعلومات.

وقال المصدر “سينضم إلى المجلس العميد المنشق مصطÙÙ‰ الشيخ الذي أسس المجلس العسكري الأعلى، وضباط أخرون منهم الرائد ماهر النعيمي الذي انشق مؤخرا عن الجيش الحر”ØŒ وأضا٠“سيضم المجلس أيضا إسلاميين ممن يؤمنون بالجهاد ويدعون إليه”ØŒ كما قال المصدر.

وكش٠المصدر لـ”سيريا بوليتيك” أن من “أبرز من يق٠وراء المجلس الشيخ ابراهيم بن عبدالعزيز الزعبي الأمين العام لحزب الأحرار السوري، وأسامة مارديني أمين عام الجبهة الوطنية للإنقاذ والتغيير”ØŒ وقال إنهما “وقّعا منذ يومين وثيقة لتأسيس جبهة عمل موحدة تدعو لتحرير سوريا والوقو٠ÙÙŠ وجه كل أشكال التÙاوض مع النظام، ورÙض أي جهة معارضة تقبل بالحوار مع النظام، ومشروعية حمل السلاح، والجهاد ضد النظام وحلÙائه الÙرس (كما جاء حرÙيا ÙÙŠ البيان المشترك)ØŒ ودعم قرارات مجلس التعاون الخليجي”ØŒ ÙˆÙÙ‚ البيان.

MEMRI

#3315 – Syrian Opposition Cleric Al-’Ar’our Appeals to Israel for Help in Treating Wounded Syrians
Safa TV (Kuwait) – February 10, 2012

Syria’s Kurds Could Lose Out in Post-Assad Scenario
By Idris Ahmedi | 13 Feb 2012

Bahrain’s King Says Assad Should Listen to His People

Israel hedges its bets on Syria
Roxanne Horesh…al-Jazeera

Trojan horse for the Syrian regime!
By Abdul Rahman al-Rashed – al-Arabiya
Monday, 13 February 2012

Save Us from the Liberal Hawks
Syria’s a tragedy. But it’s not our problem.
BY DAVID RIEFF | FEBRUARY 13, 2012

Palestinian hunger striker Khader Adnan is near death.

Adnan, a 33-year-old Palestinian, has been on a hunger strike since December 18 after he was arrested in a nighttime IDF raid on his home in the village of Arraba, Jenin.   Khader has been held without trial and charged, without any evidence presented, of affiliation with Islamic Jihad.

Yesterday, an Israeli military court rejected Khader’s appeal.  In his decision, Judge Moshe Tirosh disregarded Khader’s lawyers’ numerous arguments, including the lack of evidence that Khader Adnan has carried out any activities providing grounds for detention; that administrative detention is used in an arbitrary manner; and that affiliation to a political party is aligned with the right to freedom of expression, assembly and political association.

Judge Tirosh further dismissed Khader’s claim that he was subjected to torture, inhuman and degrading treatment while in custody, adding that only Khader is to blame for his physical health deterioration and that his grave medical condition will not influence the court’s administrative detention decision.

And so Khader remains chained to his hospital bed by Israeli authorities, despite warnings that his death is essentially imminent. Human Rights Watch has called upon Israel to “immediately charge or release” Adnan – a demand Israel stubbornly continues to refuse.

Khader Adnan is but one of thousands of Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel’s practice of arbitrary imprisonment  According to a January 1 report by Addameer, a Palestinian Prisoner Support and Human Rights NGO, there are currently 4417 Palestinians held as political prisoners, 310 of whom are being held in “administrative detention” without trial or formal charge.

                    

Dont trust the world – Israel Opinion, Ynetnews.

Powerful persuasive words from Israel’s most recent rising politician. Imagine a family in Gaza who lost their children and entire neighborhood in 2008 giving the exact same speech, using exactly these words. Why should they not use these words?

Ok, now what? After all the emotions, if you want something more in life than a never ending cycle of revenge, you might want to ask, “Now what?” He caricatures compromise as only a manipulative politician would. And that is our curse on this planet today. We have achieved monumental things across the planet, every culture, but we are plagued by manipulative politicians who build their careers on terror, stimulating its emotions and imposing terror on others. And we must resist this. We must resist with every use of our reason and our creativity and our hearts that God or the universe has given us, and that has aided our ancestors so many times in the last few hundred years to fight for democracy, for basic freedoms, for the achievements of human rights and the valuation of every human life. We can do this, but the road is long and hard, and the supply of unscrupulous parasitical politicians endless in every single culture and region. It is a part of the human condition, not a unique problem in Syria or Israel or Iran or South Carolina. It is a stark choice in every breast at every breathing moment between reason and terror, between introspection and hate, between self-examination and scapegoating, between empathy and tyranny, between cautious and shared coexistence and genocidal fantasy and practice. All the great wisdom traditions and all the great scientific minds of the past have laid out the choices very clearly, and we need to study and practice as if each one of us were entirely responsible for the fate of the earth.