The Red Dress
Zafar Anjum March 29, 2002
#38 Posted by progressive on April 3, 2002 7:57:42 pm
A Wave of Conversion to Islam in the U.S. Following September 11
Excerpts from ``Muslim American Leaders: A Wave of Conversion to Islam in the U.S. Following September 11`` © Middle East Media & Research Institute
Muslim American reports in the Arab press indicate that Muslim proselytizing efforts have been unusually successful since the September 11 attacks. `Alaa Bayumi, Director of Arab Affairs at the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), wrote in the London daily Al-Hayat that ``non-Muslim Americans are now interested in getting to know Islam. There are a number of signs...: Libraries have run out of books on Islam and the Middle East... English translations of the Koran head the American best-seller list... The Americans are showing increasing willingness to convert to Islam since September 11... Thousands of non-Muslim Americans have responded to invitations to visit mosques, resembling the waves of the sea [crashing on the shore] one after another... All this is happening in a political atmosphere that, at least verbally, encourages non-Muslim Americans` openness towards Muslims in America and in the Islamic world, as the American president has said many times in his speeches...``(1)
CAIR chairman Nihad Awad told the Saudi paper `Ukaz that ``34,000 Americans have converted to Islam following the events of September 11, and this is the highest rate reached in the U.S. since Islam arrived there.``(2)
According to Dr. Walid A. Fatihi, instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston has recently become a center of Islamic proselytizing aimed at Christians. On September 22, 2001, Al-Fatihi sent a letter to the Egyptian weekly Al-Ahram Al-Arabi, in which he described the unfolding of events since September 11: ``...From the first day, the media began to insinuate that Muslim Arab hands were behind this incident. At noon, the directors and administration of the Islamic Center of Boston held an emergency meeting, and I stayed on the line with them from my clinic. We decided to hold a blood drive, and we set up a committee to contact the Red Cross and organize it for us. We invited the media to cover the event...``
``All of us tried to grab onto every scrap of information that would indicate that Muslim Arab hands were not involved in the loathsome crime. Yes, my brothers and sisters, we tried to prove our humanity on the day we found ourselves attacked from all sides. Our hearts bled and our spokesman said that proselytizing in the name of Allah had been set back 50 years in the U.S. and in the entire world...``
``On Saturday, September 15, I went with my wife and children to the biggest church in Boston, [Trinity Church in] Copley Square, by official invitation of the Islamic Society of Boston, to represent Islam by special invitation of the senators of Boston. Present were the mayor of Boston, his wife, and the heads of the universities. There were more than 1,000 people there, with media coverage by one of Boston`s main television stations. We were received like ambassadors. I sat with my wife and children in the front row, next to the mayor`s wife. In his sermon, the priest defended Islam as a monotheistic religion, telling the audience that I represented the Islamic Society of Boston.``
``After the sermon was over, he stood at my side as I read an official statement issued by the leading Muslim clerics condemning the incident [i.e. the attacks]. The statement explained Islam`s stance and principles, and its sublime precepts. Afterwards, I read Koran verses translated into English... These were moments that I will never forget, because the entire church burst into tears upon hearing the passages of the words of Allah!!``
``Emotion swept over us. One said to me: `I do not understand the Arabic language, but there is no doubt that the things you said are the words of Allah.` As she left the church weeping, a woman put a piece of paper in my hand; on the paper was written: `Forgive us for our past and for our present. Keep proselytizing to us.` Another man stood at the entrance of the church, his eyes teary, and said, `You are just like us; no, you are better than us.``` (3)
``On Sunday, September 16, the Islamic Society of Boston issued an open invitation to the Islamic Center in Cambridge, located between Harvard and MIT. We did not expect more than 100 people, but to our surprise more than 1,000 people came, among them the neighbors, the university lecturers, members of the clergy, and even the leaders of the priests from the nearby churches, who invited us to speak on Islam. All expressed solidarity with Muslims. Many questions flowed to us. Everyone wanted to know about Islam and to understand its precepts.``
``Of all the questions, not a single one attacked me; on the contrary, we saw [the people`s] eyes filling with tears when they heard about Islam and its sublime principles. Many of them had never heard about Islam before. Well, they had heard about Islam only through the biased media. That same day, I was invited again to participate in a meeting in the church, and again I saw the same things. On Thursday, a delegation of 300 students and lecturers from Harvard visited the center of the Islamic Society of Boston, accompanied by the American Ambassador to Vienna. They sat on the floor of the mosque, which was filled to capacity. We explained to them the precepts of Islam, and defended it from any suspicions [promulgated in the media]. I again read to them from the verses of Allah, and [their] eyes filled with tears. The audience was moved, and many asked to participate in the weekly lessons for non-Muslims held by the Islamic Center...``
``On Friday, September 21, the Muslims participated in a closed meeting with the governor of Massachusetts. In the meeting, a discussion was held on introducing Islam into the school curriculum, to inform the [American] people and to fight racism against Muslims arising from the American people`s ignorance regarding the religion. With the governor`s support, measures to examine implementation of this goal were agreed upon...``
``These are only some of the examples of what happened and is happening in the city of Boston, and in many other American cities, during these days. Proselytizing in the name of Allah has not been undermined, and has not been set back 50 years, as we thought in the first days after September 11. On the contrary, the 11 days that have passed are like 11 years in the history of proselytizing in the name of Allah. I write to you today with the absolute confidence that over the next few years, Islam will spread in America and in the entire world, Allah willing, much more quickly than it has spread in the past, because the entire world is asking, `What is Islam!`(4)
Fatihi`s reports of American Christians` crying upon hearing Koranic verses have an historical context. This type of narrative is about part of the ethos of Islamic proselytizing. It comes from the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad`s invitation to the Christian community of Najran, located in what is today North Yemen, to visit the mosque. When the Christians of Najran were exposed to the verses of the Koran, the tradition says they burst into tears and converted to Islam.
Fatihi also published an article in the London daily Al-Hayat:
``...There are initial signs that the intensive campaign of education about Islam has begun to bear fruit. For example, the rate of converts to Islam since September 11 has doubled… There is solidarity with the Muslims on the part of many non-Muslims in American universities. For example, dozens of non-Muslim American women students at Wayne [State] University… have put on veils as a symbol of identification with the Muslim women students at the university and at the other universities of America.``
``One of the most important topics [in an NPR broadcast] was an interview with several young women at American universities who recently converted to Islam through the Islamic Society of Boston. They hold advanced degrees from universities in Boston, such as Harvard, and they spoke of the power and the greatness of Islam, of the elevated status of women in Islam, and of why they converted to Islam. The program was broadcast several times across the entire U.S...`` (5)
Excerpts from ``Muslim American Leaders: A Wave of Conversion to Islam in the U.S. Following September 11`` © Middle East Media & Research Institute
Muslim American reports in the Arab press indicate that Muslim proselytizing efforts have been unusually successful since the September 11 attacks. `Alaa Bayumi, Director of Arab Affairs at the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), wrote in the London daily Al-Hayat that ``non-Muslim Americans are now interested in getting to know Islam. There are a number of signs...: Libraries have run out of books on Islam and the Middle East... English translations of the Koran head the American best-seller list... The Americans are showing increasing willingness to convert to Islam since September 11... Thousands of non-Muslim Americans have responded to invitations to visit mosques, resembling the waves of the sea [crashing on the shore] one after another... All this is happening in a political atmosphere that, at least verbally, encourages non-Muslim Americans` openness towards Muslims in America and in the Islamic world, as the American president has said many times in his speeches...``(1)
CAIR chairman Nihad Awad told the Saudi paper `Ukaz that ``34,000 Americans have converted to Islam following the events of September 11, and this is the highest rate reached in the U.S. since Islam arrived there.``(2)
According to Dr. Walid A. Fatihi, instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston has recently become a center of Islamic proselytizing aimed at Christians. On September 22, 2001, Al-Fatihi sent a letter to the Egyptian weekly Al-Ahram Al-Arabi, in which he described the unfolding of events since September 11: ``...From the first day, the media began to insinuate that Muslim Arab hands were behind this incident. At noon, the directors and administration of the Islamic Center of Boston held an emergency meeting, and I stayed on the line with them from my clinic. We decided to hold a blood drive, and we set up a committee to contact the Red Cross and organize it for us. We invited the media to cover the event...``
``All of us tried to grab onto every scrap of information that would indicate that Muslim Arab hands were not involved in the loathsome crime. Yes, my brothers and sisters, we tried to prove our humanity on the day we found ourselves attacked from all sides. Our hearts bled and our spokesman said that proselytizing in the name of Allah had been set back 50 years in the U.S. and in the entire world...``
``On Saturday, September 15, I went with my wife and children to the biggest church in Boston, [Trinity Church in] Copley Square, by official invitation of the Islamic Society of Boston, to represent Islam by special invitation of the senators of Boston. Present were the mayor of Boston, his wife, and the heads of the universities. There were more than 1,000 people there, with media coverage by one of Boston`s main television stations. We were received like ambassadors. I sat with my wife and children in the front row, next to the mayor`s wife. In his sermon, the priest defended Islam as a monotheistic religion, telling the audience that I represented the Islamic Society of Boston.``
``After the sermon was over, he stood at my side as I read an official statement issued by the leading Muslim clerics condemning the incident [i.e. the attacks]. The statement explained Islam`s stance and principles, and its sublime precepts. Afterwards, I read Koran verses translated into English... These were moments that I will never forget, because the entire church burst into tears upon hearing the passages of the words of Allah!!``
``Emotion swept over us. One said to me: `I do not understand the Arabic language, but there is no doubt that the things you said are the words of Allah.` As she left the church weeping, a woman put a piece of paper in my hand; on the paper was written: `Forgive us for our past and for our present. Keep proselytizing to us.` Another man stood at the entrance of the church, his eyes teary, and said, `You are just like us; no, you are better than us.``` (3)
``On Sunday, September 16, the Islamic Society of Boston issued an open invitation to the Islamic Center in Cambridge, located between Harvard and MIT. We did not expect more than 100 people, but to our surprise more than 1,000 people came, among them the neighbors, the university lecturers, members of the clergy, and even the leaders of the priests from the nearby churches, who invited us to speak on Islam. All expressed solidarity with Muslims. Many questions flowed to us. Everyone wanted to know about Islam and to understand its precepts.``
``Of all the questions, not a single one attacked me; on the contrary, we saw [the people`s] eyes filling with tears when they heard about Islam and its sublime principles. Many of them had never heard about Islam before. Well, they had heard about Islam only through the biased media. That same day, I was invited again to participate in a meeting in the church, and again I saw the same things. On Thursday, a delegation of 300 students and lecturers from Harvard visited the center of the Islamic Society of Boston, accompanied by the American Ambassador to Vienna. They sat on the floor of the mosque, which was filled to capacity. We explained to them the precepts of Islam, and defended it from any suspicions [promulgated in the media]. I again read to them from the verses of Allah, and [their] eyes filled with tears. The audience was moved, and many asked to participate in the weekly lessons for non-Muslims held by the Islamic Center...``
``On Friday, September 21, the Muslims participated in a closed meeting with the governor of Massachusetts. In the meeting, a discussion was held on introducing Islam into the school curriculum, to inform the [American] people and to fight racism against Muslims arising from the American people`s ignorance regarding the religion. With the governor`s support, measures to examine implementation of this goal were agreed upon...``
``These are only some of the examples of what happened and is happening in the city of Boston, and in many other American cities, during these days. Proselytizing in the name of Allah has not been undermined, and has not been set back 50 years, as we thought in the first days after September 11. On the contrary, the 11 days that have passed are like 11 years in the history of proselytizing in the name of Allah. I write to you today with the absolute confidence that over the next few years, Islam will spread in America and in the entire world, Allah willing, much more quickly than it has spread in the past, because the entire world is asking, `What is Islam!`(4)
Fatihi`s reports of American Christians` crying upon hearing Koranic verses have an historical context. This type of narrative is about part of the ethos of Islamic proselytizing. It comes from the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad`s invitation to the Christian community of Najran, located in what is today North Yemen, to visit the mosque. When the Christians of Najran were exposed to the verses of the Koran, the tradition says they burst into tears and converted to Islam.
Fatihi also published an article in the London daily Al-Hayat:
``...There are initial signs that the intensive campaign of education about Islam has begun to bear fruit. For example, the rate of converts to Islam since September 11 has doubled… There is solidarity with the Muslims on the part of many non-Muslims in American universities. For example, dozens of non-Muslim American women students at Wayne [State] University… have put on veils as a symbol of identification with the Muslim women students at the university and at the other universities of America.``
``One of the most important topics [in an NPR broadcast] was an interview with several young women at American universities who recently converted to Islam through the Islamic Society of Boston. They hold advanced degrees from universities in Boston, such as Harvard, and they spoke of the power and the greatness of Islam, of the elevated status of women in Islam, and of why they converted to Islam. The program was broadcast several times across the entire U.S...`` (5)
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#37 Posted by lajwantii on April 3, 2002 7:57:42 pm
Godot sahih,
me very happy .. you also hppay..
What is wrong wit you ..haiN? Writting lettts to 16 yr olds.
Take it essy.Your fried.
Laaju
me very happy .. you also hppay..
What is wrong wit you ..haiN? Writting lettts to 16 yr olds.
Take it essy.Your fried.
Laaju
#36 Posted by progressive on April 3, 2002 7:57:42 pm
Urgent: Eyewitness Report From Ramallah
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Mideast Watch Home
by Tzaporah Ryter
April 02, 2002
MIDEAST WATCH
Ramallah, Occupied Palestine -- My name is Tzaporah Ryter. I am an American student from the University of Minnesota. I currently am in Ramallah. We are under a terrible siege and people are being massacred by both the Israeli army and armed militia groups of Israeli settlers. They are shooting outside at anything that moves.
I am urgently pleading for as much outside help as possible to help save lives here.
I arrived in Ramallah last Thursday. I had come back for a visit to the Palestinian city where I had been previously living and studying. On Thursday afternoon, the Israeli army began sealing off each entrance to Ramallah and there were rumors that they planned to invade.
People were rushing back home from across checkpoints and also people were trying to flee. People were not allowed to go out and many working people -- with homes and children to return to -- were not allowed in, everyone was trying to take cover. Those traveling in began desperately searching for alternative ways and traveling in groups, but the Israelis were firing upon them and everyone was running and screaming.
Women carrying their children were trying desperately to flee from Ramallah, carrying infants and toddlers, and their young children were running along in the rain through the fields, slipping and falling on the rocks, trying to reach safety. Israeli jeeps were speeding across the terrain pulling up from every direction and shooting at the women and children, and also at me, as we ran in opposite directions. They were chasing down people, hunting them like that in the fields.
When I reached Ramallah, people were panicking and trying to buy bread, rice and milk from corner stores, but most supplies were already gone. We bought what we could and went inside to wait for what was coming.
When night fell, Israeli tanks began to invade and also we saw Israeli troops coming on foot from the valley, and surrounding our house. I could hear them calling to each other in Hebrew. They were against our door and all around. They were firing everywhere a barrage of bullets and there was tank fire. We had to lay on the floor and keep silent. We stayed there, on the floor, for nearly four days in the darkness.
We knew that our circumstances were better than others because old people or infants or people with medical emergency needs had no help. It was very cold, with most families packed all in one room. Some people are without life sustaining medicines like insulin, and they are altering their doses dangerously if they have any medicine left to take. People are becoming dangerously sick from lack of food and water and heat. The fear and terror only makes things worse, but it cannot be avoided.
In the daytime, we heard them shooting people in the streets, and could hear them screaming and screaming. No ambulance was allowed through. Then their screams stopped and there was just silence.
We had a telephone and would receive calls from all over telling us what was happening. Everyone is in grave danger and Israeli soldiers were killing people everywhere. They are arresting medics and ambulance drivers, including foreign volunteer medical workers.
They keep taking doctors and medics, just now another call. Again, this time the wife of a doctor telling us her husband has been taken from the ambulance.
Large groups of people have been found in rooms, shot dead, there are blood marks where they have lined people up on their knees and shot them, with their ID cards laying on top of them. They are taking people from their homes, blindfolding them, removing their clothes, taking them away or lining them up and shooting them against the wall.
People are making phone calls and saying that these soldiers and militia have come in and are shooting people and then the line cuts off.
The numbers of these killings I fear are much greater than the numbers confirmed in the press, because the human rights offices and the media centers have been stormed, and everything is shut down. No one can move without almost certain chance of being shot by the Isreali snipers, who are everywhere.
The Israelis are demanding that all journalists leave Ramallah and today another foreign journalist was shot. They do not want any more internationals here and are deporting people. It seems quite clear that they do not want eyewitnesses which is only heightening my own fears.
The hospitals have also been surrounded and invaded and Israeli troops are taking the injured people and interrogating them. Today a woman, a patient, tried to walk out from hospital. The Israelis shot her in the neck and killed her.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health is saying that they fear the spread of diseases because of the number of unburied corpses.
The numbers are only growing in reports of the mass killings here and Israeli troops continue to round up people. People are calling frantically, missing a relative and we do not know where they have been taken, including children.
The numbers we have now exceed 600, and we are estimating between 700 and 800. All human rights groups and legal advocates are being denied any information of where the detained are being held. From what we know confirmed is that 10% of those taken so far have been children under age 18.
On the fourth day I decided to try to move. People were running out of supplies and I also was so worried about people, and had to check to see if they were okay. If I didn`t, I feared panic would overtake me so badly that I really had no other choice but to try and go.
It was not safe where I was in any case and at least if I left I would still have my sanity. It was really terrifying as there are some internationals here, usually traveling in groups, and the Israelis are saying on the radio that they will arrest or shoot the internationals. They did shoot some yesterday and regardless, it`s not as if snipers differentiate and they are everywhere.
My friends told me not to go, and were really scared for me, but I had to go. When I went outside, there were cars all shot up and hit by multiple bullets and shells in the middle of the road, unparked. There must have been people in them but I don’t know where their bodies are. There are no reports of them, but they must exist.
I got to the corner trying to go to the bakery for bread and food for people. Some people were calling and calling with only one cup of rice left. I made it to the corner but they opened fire on my first try, and shot at me, so I had to turn back.
After that I tried again and it took me one day to make it a block because I had to start over again and again. I had to climb through the valley, and as I passed house by house, people were warning me and pointing out what path seemed safest for these two minutes. In the next two minutes, it would be something different. They really helped to keep my path safe.
Today is Day Five and they are still rounding up people like this and we hear them shooting all day long.
This afternoon the Israelis suddenly lifted the curfew, suddenly announcing that everyone had two hours to go out to get food. However, the Israeli soldiers also took food from many of the stores, looted, and there is no bread or things. People went to get whatever they could.
Even though the Israeli army said it had lifted the closure for two hours -- in which we still were not able to transfer medical supplies and still was not long enough to everything that was badly needed -- the Israelis continued shooting people in the streets indiscriminately on their way, so people were running around trying to make it to the store or find a safe route only to have to run back home again. It was an added cruelty and terror tactic in this macabre situation, a sick joke: starve people and then shoot them when they try to find food with your permission.
In an apartment building in Beitunia neighborhood where I used to live, they took 60 people who were my neighbors, including several familes, and pushed them into one room since last night. The Israelis told them that they are to be used as ’Äúhuman shields’Äù, as the apartment building is across from a building that they were invading.
One child needs to go to the hospital since last night and, initially, the families were able to call outside. Now, the Israelis have taken their phones.
There are reports that they are rounding up men between the ages of 14 and 45 in that neighborhood, and these civilians, from these same Palestinian families trapped in that building, were just used to walk in front of an Israeli tank as it invaded the Preventative Security Compound.
Reports also have alleged that the Israelis were saying that some could leave but shot them when they attempted to leave. The buildings there are burning, and people are trapped inside.
We keep calling to try to find people but there has been no electricity and most people’Äôs phones are dead now. I do not know what is happening to many people. The only solution to this is to try to brave the deadly streets in order to check, but its almost impossible and terrifying to leave the house at all.
Each place I come to, I am afraid to leave not only for myself but for everyone else in this horrifying position. Israeli death squads have been yanking people into the street. I also hear only shooting and shooting, with no return fire. This suggest that unarmed civilians are being gunned down mercilessly everywhere and I am so scared for everyone. I feel like maybe if I leave one place, one area or neighborhood I will never see the people again alive.
There are more explosions outside now and more shooting. Another explosion. More firing, it just doesn’t stop.
This is a massacre. The foreign delegations tried to get in but were turned back, the International Committee of the Red Cross is trying to help but they are being ignored. Please help.
I am not only scared for myself and for people here, but if this cannot be stopped, I am truly scared for all of humanity, for a world in which we send men to the moon but cannot stop ethnic cleansing.
On the news in America, we see hardly anything of demonstrations. What are you doing over there?
There do not seem to be any reports of what is happening. In truth, its got to stop. Please go out to the streets, please demand a response from your representatives. Be loud, march up to the capitals, refuse to leave until the Israelis withdraw. Act now! Tell them the Israelis are murdering innocent people whose only crime is being born in their own homeland, a Palestinian under a military occupation.
Demand international protection for the Palestinian people, scream that this is an affront to humanity and that it is time that the US not only stop supporting Israel, but that the US stop its abuse of human rights within its own borders. This is about all of our struggles. For the love of God, please stop this slaughter. Please help.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Contacts
1. The New York Times
National Desk
Katie Roberts 212 556 7356 or Jim Roberts 212 556 7356 or Laurie
Goodstein 212 556 1854
Also, contact Bob Herbert 212-556 1952 (a columnist there) and the publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. 212 556 3588
2. Washington Post
Op-ed editor: Fred Hiatt 202 334 7281
Foreign Affairs:
Jim Hoagland 202 334 6899
Karen de Young 202 334 7468
National News:
Jackson Diehl 202 334 7467
Maralee Schwartz 202 334 6082
Editorial writer: Amy Schwartz 202 334 5138
3. San Francisco Chronicle
Managing Editor: Jerry Roberts 415 777 7124
Op Ed Editoror Lois Kazakoff 415 777 6054
Columnist: Jon Carroll 415 777 6249
National Editor: Jim Brewer 414 777 7103
Editorial Page Editor: John Diaz 777 7018
4. LA Times Executive Editor: Leo Wolinsky 213 237 3243
Managing Editor Dean Baquet 213 237 5100
National Editor: 214 237 7091
Foreign Policy Writer: Norman Kempster 202-861 9227
Editorial Page Editor: Janety Clayton 213 237 7931
5. Associated Press
Managing Editor Michael Silverman and National News Editor Ann Levin
are both at 212 621 1500
Religion writer (and sympathetic, but needs to be reminded): Julia
Lieblich 212 621 1659
News Features: Bruce De Silva 212 621 1830
6. Knight Ridder/Chicago Tribune News Service
Editor: Jane Scholz 202 383 6085
7. Newhouse News Service
National News Linda Fibich 202 383 7850
Values Reporter: Mark O`Keefe 202 383 7857
8.. Religion News Service Adelle Banks 202 383 7863
ELECTRONIC MEDIA
1. NPR
DANIEL SCHORR 202 414 2271
SENIOR FOREIGN EDITOR: LOREN JENKINS 202 414 2298
FOREIGN AFFIRS CORRESPONDENT TOM GEJLTEN 202 414 2288
POLITICAL EDITOR KEN RUDIN 202 414 2250
RELIGON: LYNN NEARY 202 414 2196
NATIONAL EDITOR: DAVID SWEENEY 202 414 2212
2. ALL THINGS CONSIDERED
HOST: ROBERT SIEGEL 414 2110
DECISION MAKER: ELLEN WEISS, 202 414 2110
3. TALK OF THE NATION:
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: GREG ALLEN 202 414 2713
4. MORNING EDTIION
BOB EDWARDS 202 4154 2350
5. Here are some numbers to call:
ABC News - 212-456-4040
CBS News - 212-975-3691
NBC News - 212-664-4971
CNN - 404-827-1511
Fox News - 212-301-3300
MSNBC - 201-583-5222
PBS - 703-998-2150
NPR - 202-414-2200
NY Times - 212-556-1234
USA Today - 703-276-3400
WS Journal - 212-416-2000
Wash. Post - 202-334-6000
Time - 212-522-1212
U.S. News - 202-955-2000
AP 212-621-1600
MSNBC - 201-583-5000
CNBC - 201-585-2622
Call editorial page editors and ask them to contact the following people OR WHOMEVER:
1. Rabbi Michael Lerner. Email: RabbiLerner@tikkun.org. Phone: 415-575-1200
2. Israeli Peace Activist Uri Avnery. Email: uravnery@netvision.net.il
3. Rabbi Arthur Waskow. Email: Awaskow@aol.com. Phone: 215-844-8494
4. Cherie Brown. Email: Ncbiinc@aol.com. Phone: 202-785-9400
5. Rabbi Roly Matalon or Rabbi Marcello Bronstein. Phone: 212-787-7600
6. Professor Tanya Reinhart. Email: reinhart@post.tau.ac.il
7. Professor of Poli Sci Jerome Slater. Email: jnslater@acsu.buffalo.edu
8. Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb. Email: reblynn@swcp.com
9. Professor of Poli Sci at Ben Gurion University David Newman. Email: newman@bgumail.bgu.ac.il
10. Professor of Philosophy at Tel Aviv University Adi Ophir. Email: adiophir@post.tau.ac.il
11. Professor Rebecca Stein. Email: rlstein@sscl.berkeley.edu
12. Allan Solomonow. Email: asolomonow@afsc.org
13. Rabbi Brian Walt. Email: brianwalt1@aol.com
14. Ella Shohat. Email: eshohat@gc.cuny.edu
ZNet Top
Mideast Watch Home
by Tzaporah Ryter
April 02, 2002
MIDEAST WATCH
Ramallah, Occupied Palestine -- My name is Tzaporah Ryter. I am an American student from the University of Minnesota. I currently am in Ramallah. We are under a terrible siege and people are being massacred by both the Israeli army and armed militia groups of Israeli settlers. They are shooting outside at anything that moves.
I am urgently pleading for as much outside help as possible to help save lives here.
I arrived in Ramallah last Thursday. I had come back for a visit to the Palestinian city where I had been previously living and studying. On Thursday afternoon, the Israeli army began sealing off each entrance to Ramallah and there were rumors that they planned to invade.
People were rushing back home from across checkpoints and also people were trying to flee. People were not allowed to go out and many working people -- with homes and children to return to -- were not allowed in, everyone was trying to take cover. Those traveling in began desperately searching for alternative ways and traveling in groups, but the Israelis were firing upon them and everyone was running and screaming.
Women carrying their children were trying desperately to flee from Ramallah, carrying infants and toddlers, and their young children were running along in the rain through the fields, slipping and falling on the rocks, trying to reach safety. Israeli jeeps were speeding across the terrain pulling up from every direction and shooting at the women and children, and also at me, as we ran in opposite directions. They were chasing down people, hunting them like that in the fields.
When I reached Ramallah, people were panicking and trying to buy bread, rice and milk from corner stores, but most supplies were already gone. We bought what we could and went inside to wait for what was coming.
When night fell, Israeli tanks began to invade and also we saw Israeli troops coming on foot from the valley, and surrounding our house. I could hear them calling to each other in Hebrew. They were against our door and all around. They were firing everywhere a barrage of bullets and there was tank fire. We had to lay on the floor and keep silent. We stayed there, on the floor, for nearly four days in the darkness.
We knew that our circumstances were better than others because old people or infants or people with medical emergency needs had no help. It was very cold, with most families packed all in one room. Some people are without life sustaining medicines like insulin, and they are altering their doses dangerously if they have any medicine left to take. People are becoming dangerously sick from lack of food and water and heat. The fear and terror only makes things worse, but it cannot be avoided.
In the daytime, we heard them shooting people in the streets, and could hear them screaming and screaming. No ambulance was allowed through. Then their screams stopped and there was just silence.
We had a telephone and would receive calls from all over telling us what was happening. Everyone is in grave danger and Israeli soldiers were killing people everywhere. They are arresting medics and ambulance drivers, including foreign volunteer medical workers.
They keep taking doctors and medics, just now another call. Again, this time the wife of a doctor telling us her husband has been taken from the ambulance.
Large groups of people have been found in rooms, shot dead, there are blood marks where they have lined people up on their knees and shot them, with their ID cards laying on top of them. They are taking people from their homes, blindfolding them, removing their clothes, taking them away or lining them up and shooting them against the wall.
People are making phone calls and saying that these soldiers and militia have come in and are shooting people and then the line cuts off.
The numbers of these killings I fear are much greater than the numbers confirmed in the press, because the human rights offices and the media centers have been stormed, and everything is shut down. No one can move without almost certain chance of being shot by the Isreali snipers, who are everywhere.
The Israelis are demanding that all journalists leave Ramallah and today another foreign journalist was shot. They do not want any more internationals here and are deporting people. It seems quite clear that they do not want eyewitnesses which is only heightening my own fears.
The hospitals have also been surrounded and invaded and Israeli troops are taking the injured people and interrogating them. Today a woman, a patient, tried to walk out from hospital. The Israelis shot her in the neck and killed her.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health is saying that they fear the spread of diseases because of the number of unburied corpses.
The numbers are only growing in reports of the mass killings here and Israeli troops continue to round up people. People are calling frantically, missing a relative and we do not know where they have been taken, including children.
The numbers we have now exceed 600, and we are estimating between 700 and 800. All human rights groups and legal advocates are being denied any information of where the detained are being held. From what we know confirmed is that 10% of those taken so far have been children under age 18.
On the fourth day I decided to try to move. People were running out of supplies and I also was so worried about people, and had to check to see if they were okay. If I didn`t, I feared panic would overtake me so badly that I really had no other choice but to try and go.
It was not safe where I was in any case and at least if I left I would still have my sanity. It was really terrifying as there are some internationals here, usually traveling in groups, and the Israelis are saying on the radio that they will arrest or shoot the internationals. They did shoot some yesterday and regardless, it`s not as if snipers differentiate and they are everywhere.
My friends told me not to go, and were really scared for me, but I had to go. When I went outside, there were cars all shot up and hit by multiple bullets and shells in the middle of the road, unparked. There must have been people in them but I don’t know where their bodies are. There are no reports of them, but they must exist.
I got to the corner trying to go to the bakery for bread and food for people. Some people were calling and calling with only one cup of rice left. I made it to the corner but they opened fire on my first try, and shot at me, so I had to turn back.
After that I tried again and it took me one day to make it a block because I had to start over again and again. I had to climb through the valley, and as I passed house by house, people were warning me and pointing out what path seemed safest for these two minutes. In the next two minutes, it would be something different. They really helped to keep my path safe.
Today is Day Five and they are still rounding up people like this and we hear them shooting all day long.
This afternoon the Israelis suddenly lifted the curfew, suddenly announcing that everyone had two hours to go out to get food. However, the Israeli soldiers also took food from many of the stores, looted, and there is no bread or things. People went to get whatever they could.
Even though the Israeli army said it had lifted the closure for two hours -- in which we still were not able to transfer medical supplies and still was not long enough to everything that was badly needed -- the Israelis continued shooting people in the streets indiscriminately on their way, so people were running around trying to make it to the store or find a safe route only to have to run back home again. It was an added cruelty and terror tactic in this macabre situation, a sick joke: starve people and then shoot them when they try to find food with your permission.
In an apartment building in Beitunia neighborhood where I used to live, they took 60 people who were my neighbors, including several familes, and pushed them into one room since last night. The Israelis told them that they are to be used as ’Äúhuman shields’Äù, as the apartment building is across from a building that they were invading.
One child needs to go to the hospital since last night and, initially, the families were able to call outside. Now, the Israelis have taken their phones.
There are reports that they are rounding up men between the ages of 14 and 45 in that neighborhood, and these civilians, from these same Palestinian families trapped in that building, were just used to walk in front of an Israeli tank as it invaded the Preventative Security Compound.
Reports also have alleged that the Israelis were saying that some could leave but shot them when they attempted to leave. The buildings there are burning, and people are trapped inside.
We keep calling to try to find people but there has been no electricity and most people’Äôs phones are dead now. I do not know what is happening to many people. The only solution to this is to try to brave the deadly streets in order to check, but its almost impossible and terrifying to leave the house at all.
Each place I come to, I am afraid to leave not only for myself but for everyone else in this horrifying position. Israeli death squads have been yanking people into the street. I also hear only shooting and shooting, with no return fire. This suggest that unarmed civilians are being gunned down mercilessly everywhere and I am so scared for everyone. I feel like maybe if I leave one place, one area or neighborhood I will never see the people again alive.
There are more explosions outside now and more shooting. Another explosion. More firing, it just doesn’t stop.
This is a massacre. The foreign delegations tried to get in but were turned back, the International Committee of the Red Cross is trying to help but they are being ignored. Please help.
I am not only scared for myself and for people here, but if this cannot be stopped, I am truly scared for all of humanity, for a world in which we send men to the moon but cannot stop ethnic cleansing.
On the news in America, we see hardly anything of demonstrations. What are you doing over there?
There do not seem to be any reports of what is happening. In truth, its got to stop. Please go out to the streets, please demand a response from your representatives. Be loud, march up to the capitals, refuse to leave until the Israelis withdraw. Act now! Tell them the Israelis are murdering innocent people whose only crime is being born in their own homeland, a Palestinian under a military occupation.
Demand international protection for the Palestinian people, scream that this is an affront to humanity and that it is time that the US not only stop supporting Israel, but that the US stop its abuse of human rights within its own borders. This is about all of our struggles. For the love of God, please stop this slaughter. Please help.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Contacts
1. The New York Times
National Desk
Katie Roberts 212 556 7356 or Jim Roberts 212 556 7356 or Laurie
Goodstein 212 556 1854
Also, contact Bob Herbert 212-556 1952 (a columnist there) and the publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. 212 556 3588
2. Washington Post
Op-ed editor: Fred Hiatt 202 334 7281
Foreign Affairs:
Jim Hoagland 202 334 6899
Karen de Young 202 334 7468
National News:
Jackson Diehl 202 334 7467
Maralee Schwartz 202 334 6082
Editorial writer: Amy Schwartz 202 334 5138
3. San Francisco Chronicle
Managing Editor: Jerry Roberts 415 777 7124
Op Ed Editoror Lois Kazakoff 415 777 6054
Columnist: Jon Carroll 415 777 6249
National Editor: Jim Brewer 414 777 7103
Editorial Page Editor: John Diaz 777 7018
4. LA Times Executive Editor: Leo Wolinsky 213 237 3243
Managing Editor Dean Baquet 213 237 5100
National Editor: 214 237 7091
Foreign Policy Writer: Norman Kempster 202-861 9227
Editorial Page Editor: Janety Clayton 213 237 7931
5. Associated Press
Managing Editor Michael Silverman and National News Editor Ann Levin
are both at 212 621 1500
Religion writer (and sympathetic, but needs to be reminded): Julia
Lieblich 212 621 1659
News Features: Bruce De Silva 212 621 1830
6. Knight Ridder/Chicago Tribune News Service
Editor: Jane Scholz 202 383 6085
7. Newhouse News Service
National News Linda Fibich 202 383 7850
Values Reporter: Mark O`Keefe 202 383 7857
8.. Religion News Service Adelle Banks 202 383 7863
ELECTRONIC MEDIA
1. NPR
DANIEL SCHORR 202 414 2271
SENIOR FOREIGN EDITOR: LOREN JENKINS 202 414 2298
FOREIGN AFFIRS CORRESPONDENT TOM GEJLTEN 202 414 2288
POLITICAL EDITOR KEN RUDIN 202 414 2250
RELIGON: LYNN NEARY 202 414 2196
NATIONAL EDITOR: DAVID SWEENEY 202 414 2212
2. ALL THINGS CONSIDERED
HOST: ROBERT SIEGEL 414 2110
DECISION MAKER: ELLEN WEISS, 202 414 2110
3. TALK OF THE NATION:
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: GREG ALLEN 202 414 2713
4. MORNING EDTIION
BOB EDWARDS 202 4154 2350
5. Here are some numbers to call:
ABC News - 212-456-4040
CBS News - 212-975-3691
NBC News - 212-664-4971
CNN - 404-827-1511
Fox News - 212-301-3300
MSNBC - 201-583-5222
PBS - 703-998-2150
NPR - 202-414-2200
NY Times - 212-556-1234
USA Today - 703-276-3400
WS Journal - 212-416-2000
Wash. Post - 202-334-6000
Time - 212-522-1212
U.S. News - 202-955-2000
AP 212-621-1600
MSNBC - 201-583-5000
CNBC - 201-585-2622
Call editorial page editors and ask them to contact the following people OR WHOMEVER:
1. Rabbi Michael Lerner. Email: RabbiLerner@tikkun.org. Phone: 415-575-1200
2. Israeli Peace Activist Uri Avnery. Email: uravnery@netvision.net.il
3. Rabbi Arthur Waskow. Email: Awaskow@aol.com. Phone: 215-844-8494
4. Cherie Brown. Email: Ncbiinc@aol.com. Phone: 202-785-9400
5. Rabbi Roly Matalon or Rabbi Marcello Bronstein. Phone: 212-787-7600
6. Professor Tanya Reinhart. Email: reinhart@post.tau.ac.il
7. Professor of Poli Sci Jerome Slater. Email: jnslater@acsu.buffalo.edu
8. Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb. Email: reblynn@swcp.com
9. Professor of Poli Sci at Ben Gurion University David Newman. Email: newman@bgumail.bgu.ac.il
10. Professor of Philosophy at Tel Aviv University Adi Ophir. Email: adiophir@post.tau.ac.il
11. Professor Rebecca Stein. Email: rlstein@sscl.berkeley.edu
12. Allan Solomonow. Email: asolomonow@afsc.org
13. Rabbi Brian Walt. Email: brianwalt1@aol.com
14. Ella Shohat. Email: eshohat@gc.cuny.edu
#35 Posted by tahmed321 on April 3, 2002 11:54:59 am
hamidm #32 Agreed on the style. The write-up could benefit from liposuction: I still have not built up the courage to go back an actually read, rather than skim, through this story.
soundmeister #35: I did not say hamidm was wrong in attributing ``dark and stormy night`` phrase to Bulwer-Lytton (or whatver the name was). I said Zafar Anjum does not start with this phrase. hamidm #32 has since clarified that he meant the style was unoriginal, not the phrase.
As for people being too generous to new writers, why not? There is enough petty sniping on chowk as it is. The man made an effort to sit down and write something, did he not??
soundmeister #35: I did not say hamidm was wrong in attributing ``dark and stormy night`` phrase to Bulwer-Lytton (or whatver the name was). I said Zafar Anjum does not start with this phrase. hamidm #32 has since clarified that he meant the style was unoriginal, not the phrase.
As for people being too generous to new writers, why not? There is enough petty sniping on chowk as it is. The man made an effort to sit down and write something, did he not??
#34 Posted by Godot on April 3, 2002 11:54:59 am
Re: Lajwanti, #36
Whoever wrote this post was stoned out of his/her mind. But it`s funny!!!
Whoever wrote this post was stoned out of his/her mind. But it`s funny!!!
#33 Posted by anNy on April 3, 2002 11:54:59 am
lajjobhai
u are a riot..im laughing so much as im typing this, its making my tummy hurt..total awesome
u are a riot..im laughing so much as im typing this, its making my tummy hurt..total awesome
#32 Posted by Lajwanti on April 3, 2002 3:01:25 am
Reply Deepika # 33
“Wow. I don`t know what to say.”
Thisi is news? Really? So whyyo u are saying, haiN?
“ I thought everything was going great between us.”
Aap kabhee poochtay to maiN aap ko theek bata saktee. But NO, tupicall, all talkshal, magar listen lafz ka nam bhee naheeN suna. Andhtan complaning, baysharam. also forgetitng my bathday.
“I thought we really had something special going these past
six weeks.”
Six weeks? It felt like six YEARS…timeflie s when you ar having fun, no?
“ Apparently, I was wrong. It`s become
clear to me that all this time, you were just using
me for sex,”
I am DENYING!!!! Whyyou are tyring to spoil my goodname on chowk? Ali1, PLZ DOIN”T BELIEVE!!!!! I amswaring, ok? IAM NUT LIKE THAT!!!!!!!!!! I am expaining everything.
“ friendship, and good conversation.”
HaaN, now you are trying tobe repactable, but TOOLATEW BUDY! You are soolaymanee keeda. Ok?
Ishould give sypathy, butia m too ongry, becz you are talling lying about me. I am respactble, ok! Nothatkin d of parson!
“I can`t believe I let you use me for stimulating
conversation like that.”
Aapko ghalat fahmee hooee hay. GEDDIT?
“ You were great when it
came to sharing my passion for African literature,
but it was all a lie.”
What tutushutu have to do withthas, haiN? Okri ka nam letay rahna, bheenda ka salan bana rahay ho kya?
“ I don`t know how you can stand
to look in the mirror, knowing your life has been
built on a foundation of untruths.”
At least it is built, ok? Whoyou are totalk?
“I`m sure being a generous lover was also part
of your elaborate ruse.”
Hai taubah!!!!! Urstruly, koi bhee, mujhay bachao iss liar say!!!!!
You evil rascal!!! Kafir bhai will teaching you lesson you are not forgetting, reminding you of maternal grandmather and everything! Talling impoper lies about lady.
“ It`s all falling into place. You
may have seemed responsive to my desires and
sensitive to my needs, but all the while, you were
just manipulating me into participating in mutually
satisfying intercourse.”
Chowk staff! CHOWK STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAF!!!!! Please doing something! See what all they are sayinga bout me, haiN??? Thius is nat far!! Thisis abusive post!!! Meyra nam mittee meiN mila raha hai yeh Deepika dakookaheeN ka!
(Hai RabbaN mainnoo chook lay!!!)
“Did it mean anything to you, that time we sat in
your kitchen drinking coffee and sharing the
newspaper?”
Lieslieslieslies and MORE LIES. MaiN coffee naheeN peetee. Aap akhbar naheeN par sakte! Ha! What prof youa re hawing?! Just vulgar conjacture.
“ Or when we took the long way home
after our second date, holding hands”
Namumkin! Plz believing me averybudy, this NEVER HAPPENING, OK!
“ The look in
your eyes tells me all I need to know.”
HA! Iam wearing burka whole time, how you are seeing my eyes, haiN? HaiN? HAINNNNN?
“Hey, I`ve got an idea! Why don`t you send me a
card saying you`re happy to have met me, and that
your life was enriched by the time we spent
together.”
Sand youself card if youwant one. I am busy wushing my hair. Ok?
Plz do not dmean my name like this again. AndI am changing my talaphone number.
I amn ot your fried anymore. I was guving sypathy, but nevergain.
Lajwanti
“Wow. I don`t know what to say.”
Thisi is news? Really? So whyyo u are saying, haiN?
“ I thought everything was going great between us.”
Aap kabhee poochtay to maiN aap ko theek bata saktee. But NO, tupicall, all talkshal, magar listen lafz ka nam bhee naheeN suna. Andhtan complaning, baysharam. also forgetitng my bathday.
“I thought we really had something special going these past
six weeks.”
Six weeks? It felt like six YEARS…timeflie s when you ar having fun, no?
“ Apparently, I was wrong. It`s become
clear to me that all this time, you were just using
me for sex,”
I am DENYING!!!! Whyyou are tyring to spoil my goodname on chowk? Ali1, PLZ DOIN”T BELIEVE!!!!! I amswaring, ok? IAM NUT LIKE THAT!!!!!!!!!! I am expaining everything.
“ friendship, and good conversation.”
HaaN, now you are trying tobe repactable, but TOOLATEW BUDY! You are soolaymanee keeda. Ok?
Ishould give sypathy, butia m too ongry, becz you are talling lying about me. I am respactble, ok! Nothatkin d of parson!
“I can`t believe I let you use me for stimulating
conversation like that.”
Aapko ghalat fahmee hooee hay. GEDDIT?
“ You were great when it
came to sharing my passion for African literature,
but it was all a lie.”
What tutushutu have to do withthas, haiN? Okri ka nam letay rahna, bheenda ka salan bana rahay ho kya?
“ I don`t know how you can stand
to look in the mirror, knowing your life has been
built on a foundation of untruths.”
At least it is built, ok? Whoyou are totalk?
“I`m sure being a generous lover was also part
of your elaborate ruse.”
Hai taubah!!!!! Urstruly, koi bhee, mujhay bachao iss liar say!!!!!
You evil rascal!!! Kafir bhai will teaching you lesson you are not forgetting, reminding you of maternal grandmather and everything! Talling impoper lies about lady.
“ It`s all falling into place. You
may have seemed responsive to my desires and
sensitive to my needs, but all the while, you were
just manipulating me into participating in mutually
satisfying intercourse.”
Chowk staff! CHOWK STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAF!!!!! Please doing something! See what all they are sayinga bout me, haiN??? Thius is nat far!! Thisis abusive post!!! Meyra nam mittee meiN mila raha hai yeh Deepika dakookaheeN ka!
(Hai RabbaN mainnoo chook lay!!!)
“Did it mean anything to you, that time we sat in
your kitchen drinking coffee and sharing the
newspaper?”
Lieslieslieslies and MORE LIES. MaiN coffee naheeN peetee. Aap akhbar naheeN par sakte! Ha! What prof youa re hawing?! Just vulgar conjacture.
“ Or when we took the long way home
after our second date, holding hands”
Namumkin! Plz believing me averybudy, this NEVER HAPPENING, OK!
“ The look in
your eyes tells me all I need to know.”
HA! Iam wearing burka whole time, how you are seeing my eyes, haiN? HaiN? HAINNNNN?
“Hey, I`ve got an idea! Why don`t you send me a
card saying you`re happy to have met me, and that
your life was enriched by the time we spent
together.”
Sand youself card if youwant one. I am busy wushing my hair. Ok?
Plz do not dmean my name like this again. AndI am changing my talaphone number.
I amn ot your fried anymore. I was guving sypathy, but nevergain.
Lajwanti
#31 Posted by soundmeister on April 3, 2002 1:14:35 am
tahmed321:
hamidm got it spot-on right....Bulwer-Lytton WAS in
fact the guy who invented the ``It was a dark and
stormy night....`` beginning immortalised by Snoopy
in his innumerable unfinished typewritten novels.
Since 1982, University of California professor Scott
Rice has been running a contest on cheesiest
opening lines in a novel which he calls the Bulwer-
Lytton Award. Check out www.bulwer-lytton.com for
details. Zafar Anjum may have inadvertently
become a top qualifier for the 2002 award :)))
Romair:
Whoa.....boy! Give the man a break OK? Nothing
wrong in spreading a little humour is there,
especially when the young writer can only learn
from the experience? IMHO Chowk is too polite to
its new contributors, it`s a wonder Ras Siddiqui
hasn`t come along with his patent Welcome to
Chowk speech.....
ylh:
Too much single malt last night or what? What
was with that last post???????
hamidm got it spot-on right....Bulwer-Lytton WAS in
fact the guy who invented the ``It was a dark and
stormy night....`` beginning immortalised by Snoopy
in his innumerable unfinished typewritten novels.
Since 1982, University of California professor Scott
Rice has been running a contest on cheesiest
opening lines in a novel which he calls the Bulwer-
Lytton Award. Check out www.bulwer-lytton.com for
details. Zafar Anjum may have inadvertently
become a top qualifier for the 2002 award :)))
Romair:
Whoa.....boy! Give the man a break OK? Nothing
wrong in spreading a little humour is there,
especially when the young writer can only learn
from the experience? IMHO Chowk is too polite to
its new contributors, it`s a wonder Ras Siddiqui
hasn`t come along with his patent Welcome to
Chowk speech.....
ylh:
Too much single malt last night or what? What
was with that last post???????
#30 Posted by Deepika on April 3, 2002 1:14:35 am
Wow. I don`t know what to say. I thought
everything was going great between us. I thought
we really had something special going these past
six weeks. Apparently, I was wrong. It`s become
clear to me that all this time, you were just using
me for sex, friendship, and good conversation.<
BR>
Is that all I was to you, somebody you could
potentially be interested in dating long-term,
assuming things kept progressing? After all the
dates we`d been on, was it that easy to throw it all
away once you decided I wasn`t really right for you?
It all seems so hollow now.
I remember the time we saw Monsoon
Wedding and then went out for coffee. Over lattes,
we discussed everything from Indian cinema to
our respective college experiences. Now I know it
meant nothing. And the time you told me about
how you watched your grandmother slowly die of
cancer? What a sucker I was.
You were very clever, enjoying yourself when
we met at that party. I must have been blind. Even
that early in the game, you were already weaving
the web of physical attractiveness, intelligence,
and sense of humor that you would use to
ensnare me, culminating in a six-week dating stint.
I hope you had fun.
I can`t believe I let you use me for stimulating
conversation like that. You were great when it
came to sharing my passion for African literature,
but it was all a lie. I don`t know how you can stand
to look in the mirror, knowing your life has been
built on a foundation of untruths. I bet you just read
Season Of Migration To The North just to impress
me with your theories on the subject.
I`m sure being a generous lover was also part
of your elaborate ruse. It`s all falling into place. You
may have seemed responsive to my desires and
sensitive to my needs, but all the while, you were
just manipulating me into participating in mutually
satisfying intercourse.
Did it mean anything to you, that time we sat in
your kitchen drinking coffee and sharing the
newspaper? Or when we took the long way home
after our second date, holding hands and talking
about our favorite songs? How about the time you
made me a picnic lunch in the park? Were those
just your devious ways of finding out if our
personalities were compatible in case you wanted
to see more of me? Wait, don`t answer. The look in
your eyes tells me all I need to know.
I feel like such a fool. All this time, I thought
there was something behind your interest in me.
Instead, it was just some sort of trap to win my
time and affection—until you lost interest, that is.
How could I have been so blind? Couldn`t I see
that all those jokes you told were just a thinly veiled
attempt to get me to have a good time with you?
Apparently not, because I fell for it like a sparrow
weighted with sandbags.
Perhaps words have different meanings for
you. When you said, ``Thanks, I had fun,`` I guess
what you were really saying was, ``I will be funny,
charming, and affectionate until I grow tired of
you.``
Now you want to be ``just friends``? Whatever it
takes to help you sleep. Your carefully chosen
words aren`t fooling me. The time for that is over. I
refuse to fall victim to your sincerity ever again.<
BR>
Hey, I`ve got an idea! Why don`t you send me a
card saying you`re happy to have met me, and that
your life was enriched by the time we spent
together. What`s that? You like and respect me too
much to do something tacky and dismissive like
that? I figured you`d say something like that.
Typical.
#29 Posted by Deepika on April 3, 2002 1:14:35 am
Wow. I don`t know what to say. I thought
everything was going great between us. I thought
we really had something special going these past
six weeks. Apparently, I was wrong. It`s become
clear to me that all this time, you were just using
me for sex, friendship, and good conversation.<
BR>
Is that all I was to you, somebody you could
potentially be interested in dating long-term,
assuming things kept progressing? After all the
dates we`d been on, was it that easy to throw it all
away once you decided I wasn`t really right for you?
It all seems so hollow now.
I remember the time we saw Monsoon
Wedding and then went out for coffee. Over lattes,
we discussed everything from Indian cinema to
our respective college experiences. Now I know it
meant nothing. And the time you told me about
how you watched your grandmother slowly die of
cancer? What a sucker I was.
You were very clever, enjoying yourself when
we met at that party. I must have been blind. Even
that early in the game, you were already weaving
the web of physical attractiveness, intelligence,
and sense of humor that you would use to
ensnare me, culminating in a six-week dating stint.
I hope you had fun.
I can`t believe I let you use me for stimulating
conversation like that. You were great when it
came to sharing my passion for African literature,
but it was all a lie. I don`t know how you can stand
to look in the mirror, knowing your life has been
built on a foundation of untruths. I bet you just read
Season Of Migration To The North just to impress
me with your theories on the subject.
I`m sure being a generous lover was also part
of your elaborate ruse. It`s all falling into place. You
may have seemed responsive to my desires and
sensitive to my needs, but all the while, you were
just manipulating me into participating in mutually
satisfying intercourse.
Did it mean anything to you, that time we sat in
your kitchen drinking coffee and sharing the
newspaper? Or when we took the long way home
after our second date, holding hands and talking
about our favorite songs? How about the time you
made me a picnic lunch in the park? Were those
just your devious ways of finding out if our
personalities were compatible in case you wanted
to see more of me? Wait, don`t answer. The look in
your eyes tells me all I need to know.
I feel like such a fool. All this time, I thought
there was something behind your interest in me.
Instead, it was just some sort of trap to win my
time and affection—until you lost interest, that is.
How could I have been so blind? Couldn`t I see
that all those jokes you told were just a thinly veiled
attempt to get me to have a good time with you?
Apparently not, because I fell for it like a sparrow
weighted with sandbags.
Perhaps words have different meanings for
you. When you said, ``Thanks, I had fun,`` I guess
what you were really saying was, ``I will be funny,
charming, and affectionate until I grow tired of
you.``
Now you want to be ``just friends``? Whatever it
takes to help you sleep. Your carefully chosen
words aren`t fooling me. The time for that is over. I
refuse to fall victim to your sincerity ever again.<
BR>
Hey, I`ve got an idea! Why don`t you send me a
card saying you`re happy to have met me, and that
your life was enriched by the time we spent
together. What`s that? You like and respect me too
much to do something tacky and dismissive like
that? I figured you`d say something like that.
Typical.
#28 Posted by hamidm on April 3, 2002 1:14:35 am
tahmed
.... no no, i was not trying to say that zafar mian
ripped off his masterpiece - i am sure it is an
original .... i was just poking fun at his rather
tedious style a`la `` it was a dark and stormy night``
.... nothing more or less .....actually mrs flannagan
would have loved this piece - she was big on
metaphors, similies and went gaga over
alliteration .....``on scrolls of silver snowy
sentences`` and ``babbling brooks`` .... but then what
do i know - i am sure zafar is not going to give up
writing on account of my silly bad attitude ......
romair
.... so you noticed ? ......no, i have nothing positive
to say about anything - i will leave that up to
tahmed .... that would be quite contrary to my
purpose in life ......
..... and please stop equating top notch four year
colleges like westpoint and boulder to community
colleges like kakul and risalpur ..... i was there -
and so what if i failed the saluting test and spent
mid-term break smoking dope and watching the
rain fall over salahuddin company ..... i know all
about geopolitics and, push come to shove, could
still disassemble a G-3 in a couple of hours ....
.... no no, i was not trying to say that zafar mian
ripped off his masterpiece - i am sure it is an
original .... i was just poking fun at his rather
tedious style a`la `` it was a dark and stormy night``
.... nothing more or less .....actually mrs flannagan
would have loved this piece - she was big on
metaphors, similies and went gaga over
alliteration .....``on scrolls of silver snowy
sentences`` and ``babbling brooks`` .... but then what
do i know - i am sure zafar is not going to give up
writing on account of my silly bad attitude ......
romair
.... so you noticed ? ......no, i have nothing positive
to say about anything - i will leave that up to
tahmed .... that would be quite contrary to my
purpose in life ......
..... and please stop equating top notch four year
colleges like westpoint and boulder to community
colleges like kakul and risalpur ..... i was there -
and so what if i failed the saluting test and spent
mid-term break smoking dope and watching the
rain fall over salahuddin company ..... i know all
about geopolitics and, push come to shove, could
still disassemble a G-3 in a couple of hours ....
#27 Posted by progressive on April 3, 2002 1:14:35 am
Deaf Lesbians Criticized For Efforts to Create Deaf
Child
By Matt Pyeatt
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
April 02, 2002
(CNSNews.com) - A leading pro-family
organization is questioning attempts by a
Suburban Washington, D.C. lesbian couple to
deliberately create a deaf child.
Candy McCullough and Sharon Duchesneau of
North Bethesda, Md. said they did everything
possible to make sure their newborn son is deaf
by specifically seeking and obtaining a sperm
donor for artificial insemination who has a lengthy
family history of deafness.
But one group has made it clear it disagrees with
the women`s choice to produce children with
disabilities, not to mention raising them in a
homosexual household.
``This couple has effectively decided that their
desire to have a deaf child is of more concern to
them than is the burden they are placing on their
son,`` Ken Connor, president of the Family
Research Council, said.
``To intentionally give a child a disability, in addition
to all the disadvantages that come as a result of
being raised in a homosexual household, is
incredibly selfish,`` Connor said.
McCullough and Duchesneau, who were featured
in a cover story of the Washington Post Magazine
March 31, already have a daughter who was
designed to be deaf and they`re hoping their son
Gauvin is deaf as well. Duchesneau is the mother
of both children.
Because the child is a newborn infant, it will take
several months until an audiologist can determine
whether Gauvin can or cannot hear.
The women, however, insisted that it is not of
utmost important that Gauvin is deaf, but they
would like their son to have the same disability as
the rest of the family.
Duchesneau hopes the family`s deafness stays
intact. ``He`d be the only hearing member of the
family. Other than the cats,`` she told the
Washington Post Magazine.
McCullough was more direct in her hopes that
their son would be deaf. ``I would say that we
wanted to increase our chances of having a baby
who is deaf,`` she said in an interview with the
Post.
But Connor said it was wrong to attempt to
produce a deaf child and that serious challenges
against the traditional definition of family were
taking place.
``This reduces the father to a mere inseminator,
raises the prospects of donor shopping and
designer genes, and turns a baby into a trophy,``
Connor said.
An official with the Family Research Council said
the group`s opposition to deliberately creating deaf
children would not change if the couple were
heterosexual.
McCullough told the Post that families should have
the right to seek sperm donors from anyone in
order to be comfortable with the culture of the
family.
``Some people look at it like, `Oh my gosh, you
shouldn`t have a child who has a disability`. But,
you know, black people have harder lives. Why
shouldn`t parents be able to go ahead and pick a
black donor if that`s what they want,`` McCullough
asked rhetorically.
sb100 sa100``They should have that option. They
can feel related to that culture, bonded with that
culture,`` McCullough said.
But Connor disagrees when it comes to
deliberately trying to create children with the
burdens of physical disabilities.
``We`ve seen many parents try to ensure they create
children possessing a certain trait, however, this
couple has sought to create a child so that he
does not possess a certain trait - in this case, the
ability to hear,`` Connor said.
sb100 sa100
``One can only hope that this practice of
intentionally manufacturing disabled children in
order to fit the lifestyles of the parents will not
progress any further,`` Connor said.
The women were quick to point out that they would
not be disappointed if Gauvin could hear but were
just as clear in telling the Post that they preferred
him to be deaf.
``A hearing baby would be a blessing,``
Duchesneau said. ``A deaf baby would be a special
blessing.``
Connor hopes the practice of designing babies is
stopped. ``The places this slippery slope could
lead are frightening,`` he said.
Child
By Matt Pyeatt
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
April 02, 2002
(CNSNews.com) - A leading pro-family
organization is questioning attempts by a
Suburban Washington, D.C. lesbian couple to
deliberately create a deaf child.
Candy McCullough and Sharon Duchesneau of
North Bethesda, Md. said they did everything
possible to make sure their newborn son is deaf
by specifically seeking and obtaining a sperm
donor for artificial insemination who has a lengthy
family history of deafness.
But one group has made it clear it disagrees with
the women`s choice to produce children with
disabilities, not to mention raising them in a
homosexual household.
``This couple has effectively decided that their
desire to have a deaf child is of more concern to
them than is the burden they are placing on their
son,`` Ken Connor, president of the Family
Research Council, said.
``To intentionally give a child a disability, in addition
to all the disadvantages that come as a result of
being raised in a homosexual household, is
incredibly selfish,`` Connor said.
McCullough and Duchesneau, who were featured
in a cover story of the Washington Post Magazine
March 31, already have a daughter who was
designed to be deaf and they`re hoping their son
Gauvin is deaf as well. Duchesneau is the mother
of both children.
Because the child is a newborn infant, it will take
several months until an audiologist can determine
whether Gauvin can or cannot hear.
The women, however, insisted that it is not of
utmost important that Gauvin is deaf, but they
would like their son to have the same disability as
the rest of the family.
Duchesneau hopes the family`s deafness stays
intact. ``He`d be the only hearing member of the
family. Other than the cats,`` she told the
Washington Post Magazine.
McCullough was more direct in her hopes that
their son would be deaf. ``I would say that we
wanted to increase our chances of having a baby
who is deaf,`` she said in an interview with the
Post.
But Connor said it was wrong to attempt to
produce a deaf child and that serious challenges
against the traditional definition of family were
taking place.
``This reduces the father to a mere inseminator,
raises the prospects of donor shopping and
designer genes, and turns a baby into a trophy,``
Connor said.
An official with the Family Research Council said
the group`s opposition to deliberately creating deaf
children would not change if the couple were
heterosexual.
McCullough told the Post that families should have
the right to seek sperm donors from anyone in
order to be comfortable with the culture of the
family.
``Some people look at it like, `Oh my gosh, you
shouldn`t have a child who has a disability`. But,
you know, black people have harder lives. Why
shouldn`t parents be able to go ahead and pick a
black donor if that`s what they want,`` McCullough
asked rhetorically.
sb100 sa100``They should have that option. They
can feel related to that culture, bonded with that
culture,`` McCullough said.
But Connor disagrees when it comes to
deliberately trying to create children with the
burdens of physical disabilities.
``We`ve seen many parents try to ensure they create
children possessing a certain trait, however, this
couple has sought to create a child so that he
does not possess a certain trait - in this case, the
ability to hear,`` Connor said.
sb100 sa100
``One can only hope that this practice of
intentionally manufacturing disabled children in
order to fit the lifestyles of the parents will not
progress any further,`` Connor said.
The women were quick to point out that they would
not be disappointed if Gauvin could hear but were
just as clear in telling the Post that they preferred
him to be deaf.
``A hearing baby would be a blessing,``
Duchesneau said. ``A deaf baby would be a special
blessing.``
Connor hopes the practice of designing babies is
stopped. ``The places this slippery slope could
lead are frightening,`` he said.
#26 Posted by ylh on April 3, 2002 1:14:35 am
Post 28 is NOT by me. Some sicko has got hold of
Chowk nicks again. Have you no shame chowk
staff for playing such games with me?
-YLH
#25 Posted by tahmed321 on April 2, 2002 3:19:56 pm
hamidm #22 Is a ``dark and stormy night`` = ``rainy morning``?? Hunh????
Also, ``It was a dark and stormy night`` is of course the old joke about how to start a novel when you have a writer`s block. You stretched like a rubber band to put down Zafar Anjum...one may find other things to critique in his article (given the number of angrezi-dans on chowk), but it is no rip-off as you claim.
Also, ``It was a dark and stormy night`` is of course the old joke about how to start a novel when you have a writer`s block. You stretched like a rubber band to put down Zafar Anjum...one may find other things to critique in his article (given the number of angrezi-dans on chowk), but it is no rip-off as you claim.
#24 Posted by Romair on April 2, 2002 11:40:59 am
hamidm #22: Just out of curiousity; do you ever have anything positive to say about anyone?
Why this desire to be the habitual negative critic?
If someone is attempting to come up with something original, give the guy some credit, and encouragement. It is ok to criticize some pieces, but one has to really wonder about a person, who can never see anything positive in any argument, any story, any person.
Why not try to come up with something of your own? Perhaps an original idea, an original argument, an original piece of prose or poetry, instead of habitually attempting to become the devil`s advocate? That plays well to the peanut gallery, but it it is an indication of a great deal of bottled anger or a great desire to become the center of attention, or a sign of an inferiority complex which demands a defensive stance against anyone who attempts to present anything original.
Just some food for thought.
Hopefully, your first thought will to think about what I have stated, rather than a habitual knee-jerk reaction to criticize what I have stated.
Why this desire to be the habitual negative critic?
If someone is attempting to come up with something original, give the guy some credit, and encouragement. It is ok to criticize some pieces, but one has to really wonder about a person, who can never see anything positive in any argument, any story, any person.
Why not try to come up with something of your own? Perhaps an original idea, an original argument, an original piece of prose or poetry, instead of habitually attempting to become the devil`s advocate? That plays well to the peanut gallery, but it it is an indication of a great deal of bottled anger or a great desire to become the center of attention, or a sign of an inferiority complex which demands a defensive stance against anyone who attempts to present anything original.
Just some food for thought.
Hopefully, your first thought will to think about what I have stated, rather than a habitual knee-jerk reaction to criticize what I have stated.
#23 Posted by roohi on April 2, 2002 11:40:59 am
Ashok #21
Thanks for the geography lesson - not Khasia though - only following fauji Dad to the latest god forsaken military outpost ...
Thanks for the geography lesson - not Khasia though - only following fauji Dad to the latest god forsaken military outpost ...
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