Condemnation of Terrorism: Day 2

Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) had this to say: We at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), along with the entire American Muslim community, are deeply saddened by the massive loss of life resulting from the tragic events of September 11th. American Muslims unequivocally condemn these vicious and cowardly acts of terrorism. Our thoughts… Continue reading Condemnation of Terrorism: Day 2

Transfer of Palestinians

Diane of Letter from Gotham is back. First, she posted a limerick about Saddam Hussain on her substitute blog and now she has a pretty good debunking of the transfer option for Palestinians: [Transfer] is a fantasy because even if it could be done (which it can’t, but let it pass) moving three million Arabs… Continue reading Transfer of Palestinians

Better than Hitler, Stalin and Castro

Add any other of your favorite dictators, thugs or murderers. Is this a good slogan for a country that is proud of its democratic tradition? Unqualified Offerings has a new tongue-in-cheek (I think) version of the pledge of allegiance: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic… Continue reading Better than Hitler, Stalin and Castro

Israeli-Arab Conflict Vocabulary

The Head Heeb looks at the language of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Here is one definition: The West Bank and Gaza. The territories currently in dispute between Israelis and Palestinians have no fewer than four names. The name preferred by the settlers, “Judea and Samaria,” is one, but it has found little use outside the settler… Continue reading Israeli-Arab Conflict Vocabulary

Abductions of Foreigners

Responding to my post about the abduction and internment of Japanese from Latin American during World War II, the Head Heeb points out the modern-day abduction of drug dealers from Latin America and how it’s legal: The Supreme Court explicitly legalized this process in the 1992 case of United States v. Alvarez-Machain, which involved a… Continue reading Abductions of Foreigners

History Lesson: Abduction by the US

According to the Washington Post, The internment of Japanese Americans? No. Matsubayashi was recalling a shameful and forgotten chapter in American history. From 1942 onward, the United States abducted some 3,000 people of Japanese, Italian and German ancestry from Latin America, shipped them to the United States and placed them in internment camps. These prisoners… Continue reading History Lesson: Abduction by the US

Democracy and the Middle East

Here is something to chew on: Journal of Democracy’s special issue on the Middle East Oxblog’s earlier debate about the issue. David Adesnik on Algeria vs Iran Found via David Adesnik of Oxblog. I’ll be reading these in the next few days and will comment later.

Terrorism and Repression

The Head Heeb replies to my post about the purpose of terrorism: For the most part – as Zack agrees in the comments – this logic doesn’t work. In places like Peru and Colombia, for instance, terrorists were indeed successful in provoking repression. The only problem is that most of the people the terrorists thought… Continue reading Terrorism and Repression

Hindu Extremists Gain

The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won by a landslide in elections in the province of Gujarat. In an election that was widely viewed as a referendum on India’s secular character, Hindu nationalists won a landslide re-election victory today in the western state of Gujarat, which was convulsed by Hindu-Muslim riots early this… Continue reading Hindu Extremists Gain

Security: Pros and Cons

More countries are being added to the special registration requirement by INS (see here.) Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy has just received an advance copy of a Federal Register notice, scheduled to be published on December 18, that adds the following groups to the “call-in” registration requirement: males born on or before January 13,… Continue reading Security: Pros and Cons