Hey! Don't take my word for it!
I have been accused, by some readers of my blog, of not reading history books (mostly by people who have obviously not read any history books themselves) and of exaggerating the hate, blindness and fury that fuels both Islamic fundamentalists and terrorist groups.
I received an email the other day from a friend of mine. She was born and raised in Canada, married an Israeli, and has lived in Israel for 20-some years. She stays there, even after her divorce, because it is her home and the home of her children.
Her kids are now young adults, which means they are or soon will be, in the military as part of the mandatory 2 (women)-to-3 (men) years of military service that begins at age 18. Women who opt to serve in combat positions are required to stay in for three years.
Men, and combat-trained women, continue to serve as reservists, and are called up for a month every year until they are in their mid 40s. They can continue to be on reserve duty after that age if they so desire. Reservists are subject to being recalled to active full-time duty whenever required to do so. (Israelis joke that civilians are just soldiers on 11-month long furloughs.)
So, by virtue of many things, my friend and I don't always share the same opinion of what is going on, what is needed to resolve the greater and smaller issues. I recognize that I hold the views and opinions I do not only because I've done a hell of a lot more reading throughout the years on the history of the region and the religions involved than have most people, but I also have not lived there since 1974, and I have no children who will end up on the front line...though in Israel, everyone is on the front line all the time, given that the favorite targets of their enemies are the civilians themselves and where they live, not some distant battlefield.
So, I was surprised and interested when my friend sent me what was purported to be the written version of an address given by a former Lebanese citizen, a woman who experienced first hand what I've been saying for years: When it comes to Israel, Jews in and outside of Israel, and to Christians everywhere, Moslems preach hate, order hate, and raise generations of Moslems to hate. The attributed author of the speech I received was a Christian Lebanese woman who delivered her talk at a anti-terrorist rally at Duke University in 2004.
I get a lot of purportedly true stuff sent to me by well-meaning friends and acquaintances, like the email claiming that Oliver North specifically referred to Osama bin Laden when testifying before Congress in 1987 (see Snope's Oliver Twisted and Atta Boy).
So, when I received my friend's email and started reading it, I decided to check it out first, heading to one of the urban legend sites I used to check out the validity of the report. (I use Snopes.com and UrbanLegends.about.com.)
Snopes rated it as True, and provided a link to a 45-minute video of an interview with Brigitte Gabriel. I encourage all to read the transcript of the speech she gave, listen to the interview, and check out Gabriel's organization, American Congress for Truth.
I received an email the other day from a friend of mine. She was born and raised in Canada, married an Israeli, and has lived in Israel for 20-some years. She stays there, even after her divorce, because it is her home and the home of her children.
Her kids are now young adults, which means they are or soon will be, in the military as part of the mandatory 2 (women)-to-3 (men) years of military service that begins at age 18. Women who opt to serve in combat positions are required to stay in for three years.
Men, and combat-trained women, continue to serve as reservists, and are called up for a month every year until they are in their mid 40s. They can continue to be on reserve duty after that age if they so desire. Reservists are subject to being recalled to active full-time duty whenever required to do so. (Israelis joke that civilians are just soldiers on 11-month long furloughs.)
So, by virtue of many things, my friend and I don't always share the same opinion of what is going on, what is needed to resolve the greater and smaller issues. I recognize that I hold the views and opinions I do not only because I've done a hell of a lot more reading throughout the years on the history of the region and the religions involved than have most people, but I also have not lived there since 1974, and I have no children who will end up on the front line...though in Israel, everyone is on the front line all the time, given that the favorite targets of their enemies are the civilians themselves and where they live, not some distant battlefield.
So, I was surprised and interested when my friend sent me what was purported to be the written version of an address given by a former Lebanese citizen, a woman who experienced first hand what I've been saying for years: When it comes to Israel, Jews in and outside of Israel, and to Christians everywhere, Moslems preach hate, order hate, and raise generations of Moslems to hate. The attributed author of the speech I received was a Christian Lebanese woman who delivered her talk at a anti-terrorist rally at Duke University in 2004.
I get a lot of purportedly true stuff sent to me by well-meaning friends and acquaintances, like the email claiming that Oliver North specifically referred to Osama bin Laden when testifying before Congress in 1987 (see Snope's Oliver Twisted and Atta Boy).
So, when I received my friend's email and started reading it, I decided to check it out first, heading to one of the urban legend sites I used to check out the validity of the report. (I use Snopes.com and UrbanLegends.about.com.)
Snopes rated it as True, and provided a link to a 45-minute video of an interview with Brigitte Gabriel. I encourage all to read the transcript of the speech she gave, listen to the interview, and check out Gabriel's organization, American Congress for Truth.
posted by Melissa at 4:25 PM
3 Comments:
I thought You might like to see this:
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/unvote.asp
Oooo! Good one! "Arab/Islamic states consistently vote against the U.S. in the United Nations."
I've long felt that if a country not only consistently votes against us but supports anti-US hate movements and their governments blast us, why do we keep pouring billions every year into their coffers? With all the people in need in the U.S. and other parts of the world, why are we pumping money into countries that love to hate us?
And, just think: if we stopped pouring billions into Mexico, we might be able to afford the drain on our economy caused by their citizens who have illegally moved here. I think we should also tax the billions those same illegals send home to Mexico every year.
So much money, so much waste...
I know one other way to "pump up" our economy. Why don't we demand re-payment for all the outstanding loans we made to other countries. That should be good for a few billion dollars.
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