Tennis Is Easy To Learn, How and Why You Should Play

I cannot count the number of people who have told me over the years, “I tried to play tennis, but I just wasn't any good at it.”

I politely disagree with them.

Everyone can play tennis.

However, you do have to learn the BASICS, which are not complicated, but are necessary.

The basics of tennis are counter intuitive, which is why people who don't have someone to guide them often fail at tennis after flailing away for months, sometimes.

I tried tennis when I was 12, I found a wall and hit for hours, and days, and weeks.

I just didn't seem to get any better, so I gave up.

Years later I was a Firefighter, and a rookie started recruit training with the Department who had been a professional player .

This time, before I played, I went to the library and checked out a book by Vic Braden, an instructional manual.

I went out with the rookie, Jeff Bates.

I asked him for some tips.

He said, “I'll give you two tips. Find a wall to practice against. The second tip, just get the ball back.

That's the most important tip,

Just get it back.”

The first time we played, was for me, embarrassing, although Jeff was non-committal.

By the third time, with the aid of Vic Braden's book, Jeff said, “I am impressed, Michael. I can tell you've been practicing. You have really improved. I want you to have this.”

He gave me his one of his rackets, a Head, ash and graphite racket.

I played with it for years, it became one of my most prized objects.

And I learned about just one of the benefits of tennis.

A bond is formed between players.

I began finding other Firefighters who played, and challenged them to matches.

I lost quite a few matches, but I was getting a feel for the game.

Finally, after many months, I felt that I was, “in the zone”.

I was battling a younger player, the brother and hitting partner of a local High School champion.

Richard Felix.

It's hard to explain the exhilaration of winding up, coiling your body, and hitting a perfect shot with everything you have.

The closest experience I can relate to it is some of the boxing matches I had when I was younger.

The same adrenalin rush, the same feeling of being in control, the same drama.

And it is a feeling that everyone can experience.

It is like a religion, when you come to know it.

It really is.

I proselytize Tennis.

Not because I get paid for it, but because everyone can, and should know the feeling of being an athlete.

I will get more into the spiritual benefits of tennis in a later article, but such benefits do go hand in hand with tennis.

There is a reason that billionaires, who can play any sport, and pursue any activity, choose, and stay with this incredible game.

Again, I will address that remarkable issue in a forthcoming article.

So for now, I would like to give an introductory lesson

I have taught quite a few players, including my children, and I have taught underprivileged children how to play.

I believe anyone that can walk and run can play tennis well.

They just have to learn the basics.

And practice.

We all know how to get to Carnegie Hall, yes?

I have proven that I can teach the basics to anyone, and have them playing, and hitting comfortably, in an hour.

I usually hold the racket with my palm on the flat side, put the racket on the side, and “shake hands with it” is how I have heard it described.

I do want to note that lately I have been trying to hit forehands with my palm further onto the bottom of the racket, that is, with the knuckles on the bottom of the racket.

This seems to almost force you to impart more topspin to shots.

Experiment with your grip.

When you hit a backhand, you rotate the racket forward, but that comes later, we are working on a forehand today.

When you hit the ball the racket should be held so that the strings are facing  the net.

If the shot comes towards you low, bend your knees, don't turn the racket face up or down.

The strings should be in the direction you want the ball to go.

Hit the ball slightly in front of your body,

at waist level, bend your knees to hit low shots at waist level, back up or or stretch or jump if the shot is high.

Watch the flight of the ball and try to position yourself so that you can hit it at waist level, just in front of your body.

Think of a “C”, bring the racket back in a loop, a “C”, the racket straightens out just as you hit the ball and gives it topspin.

Think of it as brushing up the back of the ball , this is not what you do, you actually hit through the ball, but the concept of brushing up the back of the ball sometimes helps visualize the desired result, I.e., topspin.

Topspin is important because it lets you hit the ball hard, and it still lands inside the court because the spin brings it down.

I think tennis instruction books are an extremely valuable tool.

By far the most helpful books I have seen are the Vic Braden books, and the one by Ivan Lendl, with Braden way ahead.

However, what I learned from Ivan Lendl was, he recommended hitting thousands of balls against a wall.

I have found this helpful as well.

I was injured in a bicycle accident a few years back and couldn't play tennis.

But I had a large driveway, and a garage. When I was recovered enough from the accident, (a fractured tib fib and humerus,) I played against the wall of the garage for three months.

My comeback match was with a neighbor who played weekly at a tennis club.

I beat him in three straight matches, and he was a decent player, so I am definitely an advocate of playing the wall.

Remember, the wall always returns your shots.

The young Pete Sampras spent hours hitting balls against the wall.

What I want you to remember from this lesson, however, is hit the ball waist high and with the racket perpendicular to the net, slightly in front of your body.

The ball will go in the direction of your hand at the moment you strike it.

I hope y'all come back.

If you have comments or criticism, click “Comments”, and I will answer if I can.

Iranian Dissident: Dear Israeli Brothers and Sisters - Help Us!

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/132073

by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

(IsraelNN.com) Iranian anti-regime activists are hoping for an Israeli technological hand to help them fight the Islamic Republic. As of now, hundreds of protesters have been killed by the regime, which is evidently using Arabic-speaking armed thugs from Hizbullah to help perpetrate the violence.

"Dear Israeli Brothers and Sisters," writes Iranian dissident Arash Irandoost, "Iran needs your help more than ever now. And we will be eternally grateful. Please help opposition television and radio stations which are blocked and being jammed by the Islamic Republic (Nokia and Siemens) resume broadcast to Iran. There is a total media blackout and Iranians inside Iran for the most part are not aware of their brave brothers and sisters fighting and losing their lives daily. And the unjust treatment and brutal massacre of the brave Iranians in the hands of the mullah's paid terrorist Hamas and Hizbullah gangs are not seen by the majority of the Iranians. Please help in any way you can to allow these stations resume broadcasting to Iran.

"And, please remember that we will remember, as you have remembered Cyrus the Great's treatment of you in your time of need," Irandoost concludes, signing his blogged call for help "Your Iranian Brothers and Sisters!"

In an interview with Israel National News, Iranian expatriate pro-democracy activist Amil Imani said that Irandoost's message represents the sentiments of much of the youth in the streets in Iran. They have a strong belief in the technological know-how of the Israelis to overcome the Iranian regime's attempts to block communications.

"This is going to be the most massive, impressive revolution of the 21st century," Imani said, "and we're seeing it live." However, he added, it is now too dependent on Internet communications, so the protesters are very much in need of outside assistance to fight the technological and information war.

More generally, Imani said, the Iranian people are lionizing any leader of any nation who comes out strongly against the Islamic Republic at this time.

According to Imani, at least 500 people have been killed by Iranian government forces, with another 5,000 injured. But the hospitals are no longer safe, he added, as the gunmen from the basiji militia enter the emergency wards looking for
We will remember, as you have remembered Cyrus the Great's treatment of you in your time of need.
wounded protesters. Therefore, Imani said, sympathetic doctors have taken to treating the wounded wherever they can, including in private homes.

Even outside Iran, thousands of protesters are out in the streets every day, especially in the United States. Imani said he thinks the phenomenon represents unprecedented unity in the Iranian expatriate community.

As for the basijis themselves, Imani reported, many of them are Lebanese and Palestinian Authority Arabs hired by the regime to do its bidding. Iranians reportedly captured seven basijiswho spoke no Persian, only Arabic. According to Imani, 10,000 more Arab hired guns arrived in Tehran to serve the mullah-led regime.

But they are not the only ones thinking about guns at this point. Some Iranian protesters, Imani reported, have taken to threatening their oppressors, "God help you when we get weapons!"

Even outside Iran, thousands of protesters are out in the streets every day, especially in the United States. Imani said he thinks the phenomenon represents unprecedented unity in the Iranian community, within Iran and abroad.

"There is no turning back," Imani concluded.

Iran's revolution now has a name and a symbol

It is with some self-loathing that I find myself awash with tears when I think of Neda. Unfortunately, not knowing what I was about to see, I viewed the video of her murder, and it won't leave my thoughts. I am a retired firefighter, so clinically I knew what was happening as the sad events unfolded. ..But someone so young, so beautiful, with so much to live for. My "assessment" is that as her eyes rolled back in her head she was gone, already. But it seemed like she gazed at all of us with incomprehensible shock and sadness. As Ms Parker says, she has given life to the struggle, but at such a great cost, to herself, and to all of us.

Michael

Kathleen Parker

June 24, 2009

Every revolution needs a unifying symbol, and members of Iran's opposition movement now have theirs.

That was one dumb sniper who took out the young woman millions now know as Neda. Or was he?

No one seems to know the identity of the rooftop shooter who pierced Neda's heart with a bullet Saturday. Was he a Basij sniper, as some witnesses have reported? Was it a mistake? Or did the shooter see an opportunity to create a necessary martyr?

The thought is inescapable that the beautiful Neda Agha Soltan might have been selected from the crowd not to scare away protesters, but to unite them.

It is not impossible to imagine that someone had a greater purpose in mind for the young philosophy student. If stories emerging from Iran are accurate, even Neda seemed to anticipate what might happen. When a friend begged her not to join the protesters, Neda said:

"It's just one bullet and it's over."

Just one bullet was all it took. Neda reportedly died within two minutes as onlookers shouted "Do not be afraid." That phrase, a single word in Farsi, has become a chant among protesters.

In a matter of hours, a video of Neda's death was circulated through YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. Neda is now the undisputed symbol of reform-minded Iranians' demand for freedom.

What follows next is by no means predictable, but history provides hints. Neda's anointment as a martyr could become crucial in the next month. Followers of the Shiite branch of Islam participate in cycles of mourning - on the third, seventh and 40th days after death. These cycles served as rallying points during the 1979 revolution and conceivably could serve the same purpose now.

In the meantime, it is reasonable to ask why Neda so captured the imagination when many others have died since the June 12 election. On the same day that Neda died, at least 9 other protesters were killed.

At first, reports were that she was a teenager, just 16, walking with her father. Perhaps the world's initial reaction was tied to the belief that the government had slaughtered a child. Later, we learned that Neda was 26 and that the man with her was her music teacher. By then, the image of the young woman's dying face was firmly imprinted on the international psyche and the mythology of Neda had taken root.

What of all those others? Were they only men? Were they not as beautiful?

We are a video culture attracted to drama and beauty, an admission of which does not diminish the tragedy of Neda's death or the terrible loss for her family and friends. But as the days unfold, it will be interesting to watch how Neda, whose name means "The Voice" or "The Calling," is incorporated into the developing narrative of Iran and especially of Iranian women.

In fact, the protest movement's martyr needed to be a woman. And she needed to be a modern woman. It is noteworthy that Neda was wearing jeans and sneakers, uniform of the West, rather than the traditional garb of hijab or chador. It was clearly Neda's choice to ignore her government's preference that women hide their feminine features.

What better symbol for the repressive rule of old clerics than a liberated beauty brutally cut down in the prime of youth? Symbolically, Neda's death isn't about voting irregularities, but about the clash between superstitions that justify men's dominion over women and the universal yearning for freedom.

Women's rights were at the center of opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi's reform agenda. His wife, Zahra Rahnavard was front and center in the campaign, urging a "religious democracy, which would allow young women ... to thrive and flourish by providing them with security, freedom and employment."

That message may have been the sniper's target. With his bullet, he delivered another: Women either will behave and follow the rules, or they will die. Whatever the shooter's true aim, the body he left in the street has become immortal in the story of Iran. Neda - the voice of freedom - can never be silenced now.

Kathleen Parker's syndicated column appears regularly in The Baltimore Sun. Her e-mail iskparker@kparker.com.

Copyright © 2009, The Baltimore Sun

Neda Galvanizes the Woman of Tehran

Student immigrants From Iran, members of the Iran Students Association today organized a demonstration in front of the U.S. Embassy calling upon President Obama to help the victims in Iran.

Shortly before the demonstration President Obama issued a statement saying that he was "appalled and outraged" by the violence against the Iranian people who were seeking to exercise their "universally recognized Human rights" to assemble and demonstrate.

This is a right also recognized by the Iranian Constitution, but obviously the Ayatollah, currently the supreme authority in Iran, does not feel the need to obey the constitution.

Obama also termed the brutal murder of Neda Soltan, "Heartbreaking, fundamentally unjust. We have viewed a young woman killed in the streets of Iran, but we know that those who stand up against tyranny are on the right side."

If you want to know where Iran is headed, look at her proud, noble women.

Women have born the brunt of the brutality of the Islamist regime, as they say, "We have the most to gain in freeing our country."

The students lit candles before a photo and memorial of Neda, the 27 year old heroine who was brutally murdered by Basij thugs, a group of volunteers who enforce Sharia law in the repressive Islamic regime in Tehran.

The first laws passed in Iran, after the revolution against the Shah, were laws against women.

The mullahs encouraged polygamy, they lowered the age of marriage for women to 9 years old, they defrocked women judges and removed women from positions of responsibility.

They were strong supporters of women during the revolution, where women were the leaders and in the forefront, the Shah would not have been overthrown without them.

As is the way in Islam, they turned against them brutally once the Shah was removed from power.

The women of Iran, the Lionesses they are called, fought the Shah for more rights, not less.

The murder of Neda Soltan has galvanized them and the genie of women's rights, and human rights, will not be put back into the bottle.

Mr Mousavi is calling for a demonstration tomorrow at 4:pm.

Neda Will Live Forever

I considered posting the footage of Neda's murder here, but I cannot watch it right now.

I was deeply and profoundly disturbed when I saw the footage of the young lady, cut down in

the prime of life, the way she died, butchered by religious criminals.

She was so pretty, so full of life, the world watched as the life flowed from her body.

I heard an Iranian recently say, "There are women in Iran that are so brave, so filled with power to change the world and society, we call them Lioness."

Neda Soltan was a Lioness.

I could barely watch the video, it haunts me. Such a lovely young girl, targeted by a

sniper, a "religious" Muslim.

Why her?

She was wearing Jeans.

No burka.

She desired freedom for her people.

Shot in the chest.

The sniper will die in an unremarkable grave.

Unknown, not missed.

Neda Soltan will live forever in our hearts, as a symbol of the courage of women, and all people who sacrifice for freedom.

"Let's make dust our paper and with rainy

eyes write sorrow upon the bosom of the earth."

I can hardly see to write these words, my eyes are filled with tears.

My deepest sympathy to her family, and though filled with sorrow, they should be proud of her.

Roger Cohen reported that the Basij stole Neda's body and buried her in an unmarked grave.

The family was not allowed to attend her service, which only 60 Iranians were able to attend.

The thugs in Iran can kill a freedom fighter, but they can't kill the fight for freedom.

There will be statues of her, and photographs and paintings on walls in homes and edifices

around the world, long after the Ayatollahs have gone to Hell for eternity.

Enough is Enough

This is a post from Esajudita.Com , written by the Blog's owner, Lena.

I enjoyed the post for it's glimpse into the trials of the Olim living in the Holy Land.

So, with out further ado, here's.... Lena!

Okay, people, this is it. This is the line at which I lose my patience. There is one very simple rule for dealing with me, and that is this: don't criticize me.

Ever.

For anything.

I've gotten way more criticism in my life than I ever deserved and I reached my threshold a long time ago.

But I'm sick of feeling like I have to stay quiet for fear that defending myself will alienate people. So there it is, straight up.

Now, for some background:

For those not in the know, in the past, it used to be that you could take your American driver's license into any MEMSI (I think I got that right) office and they would issue an Israeli one right there, on the spot. Well, before I came here, the rules changed and you must now go through one (or more) lessons and then a behind-the-wheel driving test.

Let's be clear: I consider this an inconvenience. I'm only doing it because I have to.

So after three years, with only one month left until the three-year mark, I finally decided to do something about this and called a driving instructor. I met her this morning in Tel Aviv, and after five minutes behind the wheel, she told me that she didn't like my driving. She said that it was too "energetic" (whatever the fuck that means) and she compared it to someone who eats as if the world were going to end in 30 seconds (which I don't, as anyone who knows me will tell you and besides, does that analogy make any fucking sense? No, it does not).

Trouble started right away when I was driving about 55-60 km/hour (25-30mph) which she said was too fast, and that I was scaring her. Ok, what the fuck? But fine, I slow down. She tells me to move into the left lane. I turn my signal on, I glance at my mirrors, and as I'm checking behind me, she grabs the wheel and moves it left for me.

::slam::

If you were in my car and you did that, you would be out on your ass before I would even have time to bitch-slap you.

An American instructor would give you the chance to make the change as you felt comfortable doing.

This happened one other time, in which I thought that there was too little space to move over, and she grabbed the wheel again and told me that since we weren't traveling at high speed, it was okay.

And here comes the real stunner: she asked why I looked behind me. At this point, I'm just confused and I tell her that I did that because that is what you are supposed to do. She says no, this is prohibited (אסור). Apparently, if you glance behind you to make sure that you will not be slamming into any oncoming cars, then you will hit someone in front of you. In eleven years of driving in the States - which includes driving from Virginia to Vermont, Virginia to Key West, Virginia to Columbus, Ohio, as well as trips between NoVa and Williamsburg almost every weekend for the last two years of my college life - this has never once happened to me. Or to anyone else that I have ever known. She explains to me that she knows that the Americans do this because she works with American students here and they all do the same thing.

Right. Because that is what you are supposed to do.

Longer story short, I had to fork over 120 shekels for today and another 240 on Thursday for another back-to-back session of being told that how my father taught me to drive is wrong (yes, she told me this today).

I swear to God that ff she insults my father one more time, she will be hearing about it. My father learned to drive in the fucking garment district of New York City, bitch.

Nothing you have ever done beats that.

Cultural relativism be damned. This is one area in which the Israelis need to learn from the Americans.

President Obama: Don't Meddle, Especially On Behalf Of Dictatorhip

Ayatollah Hominy

Today on CNN an Iranian posited that the worst thing President Obama could do during the Situation, (dare we hope, Revolution) would be to recognize Achmedinijad as the president there.

Although Obama is showing a near total lack of understanding about Israel and the larger middle-East, there is no doubt he needs to keep a distance from the revolution, at least at this point.

Like most people in the world, I have great admiration for the brave young people in Tehran, and particularly the women, who have so much to gain, and so much to lose.

The desire of women in Iran to have a modicum of freedom enrages the thugs who are trying to keep the staus quo.

They are thugs, make no mistake about it.

Ayatollah Hominy and the Basij scum as well.

A young lady, Murdered by Iranian "religious" thugs.

The only Article You Will Need To Read on the Iranian Crisis

By Barry Rubin

Of course, the title above is meant in a joking manner. But after reading literally hundreds of articles and blog items on Iran, they seem to all be saying precisely the same thing which can be summarized as follows:

The regime is giving no ground and insisting the election will stand with Ahmadinejad reelected. The demonstrations continue. There are some killings but the events are mostly peaceful, marked more with harassment and beatings at the margin. The level of violence being used, however, is slowly rising. A few already known softer-liners among the hardest liners—notably Rafsanjani—are not supporting the regime. Arrests of some key figures are being made but there is no all-out crackdown. Western governments are being cautious, restricting themselves to generalized calls for fair elections and freedom of speech.

That’s about what we know, plus lots of amplifying details. So I’ve decided not to read all the dispatches and await further developments.

But what can we say we know? The regime believes that time is on its side and that the demonstrations will fade. It will not give ground. Despite defections, its ranks remain pretty solid. It will not use massive force unless that seems necessary, hoping the opposition will fade away. It will blame foreigners—the West and Israel—no matter what they do but those accusations aren’t going to change anyone’s mind in Iran.

The opposition can hope for no external help, no breakdown of the regime, no offer of huge concessions. On that last point, this is a dictatorial Islamist regime, not a European government. Armed struggle is not an option.

It is also important to understand that in Iran it isn’t a case of the people versus a few bloated oligarchs but a struggle between two camps, both of which are very large. The reformists outnumber the hardliners but the latter have the guns and instruments of power.

Given this situation, short of a deus ex machina (one might better say, a mahdi ex machina, that is a hugely influential external factor that changes everything unexpectedly), the regime will win. Then Western countries can get down to the “serious business” of wasting months to engage this regime without any productive result.

The central factor remains this issue: The West needs to recognize that the Iranian regime and its allies abroad are enemies, not negotiating partners. The regime’s behavior toward its own people has shaken up many people in the West, bringing them closer toward recognizing the true nature of this regime. The fact that it is weaker internally than they thought tends to delegitimize the regime and show that it does not represent most of the people there.

In short, it is not only aggressive abroad—using terrorism, destabilizing the region, seeking hegemony, getting nuclear weapons—but repressive at home.

Ordinarily, of course, governments are rightly more concerned with international behavior than with internal actions. It is primarily the Iranian regime’s international behavior that shows why it must be battled. When, however, a government passes a certain level in its internal repressiveness, that suggests an international response is warranted.

Iran now presents both of these aspects to the world.

There is a connection between them. The regime believes itself divinely ordained, is willing to use methods without limit, and is detached from reality.

Not the kind of people you want to have nuclear weapons.

Not the kind of people who are going to be talked out of having nuclear weapons.

Perhaps not the kind of people who are going to be talked out of using nuclear weapons or giving them others to use.

Certainly not the kind of people who are going to refrain from pointing to their possession of nuclear weapons as they seek to overthrow or intimidate all the other governments in the neighborhood; block any hope of Arab-Israeli peace; and destroy Western influence and interests.

As Bob Dylan put it:

‘How many years can some people exist

before they're allowed to be free

How many times can a man turn his head

And pretend that he just doesn't see.”

And how long can the West go without seeing that it faces a very serious threat and a very determined enemy in the Iranian regime and the radical Islamist movement?

Forty-Eight Hours of Reality

There are none so blind.

President Obama, wake up. Make history. Be the man who does the right thing.

MFB,SR.

By Barry Rubin*

June 16, 2009

In the Middle East the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry because reality steps in.

President Barack Obama based his policy of engaging with Iran on the idea that while President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was a wild man, Supreme Guide Ali Khamenei was a closet moderate, or at least a pragmatist.
Now all can see that Ahmadinejad and Khamenei are wedded, together at last. Khamenei is so set on Ahmadinejad’s character and policy that he risked the regime’s internal and external credibility and stability in order to reassure his reelection.

Pro-Ahmadinejad forces are now talking about this event as a “third revolution,” following on the 1979 Islamist takeover and then seizure of the U.S. embassy and the holding of all their as hostages. In other words, this is an even more radical rebirth of the movement, but this time with nuclear weapons.
Reality: 1, Obama policy: 0

Then comes the Palestinian reaction to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech which accepts immediate negotiations and a Palestinian state at the end of the process, if an agreement can be made.
What did Obama say in Cairo? First, he said that the Palestinians, have “suffered in pursuit of a homeland” for more than 60 years. Second, he insisted that “the situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable.”

As I pointed out at the time, the first statement was a misrepresentation of history, the second a false picture of the present.

Now if Obama was right, the Palestinians should be eager for a state. So if Netanyahu calls on them to recognize Israel as a Jewish state—what do they care if they are accepting to live alongside it permanently?—and have their own state. Yes, that state would be “demilitarized,” I prefer the word “unmilitarized,” but all that means is that they would have the same security forces that they do now. And in proportional terms, the Palestinian Authority (PA) already has more men in uniform compared to the overall population, than any state on the planet.

So here’s Obama’s solution: an independent Palestinian state, Muslim and Arab, according to the PA’s constitution for that country, next to a Jewish state.

But how does the PA’s leader—who is always referred to as “moderate” in the Western media and is more moderate than any other Palestinian leader (it’s all relative)—react?

Nabil Abu Rdainah, spokesman for PA leader Abbas, said Netanyahu’s speech "torpedoes all peace initiatives in the region." Another top PA leader, Yasser Abed Rabbo, said that recognizing Israel's Jewish character would force Palestinians "to become part of the global Zionist movement".

Think carefully about what Rabbo said. Very carefully. The Zionist movement advocates a Jewish state, Israel, exists. But the PA leadership—the top “official” leadership, the most moderate people in the Palestinian movement—are still not reconciled to Israel’s existence.

Sure, there might be a country there but not a Jewish state, in their thinking. But if it isn’t a Jewish state, why call it Israel? They have another name for the future state they have in mind for Israel to become: Palestine.

How does even the BBC, famous for its anti-Israel bias, explain this? “The Palestinians say they and their millions of descendants have the right to return to Israel - which would mean an end to its Jewish majority - but Israel has consistently rebuffed that demand.”

And Abbas is well-known as a fervent advocate of this “right of return.” So Netanyahu is right: the core of the issue is the refusal to accept Israel’s existence as Israel, not a Palestinian “pursuit of a homeland” or “intolerable situation.”

Ladies and gentleman, the facts are before you.

Iran’s regime is irreconcilable. It seeks to become the main regional power. It doesn’t want conciliation with America, it wants America’s defeat.

The Palestinian movement as presently constituted is irreconcilable. It wants to destroy Israel, not live alongside it. The movement prefers to sustain the conflict for decades rather than make a stable peace.

President Obama and everyone else, take heed and act accordingly. You already have two strikes against you and we're just getting started.

---

* Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), with Walter Laqueur (Viking-Penguin); the paperback edition of The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan); A Chronological History of Terrorism, with Judy Colp Rubin, (Sharpe); and The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley). To read and subscribe to MERIA, GLORIA articles, or to order books, go to http://www.gloria-center.org

The Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center

Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, P.O. Box 167, Herzliya, 46150, Israel

info@gloria-center.org- Phone: +972-9-960

Time for Regime Change in Iran

Check out Twitter

I began following the Iranian Tweets the day of the election in Iran.

Twitter is definitely the source to go to for information these days.

Iran shut down all cable Internet and most other forms of communication with the outside world, threatening to illegally arrest anyone communicating on the stolen election.

Iranians were able to send messages to the world via phone line dial-ups, however.

There is the making of a revolution in Iran, as we speak.

It is important that the world focus on this situation.

I don't want to upset any Arabs, but the difference between the Persians in Iran and the Arab man in the street is remarkable, and admirable.

Persians are demonstrating around the world as well, in support of freedom.

Again, this is something large numbers of Arabs never do.

She Thinks I Still Care

She sat at the bar between two “Cowboys”.

I put Cowboy in quotes because I don't think most of them knew much about real cowboy stuff.

I strolled up to the bar and sat beside her on a red upholstered stool .

One of the Cowboys looked at me.

I didn't want any trouble, and I figured he was probably drunk, “Something wrong?” I said.

“Not with me.” he responded.

The Cowboy on her left sat for a moment or two, looked a little disappointed, and went to sit in one of the booths near the dance floor.

She looked at me, Damn, I thought, why does she have to look so good?

Her blue-eyes struck into my brain, her blonde-hair was piled high and came down below her shoulders.

I gazed back into her eyes “I love you.” I said quietly.

“I know, you do, Michael.”

I saw lots of white between her pupils and the mascaraed lower lashes. Bedroom eyes.

I had kind of “saved her” a couple of nights ago.

I had been visiting the kids, and we talked.

She said, nonchalantly.

“I met a cop. We're going out tomorrow night.”

“ I don't know, maybe you out to get to know him before you go out with him.”

“He's a cop, Michael. What can he do? It's safe.”

“Some cops suffer from stress. It's an extremely grueling job.”

She smiled and ran her pink tongue over her moist, red lips, “He strikes me as very competent.

I think it'll be alright.”

The night of the date she called.

“Michael, I'm in Watts. Could you come get me?”

She gave me the address, I flew to pick her up in the Ranchero.

The cop had told her to “give it up” or he would drop her off in Watts.

I thanked G-d as I saw her on the corner.

Several adolescents were looking at her approvingly.

She wore an extremely short min-skirt, a low cut blouse and high heels.

I screeched to a stop next to her and she climbed in gratefully.

And gracefully.

I guess my reward for “saving “her was tonight's date.

We walked towards my apartment on Sunset near Echo Park Avenue.

We held hands, like we used to.

How did I ever let her get away? I asked myself.

The woman of my dreams had walked in my door, had given herself to me, and I had lost her.

As we got near the apartment a groups of Hispanic punks started whistling and making dirty remarks.

I pulled a bottle of coke from a bag I was carrying and grasped it.

It wasn't my favorite weapon, the neck is too short, but I figured it would do.

I walked towards the punks, feeling loose and charged up.

And angry.

Beatings, Illegal Arrests, in Tehran

Originally On NY Times

Edited by Michael Blackburn, Sr.

If the world keeps watching, there may be change in ran.

The present dictatorship stays in power through sham elections, torture and repression.

They must be exposed.

Now is the time.

MFB,Sr

By ROGER COHEN

Published: June 14, 2009

.............The crowds called it a “coup d’état.” They shouted “Marg Bar Dictator” — “Death to the dictator.” Eyes smoldered.

I’ve argued for engagement with Iran and I still believe in it, although, in the name of the millions defrauded, President Obama’s outreach must now await a decent interval.

I’ve also argued that, although repressive, the Islamic Republic offers significant margins of freedom by regional standards. I erred in underestimating the brutality and cynicism of a regime that understands the uses of ruthlessness.

“Here is my country,” a young woman said to me, voice breaking. “This is a coup. I could have worked in Europe but I came back for my people.” And she, too, sobbed.

“Don’t cry, be brave,” a man admonished her.

He was from the Interior Ministry. He showed his ID card. He said he’d worked there 30 years. He said he hadn’t been allowed in; nor had most other employees. He said the votes never got counted. He said numbers just got affixed to each candidate.

He said he’d demanded of the police why “victory” required such oppression. He said he’d fought in the 1980-88 Iraq war, his brother was a martyr, and now his youth seemed wasted and the nation’s sacrifice in vain.

Quoting Ferdowsi, the epic poet, he said, “If there is no Iran, let me be not.” Poets are the refuge of every wounded nation — just ask the Poles — and nowhere more so than here in this hour.

Iran exists still, of course, but today it is a dislocated place. Angry divisions have been exposed, between founding fathers of the revolution — Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former president — and between the regime and the people.

Khamenei, under pressure from Rafsanjani, appeared ready to let the election unfold, but he reversed course, under pressure, or perhaps even diktat, from the Revolutionary Guards and other powerful constituencies.

A harsh clampdown is underway. It’s unclear how far, and for how long, Iranians can resist.

On Vali Asr, the handsome avenue that was festive until the vote, crowds swarmed as night fell, confronting riot police and tear gas. “Moussavi, Moussavi. Give us back our votes,” they chanted.

Majir Mirpour grabbed me. A purple bruise disfigured his arm. He raised his shirt to show a red wound across his back. “They beat me like a pig,” he said, breathless. “They beat me as I tried to help a woman in tears. I don’t care about the physical pain. It’s the pain in my heart that hurts.”

He looked at me and the rage in his eyes made me want to toss away my notebook.

Iran, Tehran, Achmaddinnerjacket, #IranElection, #FoxnewsFail

Frustrated with my party

friday, june 12, 2009

Frustrated with my party

I am tired of all the hatred and divisiveness that I see coming out of the US from all sides. I am in Guatemala for a few months and in the strange position of viewing us from the outside. I am reading and trying to keep up but it is not the steady barrage that I had when I am at home in my normal routine. This perspective of looking in from the outside is making me see thing a little differently.

I read the transcript of Rush Limbaugh's argument that the von Braunn evil man was a "leftie". That only lefties radicalize issues and carry them to extremes. We all know that is not true. Extremism in any belief creates people that take issues a step too far. I continued to read about this guy and on his website is a very detailed chronical of his path to the Right side of politics and beyond and then it's eventual peversion. The only thing he agreed with the left about was George Bush, but the rest is pretty rightwing. His associations are rightwing, libertarian and white supremacists. He is an entire package of hatred of all things.

I have been thinking about a lot of things. I have been thinking about my conservative beliefs and about our country and about the issues we face, about the election and the changes that have happened so quickly, about the lead up to the election, and how things have gone so terrribly wrong these past few years. You might read that statement and think I am talking about our nation under control of the Democratic Party, but I'm not.

I remember when I was struggling with the loss of my husband in Iraq. I read and reread everything he wrote to me from that place. He wrote about good things and the horrible things he had witnessed. He talked about extremism. He mentioned "mob mentality" a lot and how in a group as one bolsters the ideas of another and another that the frenzy grows. He said he watched several times when mobs would form after an incident and it became a one-upsmanship contest of who could say the most vile thing and suggest the most horrible retribution. It would feed on one another and grow and grow. Days later, Iraquis who had been a part of the mob would wonder how they got dragged into it.

I am seeing the same thing take place in the US right now. We have some people with great loud constant voices. They are pushing those who listen to them to more ridiculous places in their thinking. Their rhetoric is cruel and based on half truths. People don't seem to be able to step back and think for a minute "What is this person doing? Why is this person saying this?"

Yes, I'm talking about Rush Limbaugh. So often I have listened to him or read transcripts as I am doing now and I chase down his theme and he leaves out everything that does not support his theme or his point for the day and what he says more often than not is incendiary and wrong. His ratings since Obama was elected have skyrocketed. The more he incites people, the more they hang on his every word, the more his ratings go up and the more he is pushed farther and farther into extremism. This guy make $400,000,000 a year! What is his purpose? Saving the nation? Leading the Republican Party? I don't think so. His purpose is his own wealth, his ratings, his popularity, his ego.

Rush Limbaugh and a few others on the Right remind me of the stories I have heard of a nation held spellbound by people like evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson back in the 20's as she led the battle of the fundamentalists against the "modernists." There was a lot of immigration at the time, a lot of racism, lots of new technology like moving pictures and radio to get her word out. Sound familiar in a very simplistic way?? I was always confused as to how she became so popular and influential with such craziness, but I am watching it again in my own life time now.

Rush Limbaugh and his quest for ever higher ratings is not our leader, or anyone's leader. He is doing this for him. If there is harmony in the country, the need for a show like his is less. If there is chaos and discord his ratings skyrocket. His success depends on the country in turmoil. The more discord, the more bloody attacks on innocents, the more dissention among neighbors, the more extremism we have, the better he does and the richer he gets. I have no use for anyone like him. I will not give him my time or attention any longer. He is creating the atmosphere for the upswing in domestic terrorism and he is encouraging it. He is destroying us. I believe that many of his messages borderline sedition or treason.

I will turn my attention instead to people who are working toward positive moves in the next election. We need balance in our government. We need balanced numbers in the House and Senate. We don't need a runaway congress rubberstamping every idea put forth by the White House.

We conservatives have a problem. We lost and we need to know why. We can't say it is because Obama was better online than the Republicans and dismiss it. There were problems with our message. We weren't focused. We were put on the defensive. We reacted. We didn't establish our goals and then go after them in an organized way. We didn't lead. We didn't put up any leaders. We put up a moderate and a dingbat. We failed to understand the problems and formulate solutions. We were so used to being in charge that we couldn't see how much trouble we were in. We still don't. Nothing has changed. We complain about the Democrats and put out distorted negative ads on You-Tube. We say outlandish things. We rail against the Democrats. We do not have a cohesive positive message yet. We cannot find a leader. We trot people out in front of a camera and see how they play and if they don't do so well, we abandon them like we have Bobby Jindal.

We are so busy posturing and saying the same talking points over and over we don't listen. We don't listen. We don't listen. We are a representative government or supposed to be. We need to listen to the people, understand their concerns and find leaders who will take their message to Washington.

There are very good people out there, but the very good people are NOT Rush Limbaugh, NOT Sarah Palin, NOT Newt Gingrich, NOT Michael Steele. These people are all jokes. They are all gimmicks. They make outlandish statements and make for interesting news cycles but they are not leaders. I want my party back. I want real conservative leaders who listen and do the right thing. I want all the hate mongering messages to stop. I want the hatred to stop. I want to work together to find solutions that are the best for the country not one side's reaction to 8 years of impotency. Our complaints are not being heard. We are not being taken seriously.

I have been all over the place here but I am angry. This isn't my country the way it is now. It is a devisive hate-promoting place with serious issues. We cannot fix this thing in separate camps. One side cannot shut down, complain, and whine. We need to find a way. In the mean time we need to pull together and try to find common ground. When I would tell my husband that I did not agree with moves we were making in the conduct of the war in Iraq he would chide me regardless of our individual opinions we needed to support our country and those in command or it will all fall apart. I am not sure what he would say now but what I am seeing is or country falling apart. I don't know whose fault it is but I believe that conservatives cannot walk away from out part in this. Like in anything in life, if you make a mistake, find out where you went wrong and fix it. We need to do the same.

I know this is disjointed but I am so frustrated right now. I want the hate to stop.

tuesday, june 9, 2

Israel and America: Neither Surrender nor Confrontation

By Barry Rubin*

June 11, 2009

http://www.gloria-center.org/Gloria/2009/06/israel-and-america.html

The United States demands that Israel stop construction on settlements. If this doesn’t happen, it hints at dire retaliation.

If Israel agrees to this step, President Barack Obama promises great things. First, he claims this will bring dramatic progress toward Israel-Palestinian peace.

That’s rubbish. We know that yielding would be followed by Palestinian Authority (PA) demands for more unilateral Israeli concessions. PA leaders openly say their strategy is to let the West force Israel to give them everything they want without any change by them. We know the current PA leadership is both disinterested and incapable of making real peace.

In addition, the U.S. initiative is absurdly one-sided, without hint of reciprocity by the other side. Equally, the administration’s brutal-style rhetoric denies previous U.S. commitments to Israel have been made on this issue. This approach seems almost designed to convince Israelis that further unilateral concessions will continue to be unrewarded and Western commitments continue to be forgotten.

Second, we are promised that if Israel gives in, Arab states will change their policies, becoming more conciliatory toward Israel and more helpful on pressing Iran.

This, too, is rubbish. Arab regimes have their own interests. They need the conflict; they view its solution to be an American problem. They’ve already make it clear that the United States will get nothing from them for pressuring Israel into concessions except demands to press Israel for more concessions.

Third, we’re promised that if Israel stops construction on settlements, the West can act more effectively on Iran. But they’ve already chosen a policy of engagement and concessions to Iran. There’s no will or ability to increase sanctions, not to mention continuing opposition by Russia and China.

So this, equally, is rubbish. Iran will make no deal, is stall for time, and correctly assess Western willpower as low. Of course, Iran wants to be regional hegemon. It sees having nuclear weapons as a plus whose political and economic costs are low.

Most disgusting of all are honeyed claims by American and European officials—be they cynical or foolish—that such concessions are good for Israel, as it will help it make peace and greater security. In truth, they want Israel to make concessions for their own selfish interests. They believe it will make the radical Islamist threat go away at Israel’s expense.

What then is the reality? If Israel ceases construction on settlements it will get nothing. Arab states, the PA, and West won’t change policies. Iran will go merrily on toward nuclear weapons.

Nevertheless, there’s still a strong case for Israel making a gesture to the U.S. administration for several reasons:

--To avoid alienating the U.S. government. Failing to resolve this issue means that the administration will blame its inevitable failures and certain lack of progress in the region on Israel for the next three, perhaps next seven, years.

--By saying “no,” Israel would play into the scapegoating game, letting everyone pretend that all would be fine if Israel only altered its behavior. American and European policymakers will claim the only reason they can’t get peace, Arab cooperation, or an end to Iran’s nuclear drive is because of Israel’s behavior.

--The issue is construction, not dismantling settlements or withdrawing from more land. While one might respond that will be the next demand, a partial “yes” now does not inhibit saying “no” on a bigger issue.

--Israel’s first response, offering removal of outposts or roadblocks and asking for adherence to past promises, has failed. Up to a point, stalling is a good tactic. No matter how determined the U.S. government is on this issue at present, months can go by in maneuverings. Crises and distractions will arise; the U.S. administration might learn to understand reality better.

To me the decisive factors are these: A single gesture must be made toward the new U.S. administration as a “gift” to Obama in order to consolidate his personal commitment to Israel. The fact that this step is temporary, reversible and doesn’t endanger Israeli lives makes it preferable to alternative actions.

On issues like east Jerusalem, border modifications, security guarantees regarding any future Palestinian state, no compromise with Hamas, and others, Israelis are willing to stand up and face any consequences of a break with the United States. But this specific issue is simply not worth a confrontation, especially because it is the first request by the Obama administration.

There is also a way to do it on Israel’s terms: a temporary, reversible freeze on construction, not including Jerusalem and in a clear framework of what Israel expects in return, with the results to be judged solely by Israel.

What are these conditions? Two could be continuing Western efforts to isolate Hamas, the end to official PA incitement to kill Israelis and wipe Israel off the map.

Other conditions could be private, like evidence of a stronger Western effort against Iran’s nuclear weapons’ drive.
If these things don’t happen, Israel warns in advance that it would say: “We told you so. This experiment has failed” and return to construction. Such a move would provoke criticism that Israel could far more easily resist at costs lower than at present. It should be stressed that unlike withdrawing from territory or dismantling settlements, a construction freeze would be a reversible step.

If these things don’t happen, Israel warns in advance that it would say: “We told you so. This experiment has failed” and return to construction. Such a move would provoke criticism that Israel could far more easily resist at costs lower than at present. It should be stressed that unlike withdrawing from territory or dismantling settlements, a construction freeze would be a reversible step.

Netanyahu knows how far he can go without unraveling his coalition. By conditioning it as suggested here, he could more likely sell a limited concession to his cabinet.

But what he should certainly avoid is alternative concessions to “protect” settlement construction which would be far more dangerous to Israeli lives and interests without solving Israel’s problem with the United States. These could include going too far in loosening restrictions on the flow of goods into the Gaza Strip or dismantling needed roadblocks.

Israel should respond flexibly on the construction issue but only in a way shaped by its own interests and far better appreciation of the situation in the Middle East.

*Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are Lebanon: Liberation, Conflict, and Crisis (Palgrave Macmillan), Conflict and Insurgency in the Contemporary Middle East (Routledge), The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition) (Viking-Penguin), the paperback edition of The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan), A Chronological History of Terrorism (Sharpe), and The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley

The Global R

Stephen Tyrone Johns

I would like to deliver a brief message to the family of the heroic Security Officer who gave his life so that innocent people could live, and in so doing, struck a blow in the fight against Nazis and Neo-Nazis.

Your son was a true hero. You should be SO proud.
If I meet one man like like him in my life I will feel touched by greatness.
Bless you.
Please accept my deepest condolences.
I will never forget the name Stephen Tyrone Johns, and his heroic act which saved untold numbers of innocent people's lives.
Thank you, my sincerest thoughts and prayers are with you.

You can write a message to the Johns family at this link http://www.legacy.com/gb2/default.aspx?bookid=10801971023298

I Got a System

I grew up surviving, alone, on the streets of Central L.A.

There was an atmosphere of violence which permeated the entire youth culture.

I was small as a kid, 115 lbs. A flyweight.

Dad had taught us never to back down from a fight, and I never did.

But I took a lot of punishment from bullies

I went to a local gym in the Skid Row section and started boxing.

5 days a week I would take a beating and try to learn self defense, I had a nominal trainer, but he gave me one quick lesson, put me into the ring and I basically didn't interact with him much after that, just like on the street, I was on my own.

During one particularly violent sparring session I was knocked out cold.

I regained consciousness downstairs, in the locker room where the wrestlers hung out and trained.

The walls were bare, sweat stained cement.

I tried to focus on the kindly face of a middle-aged Mexican man peering down at me with a look of intense concern on his careworn face.

I didn't know who he was.

I didn't know who I was, or where, or why.

I was lying on the cement floor as he crouched over me.

“Are you, alright?” he asked softly.

Faces passed through my mind in flashes of memory, I couldn't remember who they were.

“Yeah, I'm OK.” I answered.

What else could I say?

The man's name was Dave Fierro.

“Mike, you need a trainer. I have a lot of respect for you. You've got guts. You come here every day, you get beat up, and you still come back. But you can't learn this by yourself.

You can be a fighter.

You've got the heart, but you need me. I've got a system, I can make you a great fighter.

What do you say?”

I looked around the locker room.

Two overweight, sweaty wrestlers were practicing their moves, with fake groans and grunts and howls of pain and anger.

"A system?"

Dave smiled, he looked like a gnome, "Yep. It's the best system there is, and you can be a part of it."

“I don't know, Dave. I think maybe I just don't have what it takes to be a fighter."

Dave smiled. "But you do have what it takes. I've watched you, everyday." He laughed, "Man, I have seen you take some serious beatings. At first I thought , 'he won't be back.'

But there you were, the next day. Your problem isn't a lack of ability. You just need to learn the fundamentals, and the advanced stuff that I can teach you. look, I don't want to say anything bad about your coach, Louie, but he hasn't taught you anything. You go into that ring everyday and swing away, the kids you spar with, most of them are taught by me. Haven't you noticed that they start boxing and within a few days they are better in there than you are?"

"Yeah. I just figured they were more athletic."

He laughed. "They aren't, and I'll prove it to you. Now, Louie is technically your manager, so , Mike, don't get mad. He was about to tell you to quit. He said you didn't have it, and he couldn't watch you get beat up anymore."

Dave leaned forward, conspiratorially, "I said, you're right, Louie, he's no good, but he doesn't want to quit. So why don't I take him off your hands, I don't want to, but I feel sorry for him too. Maybe I can do something with him.

Louie jumped at it. He kissed my ass in gratitude. Now, when he sees you in a month, and you are boxing the ears off his fighter, I want him to remember that he was going to tell you to quit. I don't want him to think I cheated him out of his best fighter."

My head was spinning, Dave was right. I had taken numerous beatings in the ring upstairs. Dave thought he could make me a great fighter.

I didn't believe it. I thought he was trying to save my ego. But, I didn't want to accept defeat, I wanted to be a fighter. My father had been a Boxer, one of the best amateurs the country.

My stepfather, Al Cruz, had been a professional fighter, probably the best boxer pound for pound in the country.

I idolized him.

I didn't want to let him down.

"OK, Dave, thanks."

That was the first step in a long, hard, and unbelievable journey.

David Carradine, Of Blessed Memory

David Carradine has passed away, but his memory, and his work live on.

His portrayal of the Shoalin priest, Kwai Chang Kane was memorable and moving.

A work of depth and art which Carradine imbued with love and immersion in Taoist philosophy and martial arts training.

He will not be forgotten.

Obama's Cairo Speech and the Israel-Palestinian Conflict

By Barry Rubin*

June 5, 2009

 http://www.gloria-center.org/blog/2009/06/obama's-cairo-speech.html

President Barack Obama’s discussion in his Cairo speech of the Israeli-Palestinian issue is so important that it took up about 25 percent of the text.

Obama sought to put the United States into a neutral rather than pro-Israel position. This is not so unusual as it might seem compared to the 35 years U.S. policy has been trying to be a credible mediator, a length of time many forget--including Obama himself—through numerous peace plans and negotiating structures.

The speech is beautifully constructed and carefully crafted. But what does it say, both intentionally and implicitly? 

Obama began by stressing U.S.-Israel links, not downplaying or concealing this from his Muslim audience:

“America's strong bonds with Israel are well known. This bond is unbreakable. It is based upon cultural and historical ties, and the recognition that the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in a tragic history that cannot be denied.”

He then makes two points: the reality of the Shoah (Holocaust) and opposition to wiping Israel off the map:

“Threatening Israel with destruction--or repeating vile stereotypes about Jews--is deeply wrong, and only serves to evoke in the minds of Israelis this most painful of memories while preventing the peace that the people of this region deserve.”

Previous presidents have often said such but Obama is wrapping this into  his attempt to show Muslims that he is on their side it might be deemed especially effective. But putting almost all emphasis on the Holocaust—which in Arab and Muslim views is a European crime whose bill they are unfairly paying—may be the wrong approach. 

He also roots Jews desire for their own country mainly in persecution, to which the Arab/Muslim answer has been that this isn’t their responsibility or that Jews can live happily—as Obama wrongly hints they have done in the past—under Muslim rule.

While Obama tries hard, his approach may reverberate only for a small minority of politically powerless Western-oriented liberals who already understand it.

Turning to Palestinians, he uses an appealing image but one so wrong that it undermines Obama’s entire approach. The Palestinians, he says, have “suffered in pursuit of a homeland” for more than 60 years. 

But if that were true the issue would have been solved 60 years ago (1948 through partition), 30 years ago (1979 and Anwar Sadat’s initiative) or 9 years ago (Camp David-2). What has brought Palestinian suffering is the priority on total victory and Israel’s destruction rather than merely getting a homeland. This is the reason why the conflict won’t be solved in the next week, month, or year. 

Obama states, “The situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable.” But in real political terms that’s untrue. If it were true, the leadership would move quickly to improve their situation rather than continue the struggle seeking total victory. The Oslo agreement of 1993 and Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip were both based on this premise and both failed miserably for this very reason. 

And so will Obama’s effort.

Pulling out of Gaza, for instance, Israel urged the Palestinian Authority to provide stability, improve living standards, and stop the war on Israel. Huge amounts of money were provided. And the result has been evident.

For Obama, Palestine is what Iraq was for George W. Bush. By rebuilding and reshaping its situation, providing its people with good lives and democracy, he expects to win Arab and Muslim gratitude. Obama’s supporters have ridiculed Bush for trying to remake other peoples, cultures, and countries. The same point applies to Obama. 

He concludes, “The only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states, where Israelis and Palestinians each live in peace and security.” True. But what else is new? Israelis’ aspirations—despite misunderstandings by others--can certainly be met by this outcome. The same is not true for Palestinian aspirations as they really exist, rather than as Westerners think they should be. 

While Obama might have said it in a different way, his words echo those of the last five American presidents. In the way he argues, however, Obama reveals his weakness in dealing with these issues. First he says—and this sounds wonderful to Western ears: 

“Palestinians must abandon violence. Resistance through violence and killing is wrong and it does not succeed,” citing the American civil rights’ movement as example. This sounds noble but it is silly because it ignores the social and ideological context. 

Fatah believes it got control of the West Bank and leadership of the Palestinian people through violence and killing. Hamas in Gaza; Hizballah and Syria in Lebanon; and Iran’s Islamist regime as well as the Muslim Brotherhoods believe that “resistance” works. 

From the standpoint of Palestinian leaders, violence and killing are not failures. Moreover, violence and killing are commensurate with the goal of the overwhelming majority of the Palestinian leadership, which is total victory. Their main alternative “peaceful” strategy is the demand—shared by Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas—that pretty much all Palestinians who wish to do so must be allowed to live in Israel. A formula for more violence and killing.

Obama also says: “Now is the time for Palestinians to focus on what they can build. The Palestinian Authority must develop its capacity to govern, with institutions that serve the needs of its people.” This, of course, is what we’ve been hearing since 1993, when the responsibility for governing was supposed to transform Yasir Arafat from terrorist to statesman. Isn’t there some reason that this didn’t happen?

He continues: “Hamas does have support among some Palestinians, but they also have to recognize they have responsibilities. To play a role in fulfilling Palestinian aspirations, to unify the Palestinian people, Hamas must put an end to violence, recognize past agreements, recognize Israel's right to exist.”

The mind reels. Hamas doesn’t just have support, it governs the Gaza Strip. It disagrees with Obama. Fulfilling Palestinian aspirations means for it creating an Islamist state from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean. Unifying the Palestinian people means for it seizing control of the West Bank also and putting all the territories under its rule. 

And what will Obama do when nobody behaves the way he wants them to? In this respect, Israel is not his problem, though he doesn’t seem to understand that yet.

Consider the otherworldliness of what he says about Israel. Here’s an example: “The continuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza does not serve Israel's security; neither does the continuing lack of opportunity in the West Bank.” Actually, the latter point is precisely the current Israeli government’s policy. As for Gaza, mitigating the alleged humanitarian crisis means strengthening a Hamas government. Ending the “crisis,” by opening the borders and infusing lots of money that will inevitably be used to strengthen Hamas’s rule threatens Israel’s security far more than the status quo. 

One of Obama’s best lines was to say, “The Arab-Israeli conflict should no longer be used to distract the people of Arab nations from other problems.” But this is so basic to the needs of the existing regimes, why would the governments respond to Obama’s call to do this, any more than to Bush’s urging for democracy? 

Here’s Obama’s main theme: “Privately, many Muslims recognize that Israel will not go away. Likewise, many Israelis recognize the need for a Palestinian state. It is time for us to act on what everyone knows to be true.”

This argument—peace is rational so just do it!--has been the basic concept governing Western policy toward the issue at least since the late 1970s. Even before. In 1955, U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles asked why the Arabs and Israelis didn’t settle their differences like “Christian gentlemen?” Obama is more cultural sensitive, but his ethnocentric approach is basically the same. 

After decades we are no closer to implementing this idea, perhaps even further. Obama’s task is to come to understand why this is so. Here’s one hint: almost all Israelis publicly support a Palestinian state if it leads to a stable peace. Those Muslims ready for full peace with Israel are still a minority who are too afraid to speak other than “privately.” This imbalance explains why the conflict continues, who is responsible for it, and what must be done to change that situation.