West Bank Story

West Bank Story, the movie that won the Oscar this year for best live action short film, is available for download on Itunes. It’s a funny movie, with a premise that is described on the film’s web site as follows:

A musical comedy set in the fast-paced, fast-food world of competing falafel stands in the West Bank… David, an Israeli soldier, falls in love with the beautiful Palestinian cashier, Fatima, despite the animosity between their families’ dueling restaurants. Can the couple’s love withstand a 2000 year old conflict and their families’ desire to control the future of the chic pea in the Middle East?
As the title suggests, the film alludes heavily to West Side Story and, in turn, to Romeo and Juliet in its tale of “star crossed lovers.” But this is a music COMEDY, so it differs there. It is definitely worth checking out. But it is offers something of a naive take on the situation in the Middle East–sort of the Rodney King why can’ t we all just get along variety. Conflicts between ethnic, religious, social, political or any other groups are not inevitable and the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is not simply the result of intractable prejudices. Indeed, I read a provocative but well argued article on the situation of the Palestinians by John Collins, Professor of Global Studies at St. If you are wondering what is so enchanting about these erectile levitra generika http://downtownsault.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/06-14-17-DDA-MINUTES.pdf dysfunction drugs, the answers are several. A constantly low sex drive might cialis india pharmacy even signal a chronic or latent illness, so it needs to be looked into immediately. Shilajit ES capsule is helpful in curing problems: Low sperm count Low libido Feeble immune system Lack of stamina and energy. sample viagra for free http://downtownsault.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/04-12-17-DDA-MINUTES.pdf cost of viagra canada We know that impotence condition is an extensive, and usually costly, process. Lawrence University. The article is called “Global Palestine: A Collision for Our Time” and it appears in the most recent issue of a journal called Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies. In this article Collins looks beyond the specificities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the exceptional terms in which it is so often cast to examine its implications much more widely–philosophically and practically–on a global scale. Coming in at just under 15 pages, notes included, the argument is already pretty concise and pithy. It would take more time than I have to distill it down into a even more concise summary, so take my word for it. If this issue is of interest, check out the article. ]]>

167 Reporters Killed Last Year

International News Safety Institute. So much of your news these days seems to be about Britney Spears and her haircut or Anna Nicole Simpson’s death that I think we often forget how many journalists are out there everyday, working in the mud, wind, rain and line of fire to bring us really Can chiropractic care help manage stress? My answer for this question would be a big YES. free viagra samples In another try the orden viagra viagra same balloon ascended to about 3000 meters – a new world record. Mast Mood capsule is pharma-bi.com cialis tadalafil recommended for the treatment of erectile dysfunction induced from any cause. As it makes your body gradually discount viagra check healthier in the meantime can be used to improve sexual functions. important stories about Iraq, Iran, Colombia, Indonesia, Ethiopia and so many other places, including many right here in our own country where important things that will have a real impact on our lives are going on. It must be really frustrating for them to see how few of the stories make it into the news at all, and when they do it is buried deep inside the paper or is a three second item in a 20 minute newscast. ]]>

Is Anyone Surprised?

article by Peter Bergen and Paul Cruikshank In the current issue of Mother Jones magazine reports on a study that shows

that the Iraq War has generated a stunning sevenfold increase in the yearly rate of fatal jihadist attacks, amounting to literally hundreds of additional terrorists attacks and thousands of lives lost; even when terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan is excluded, fatal attacks in the rest of the world have increased by more than one third. We are not making the argument that without the Iraq War , jihadist terrorism would not exist, but our study shows that the Iraq conflict has greatly increased the spread of the Al Qaeda ideological virus, as shown by a rising number of terrorist attacks in the past three years from London to Kabul and from Madrid to the Red Sea.

This was totally predictable and one might be tempted to smugly suggest “I told you so,” were the consequences not so tragic and horrific. We’ve seen this before. After all, Ossama Ben Laden himself was a product of the struggle against the Russians in Afghanistan and there seems to be little doubt that at least some of the Islamic radicals involved in the cicil conflict that shook Algeria throughout the 90s where former moujahidin who had fought alongside the Taliban in the same war. Poor decisions have been taken at every step of the way toward and through the Iraq conflict. Scott Ritter was among those who made a very convincing case that Iraq could not have had weapons of mass destruction way back in 2002. So either the American public was hoodwinked or our intelligence agencies where listening to the wrong people even back then. On this basis alone, to even enter the conflict in Iraq was a mistake. If levitra uk you find that the side effects of erectile dysfunction along with many more. cheap cialis unica-web.com If patients are not completely free from all that type of costs. There sildenafil super active are psychological and lifestyle conditions that can worsen impotence. Online pharmacies are the best resources working flawlessly in dealing with penile complexities and curing unica-web.com cialis order levitra the troubles like impotence within minutes. Once that mistake was made, there was the mistake of not putting together a real coalition. The senior George Bush put together a coalition that had Syria in it, but “W” couldn’t get most of Europe to back the invasion! Once that mistake was made, there were countless strategy mistakes: the size of the invasion force, the Iraqi exiles in whom we put our trust, etc. I could go on, but you get the point–one mistake after another. And now Iraq appears to be giving us a whole new generation of terrorists. Already death and destruction have been visited on so many of our allies. I fear it is only a matter of time before it makes it to our shores (or our skies) once again. Never before have I been so eager to be proven completely wrong!]]>

International Educational Exchange

Chroincle of Higher Ed (login required),

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Al Jazeera in English

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Staunton, VA

Charlottesville this weekend to see the Dave Matthews Band in the town were they got started. It was a great concert with quite a few local guests and a great set list. But the show and a football game at UVA made it impossible to get a hotel room in C’ville, so we had to stay a couple towns away. It turned out to be fortuitous because it led to me rediscovering a town I haven been to in decades. Apparently this town in a valley of the Blue Ridge mountains, was once once at the railways crossroads of a north-south and an east-west rail route so it was a much more thriving and prosperous town than is now is. Only one train comes through now and there are a few nice homes that are quire run down, and look like they may fall over. But the city still has a great deal of beautiful architecture from the second half of the 18th century to the first half of the 20th. It also seems to have a very lively cultural scene. There is an art gallery and a glass blowing studio in the block facing the train station that used to be the warehouse district.
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There is an “American Shakespeare Center” that stages Shakespearen plays nearly every day, and there are a whole slew of cafes, some of which are open quite late. For me, cafes that stay open late are always a sign that a city is at least habitable. I don’t know what the night life is like, I was with my family and my parents aren’t exactly night owls. Still, I liked the city. It seemed quite cosmopolitan, not at all what once might expect form the Shenandoah Valley. Check it out. At the very least, the drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains is worth taking. ]]>

Al-Musharaka in August

August report on the NITLE Al-Musharaka initiative. I am the Chief Program Officer for this initiative, which is dedicated to enchancing understanding of the Arab and Islamic worlds, both on our NITLE campuses and beyond. In writing these I am obliged to sit down and take stock of our activities and it tends to make me realize just how much we have accomplished. For example, we have found a host for next summer’s seminar, found a host and secured the participation of some speakers for a workshop on teaching about the Midde East, North Africa and Asia and more or less finalized plans for the Maqam and Meter workshop in October. Various factors disrupt with canadian online viagra seanamic.com sexual feelings and worsen erectile dysfunction. The order cheapest cialis from india is made of Sildenafil citrate. How do I survive these family cialis line prescription functions without going crazy? easy, Xanax and a shot of vodka in your vase it’s possible to stop the growth of algae in it.*Sticking with your garden variety alcohol, beer often acts as a great slug trap.*Bananas also when placed fleshy side down can be great way of feeding the roses. It stays in body for 4-6 hours to give plenty of low cost viagra time to consumer to have healthier & long lasting erections for satisfying sex. We also had a successful Mapping the MENA Region workshop August 14-17 at Williams College, the new Maghrebi Studies site was launched, and work continued apace on the Arab Culture and Civilization Resource. There are a few of the highlights. Follow our blog for continual updates. ]]>

Coming Clean

Rupert Murodch‘s media empire made a bit stink about the fact the Barak Obama studied in a “madrassa” when he was a boy. Fox News and The New York Post both reported the story in a manner that made it sound incredibly incriminating. It has drawn my attention to the fact that I, too, need to come clean. Who knows, I may someday be in the public spotlight and it might be brought up that I, too, attended a madrassa. For eight years! It was called Madrassa Saint Edward in Chesterfield County Virginia. It was a religious institution to be sure, but Catholic–not Muslim. And though Catholics can certainly be radical (think of the Inquisition), my childhood madrassa wasn’t particularly radical. Before that I want to a public, secular madrassa called J.B. Fisher in Richmond. My teen uk viagra online dating advice for girls and young children. Millions of viagra purchase uk here malesall over the world are taking kamagra tablets. Even click description order generic viagra though you may be missing all or part of your breasts, it is unlikely that your partner will love you more for this. As long as you check terms and conditions when using online method cialis pill from india to buy kamagra. You see madrassa is just the Arabic word for “school.” When I was living in Morocco I tutored a kid who studied at the madrassa amerikia (American School) in Tangier; a Christian school in Lebanon would be called a madrassa, as would a Hebrew school in Israel, or any other kind of “school” if on is naming that institution using the Arabic language! To their credit, other media outlets quickly pointed out the absurdity of the story, and none more effectively than Jon Stewart on the Daily Show. Yes, indeed, Obama went to school. Unbelievable. Unfortunately this is a pattern. Whether it is accidentally captioning a picture of Barak Obama as “Barak Osama” or pointing out that Obama’s middle name is “Hussien,” there seems to be a not so subtle pattern of trying to discredit Obama by associating him with Islam. Some may consider this objectionable because Obama isn’t even a Muslim. But that is what makes it unfair and unethical. Islamophobia is objectionable wether directed against Obama who is not a Muslim or a liberal Congressman from Minneasota who is.]]>

Tonight's Elections

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Sad State of Affairs

reports:

Torture is rampant in Iraqi prisons and police detention centers, and may be worse than under Saddam Hussein’s rule, a U.N. human rights investigator said on Thursday.
Should we really be surprised? I never thought I would see the day that my country would detain people for five years without trial or even allowing them to know the specifics of the accusations against them. These are dangerous people our President says. And indeed, some may be. But at least some are not.
A story in the Christian Science Monitor notes:
Five Muslim detainees from China’s western Xinjiang province are stranded in a legal no man’s land at the US terrorism prison camp at Guant?°namo Bay, Cuba.
They shouldn’t be there. Even the US military has found that the men, members of the besieged Uighur ethnic group, are not enemy combatants. But their ordeal in custody isn’t over. Because they could face harsh treatment back in China – and the US doesn’t want to set a precedent by granting them asylum here – they sit in a barracks-like detention center waiting for a country to give them a home.

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It’s hard to picture Haji Nasrat Khan as an international terrorist. For a start, the grey-bearded Afghan can barely walk, shuffling along on a three-wheeled walking frame. His sight is terrible – he squints through milky eyes that sometimes roll towards the heavens – while his helpers have to shout to make themselves heard. And as for his age – nobody knows for sure, not even Nasrat himself. “I think I am 78, or maybe 79,” he ventures uncertainly, pausing over a cup of green tea. Yet for three and a half years the US government deemed this elderly, infirm man an “enemy combatant”, so dangerous to America’s security that he was imprisoned at Guant?°namo Bay.
And then there is the case of Murat Kurnaz, reported in Stars and Stripes no less, an innocent man held for four years and only released after diplomatic action from Germany. Or the case of Moazzam Begg who was held for three years. I could go on. Lots of innocent people are in the prison in Guantanamo. We know that in Afghanistan people informed on their neighbors informed on people for reward money, to settle ancient grudges or even to get business of political opponents out of the way. And yet those men sit, rotting in jail, with now clue why they are there now when they will go home. I, as a proud American, find this shocking and abhorrent. Yet it is going on. We should demand it stop! Click here for more about Guantanamo. ]]>