Matt 24 Watch, 136: Former US Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, on the upcoming Palestinian diplomatic gambit at the UN to declare it unilaterally a state, thus destroying the Oslo peace process

As noted in a previous post, it seems that on Friday next, there will be a showdown at the UN, by which the Palestinian Arab delegation will ask for a UN Security Council Vote to accept Palestine (apparently with borders set by the pre-1967 armistice lines) as a state in the UN.

If this fails -- and the United States has indicated that it will veto the proposal, it is likely that the Palestinian Arabs will then seek a UN General Assembly resolution that directly or indirectly gives them majority support of UN members for such statehood.

The direct effect of such diplomatic maneuverings, would be to kill the Oslo peace process, which has been the basis under which negotiations have been ongoing since 1993, towards an amicable settlement of the disputes, to create a basis for permanent peace. Those negotiations have been rather rocky, with a low grade war proceeding for much of the period; much of that driven by Palestinian Arab terrorism campaigns that target civilians. This is unsurprising, as the repeated declared intent of Palestinian Arab leaders has been the destruction of Israel. From time to time as well, some of these leaders have spoken about massacring Jews.  

And, from time to time, we have all too grim reminders enough of the reality.

Indeed -- though Hamas does not support the latest proposed moves at the UN -- the Hamas covenant, Article 7 concludes by citing the infamous Gharqad Tree hadith from Mohammed:

. . . The Islamic Resistance [= HAMAS, an Arabic acronym]  Movement aspires to implement Allah's promise, whatever time that may take. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: "The Day of Judgment will not come about until the Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them), until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: Oh Muslim! Oh Abdullah! [= servant/slave of Allah, a common Muslim name], there is a Jew behind me, come on and kill him. Only the Gharqad tree would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews."

This is not a good basis for amity between peoples who are, in the end, cousins. And, it does not help that the Hadiths (i.e. collected traditions of Mohammed) are in effect the number two Moslem holy book, and the basis for much of the interpretation and application of the Quran.

United States former UN Ambassador, John Bolton, has given his views on these latest moves in Turtle Bay, New York, in the past few days:

When this further diplomatic move is added to the worrying developments in Egypt, with the rise of a push by radical IslamISTS to radicalise the Egyptian revolution as noted on by Col. Austin Bay, we again see signs that point to further war in the Middle East, or at least further dangerous instability and violence.

Israeli Amb. to Australia, Yuval Rotem, adds to the force of these sobering concerns:

Neither a unilateral Palestinian declaration of statehood nor a politicised move in the UN will actually resolve any of the core issues of the conflict.

A General Assembly resolution alone cannot legally decide the issue of Palestinian statehood or borders, security arrangements, the status of Jerusalem, issues concerning Palestinian and Jewish refugees and the allocation of vital water resources.

Trying to impose a solution acceptable to only one party will raise, and then dash, expectations and deepen rather than help to resolve the conflict.

In their unilateral design for statehood, the Palestinian leadership confirm their rejection of direct negotiation, preferring to force a "solution" on Israel through international pressure.

The Palestinian Authority admits these manoeuvrings are a deliberate confrontation designed to isolate Israel and undermine its legitimacy. In the words of the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, "Palestine's admission to the UN would pave the way for the internationalisation of the conflict as a legal matter. It would also pave the way for us to pursue claims against Israel at the UN."

It is therefore obvious that peace is not the Palestinians' goal. Their unilateral declaration would be exploited to launch a new frontier of war against Israel.

Palestinian "lawfare" against Israel can only fan the fires of conflict . . .

And that is not without relevance for the Caribbean. For, such developments and trends point to energy price volatility, instability of the tourism industry that is the chief economy driver in our region at present, and further general destabilisation on top of the ongoing global economic upsets.

The Caribbean region needs to diversify its economy, with a focus on high technology [including especially Mechatronics, Information and Communication Technologies, and Biotechnologies, as well as advanced and more sustainable energy technologies (also, cf. here)], and with the education and training base to support that. Not forgetting, training the trainers to build capacity for the required, sci-, math- and tech- heavy education transformation.
 

Which in turn points right back to the need for our region to get serious about building a more robust and sustainable future. Not to mention, a more carefully balanced and prudently informed foreign policy. (Cf also here, here & here.) END 

Matt 24 Watch, 135: Col Austin Bay warns about the Egyptian IslamIST militants and their attack on the Israeli embassy

Col Austin Bay of Strategy Page has posted an opinion piece on the recent militant attack on the Israeli Embassy in Egypt that should give us sobering pause:

Mob attack, Israel
Embassy, Cairo

Initial reports of the mob attack on Israel's Cairo embassy suffer from the usual faults of reporting in chaotic conditions: incomplete information mixed with rumor and allegation. We do know Egyptian soldiers eventually rescued Israeli personnel trapped in the building. Israeli media claim that the Egyptian military ignored the Israeli pleas for assistance and only reacted after American diplomatic intervention. We will know more in the coming weeks.

The mob assault and the target, the Israeli embassy, are undisputed facts. Substitute the U.S. for Israel, and the Cairo action mimics Tehran 1979, when Iranian mobs, organized and controlled by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's Islamic revolutionaries, seized the American embassy. America was the Ayatollah's target of passion, the surface target, but his deep target was Iranian modernizers.

In Egypt 2011, Israel is definitely a target of militant Islamists, but so is the Egyptian revolution. To subvert the Egyptian revolution, militant Islamists must undermine and discredit the generals in the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which is functioning as the interim Egyptian government.

The attack on the Israeli embassy serves this purpose.

The Egyptian generals know this, and so do the Israelis . . . . 

Recent history is a powerful weapon. Here is an outline of the history lesson that should pervade Egyptian media, from twitter to official statements.

Since the first demonstrations began in Cairo this past spring, everyone knew the moment would arrive when militant Islamists would try to subvert modernizing revolutionaries. That moment is now. The Islamist militants recent actions, however, have exposed them and reveal their long term goals.

They are now following Khomeini's Iranian Islamic revolutionary script. Denouncing the U.S. and Israel provided Khomeini with rhetorical cover for intimidating, imprisoning or killing democratic revolutionaries. Now Khomeini's political descendants oppress their own people's political and material aspirations, and assist Syria's Assad regime in its attempt to stay in power.

Subsequent history has rendered a verdict on robed dictatorships -- their social product is poverty, violent oppression, and even more insidious corruption and cronyism than those that existed under Mubarak. These are the shackles Egyptians seek to escape. Must our grandchildren launch an Arab Spring in 2061 against an Egyptian clerical dictatorship?

Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, Iran's first president after the revolution (and living in exile since 1981, when Khomeini toppled him), serves as a first-hand source. In January, Bani-Sadr warned Tunisian revolutionaries that they must protect their revolution from the fate that befell Iran's. Most Iranian political organizations, Bani-Sadr wrote, "did not commit themselves to democracy. Lacking the unity of a democratic front, one by one they became targets of power-seeking clergy in the form of the Islamic Republic Party, and were pushed aside."

The story of a more or less liberal revolution that is then caught up in a coup by extremist elements is an old one, the most infamous cases in recent history being Revolutionary France in the run-up to the Reign of Terror, and the Russian Revolution of February 1917 that fell to the Bolshevik coup of that October led by Lenin.

The onward significance of this is captured in an aphorism of Middle East geostrategy: without Syria, no Arab-Israeli peace; without Egypt, no war.

If the militants succeed, we are looking at major war in the Middle East again, and this time with an iron ring of missiles surrounding Israel and with potential nukes lurking in Iran.

Israel's history is that it responds swiftly and decisively to existential threats.

If the Iranian and Palestinian Arab leadership were prudent, they would back down. 

But, prudence is exactly what they are not noted for.

So, sadly, war clouds again gather in the Middle East, and the decisive issue, clearly, is whether the Muslim Brotherhood Islamist factions seize power in Egypt and Libya. END

Matt 24 Watch, 133c: Col. Rick Rescorla, the UK-born Vietnam Vet and Morgan-Stanley Dean-Witter security chief who predicted BOTH WTC attacks, and sacrificed his life saving 2,700+ others . . .

US Army Col.,
Rick Rescorla

If anyone is a true hero of the 9/11 attacks, the late US Army Col. (res.) Rick Rescorla is.

He is the man who saw both the 1993 and 2001 WTC terrorist attacks coming, and who tried to warn and prepare for them.

Had he been truly listened to and heeded in good time, many thousands of lives lost might have been saved.

But, alas, too often we do not heed the most foresightful of our people, because we do not see the world through their eyes, and we too often find ourselves unwilling to take the time and effort to hear what they have to say to us.

(Cf. also the John P. O'Neill story, that of the former leading FBI counter-terrorism officer who was WTC security chief, and who also foresaw the threat and perished in the attack.)

May we therefore have the wisdom to learn from some hard-bought history.

Video:

( The Rescorla 1998 interview.)



As the BBC report summarises:

Col. Rick Rescorla, on
9/11, leading the Dean Witter
evacuation that saved 2,700 lives

. . . for one man, the tragedy of September 11, was the terrorist attack he had feared for years.

Cornishman Rick Rescorla’s heroism is legendary. What is less well known, in this country at least, were his prophetic views on terrorism . . . . Born in the Cornish town of Hayle, Rick’s first encounter with America came in the form of GIs preparing for D-Day in the town. They inspired Rick’s adventurous spirit and his never failing love for America.


Rick and his friend and confidante Dan Hill both enlisted in the United States Army.


A highly decorated war hero, Rick served the USA as platoon leader in Vietnam.

For all his success in the US, Cornwall was never far from Rick’s heart and he returned regularly.


Rick retired from his army career in 1968. Via a career as a university law professor, Rick became director of security for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (previously Dean Witter) in their offices in the World Trade Centre.


It was here that Rick Rescorla was to predict with startling accuracy the horrors he himself would later face in that building.


Speaking in an interview in 1998, Rick predicted that, "Terrorist forces can tie up conventional forces and bring them to their knees. Just one man willing to give his life for what he believes in, chooses the time and place and there is no way that any soldiers can be 100% alert."


But alert he was and in 1990 he asked old friend and ex-special forces soldier Dan Hill to evaluate the risks to the World Trade Centre. The garage was pin pointed as a weak point, but no official response to their report was forthcoming.


In 1993, a van packed with explosives was detonated 30 feet from where they had predicted.


1993 should have been a wake-up all for all. Rick pressed Dean Witter to move out of the Twin Towers believing that the next attack would come by air.


Eight years later, Rick Rescorla would personally escort all 20 floors of Morgan Stanley employees out of the building and to safety.


8.46am, September 11 2001, American Airlines, flight 11 crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Centre.


Amid the panic and desperation that ensued, Rick Rescorla could be found guiding people out of the south tower, despite speaker announcements in the building to the contrary advising people to remain inside.

Rescorla Memorial, Hale,
Cornwall, England

9.03am and the second passenger plane crashed into the south tower. Despite fears that the building would fall, Rick returned to the building again, singing Cornish songs [as, once he had done for his unit at the Ia Drang battle in Vietnam] in an effort to keep spirits up.


10.05am, the south tower collapsed and Rick Rescorla lost his life . . . 

Wikipedia's account adds some telling details:

Rescorla was supposed to be on vacation on September 11, 2001, in preparation for his stepdaughter's upcoming wedding in Tuscany. But he was covering a shift so one of his deputies could go on vacation, and was also scheduled to attend a lunchtime meeting to discuss the lawsuit Morgan Stanley was filing against the Port Authority about the security lapses that led to the 1993 attack.


At 8:46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 struck World Trade Center Tower 1 (see September 11, 2001 attacks). Rescorla, following his evacuation plans, ignored building officials' advice to stay put and began the orderly evacuation of Morgan Stanley's 2,700 employees on twenty floors of World Trade Center Tower 2, and 1,000 employees in WTC 5. Rescorla reminded everyone to "...be proud to be an American ...everyone will be talking about you tomorrow", and sang God Bless America and other military and Cornish songs over his bullhorn to help evacuees stay calm as they left the building . . . .


Rescorla had most of Morgan Stanley’s 2,700 employees as well as people working on other floors of WTC 2 safely out of the buildings by the time United Airlines Flight 175 hit WTC 2 at 9:03 a.m. After leading many of his fellow employees to safety, Rescorla returned to the building to rescue others still inside. When one of his colleagues told him he too had to evacuate the World Trade Center, Rescorla replied, "As soon as I make sure everyone else is out". In Amanda Ripley's words:

Moments later, Rescorla had successfully evacuated the vast majority of Morgan Stanley employees out of the burning tower. Then he turned around. He was last seen on the tenth floor, moving upward, shortly before the tower collapsed. His remains have never been found.^[10]

According to Stephan Newhouse, chairman of Morgan Stanley International, Rescorla was seen as high as the 72nd floor evacuating people, clearing the floors and working his way down. He was last seen heading up the stairs of the tenth floor of the collapsing WTC 2. His remains were not recovered. As a result of Rescorla's actions, all but 13 of Morgan Stanley's 2,700 WTC employees survived . . .

 Let us have the courage to face unwelcome signs and facts, and to listen to brave, foresightful men.

And, let us have the wisdom and determination to act in good time. END

Matt 24 Watch, 133b: The story of Trinidadian Genelle Guzman-McMillan, last WTC 9/11 survivor to be pulled from the rubble

Genelle Guzman-McMillan,
of Trinidad

Genelle Guzman-McMillan, of Trinidad, was a Port Authority worker, working on the 64th floor of one of the WTC towers, on September 11, 2001 when she felt the building shake and heard the noise of the first impact. A look out the window showed papers floating in the sky, but it was not clear what had happened until she saw news reports on a TV in a conference room. 
Strange as it seems today, she and her co-workers were instructed to stay in the building, and evacuation was considerably delayed. 

(The rule I was taught for industrial fire safety was that if a fire is not contained in a building within 10 seconds, evacuation should begin; because of how rapidly a fire can get to dangerous proportions.)

Eventually she and the other remaining fourteen workers were evacuated, and began walking down those stairs, only encountering a single fireman on the way up. She had walked down to the 13th storey level stairs with her circle of co-workers and paused to remove her 4-inch high heels, when the building collapsed, pinning and trapping her for 27 hours.

Her survival story is that of a miracle, complete with her prayers to commit her life to God and the mysterious Paul who held her hand and encouraged her as she waited for rescue. (She calls Paul, her angel.)

There are several interviews, but I think the one I like is the one with a radio interviewer,  Trey Ware [?], overlooking the tower ten years later:

A Christian Post news report on her new book, Angel in the Rubble: the Miraculous Rescue of 9/11's Last Survivor, is also helpful:

As Guzman-McMillan tells it 10 years later, Sept. 11, 2001, was just another normal day. Things were going great between herself and her boyfriend, she was happy with her job on the 64th floor of the WTC's north tower, and, despite her religious upbringing, she was getting along fine without God, having rejected Him long ago . . . the Trinidadian native shares how she and her co-workers started to flee their office in the 110-story building and how she paused on the 13th floor to remove her high-heels. It was then, Guzman-McMillan says, that her whole world literally came crashing down and her life changed forever.

Despite being trapped for 27 hours in the rubble, believing that she was surely going to die, Guzman-McMillan told The Christian Post that she has no regrets about her decisions that day.

"No, I have no regrets at all of what happened," the mother of four said. "It made me a better person. I have a deeper and closer relationship with God."

It is well worth the pause to reflect on the story of a fellow Caribbean person, caught up in the midst of a horror beyond her imagination.  Her response to God while caught in the rubble speaks to us, but also we need to ask why many young people for our region abandon the childhood faith they are raised with. 

Food for thought. END

Matt 24 Watch, 134: New York (including Turtle Bay) continues to be Ground Zero in World War IV*

cf posts here and here

On Sunday just past, Sept 11 2011, we saw the 10th anniversary of Ground Zero at the WTC, NY.  (A Spiritually based response of intercessory prayers and more is called for here.)

The UN Secretariat,
Turtle Bay, New York

Sadly, NY continues to be ground zero; as, for one instance this week coming, we will see the "lawfare" push for a unilateral declaration of statehood by the Palestinian Authority.  In contemptuous defiance of the terms of the hitherto prevailing Oslo Accord of 1993, which (quite logically) calls for settlement of the conflict as a step towards statehood, this push is very likely to be rubber-stamped by the UN, over in Turtle Bay, New York. 

Or at most, it will be barely held back by an unpopular, polarising Security Council veto that will itself carry an ominous and burdensome price tag. 

Worse, it is unfortunately quite likely that many Caribbean countries will vote for Palestinian unilateral statehood, not realising what is implied. 

For, our hearts and minds are filled to overflowing with post-colonial narratives and resentments that are ill-matched to the actual complexities of the Middle East and to the modern history of Israel as well as to the conflicts between Jews and their Arab cousins over right to nationhood; a struggle made all the more intractable by the impacts of IslamIST global supremacism and long-cultivated hatred for Jews.

We must not ever forget this from the  concluding part of the Hamas Charter/Covenant, Article 7:

. . . The Islamic Resistance [= HAMAS, an Arabic acronym]  Movement aspires to implement Allah's promise, whatever time that may take. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: "The Day of Judgment will not come about until the Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them), until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: Oh Muslim! Oh Abdullah! [= servant/slave of Allah, a common Muslim name], there is a Jew behind me, come on and kill him. Only the Gharqad tree would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews."

Hamas' rocket campaigns since 2005 are no accident, or aberration, in short; they are a portent of what they would do if they had the power: genocide.

So, via David French's insightful National Review article [thank you, Reader X . . . ] let us reflect for the record, in warning -- a warning that needs to be made especially because it is just as likely to be ignored . . .  --  on the undercurrents behind that seemingly reasonable demand for international recognition of a Palestinian state:

Possible rocket attack threats to Israel
from Palestinian territories

The Palestinian Authority has declared it will seek statehood at the U.N. as early as next week. They will do so with the full backing of every Islamic nation in the world and with the expected backing of numerous other nations that are historically hostile to Israel. It’s critical to understand, however, that if the U.N. recognizes the Palestinian Authority, it will violate its own charter, violate longstanding norms of international law, and further impair its credibility with vital (and powerful) members of the world community . . . . 

By recognizing a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state, the U.N. would be an accomplice to a fundamental breach of the Oslo Accords which prohibit either side from taking any steps to change the status of the West Bank or Gaza pending the outcome of permanent status negotiations [i.e., resolving of the conflict on amicable terms] . . . . 


U.N. membership is open to “states” only. Granting membership to an entity which cannot meet the most basic and accepted international legal requirements for statehood would not only be a violation of this foundational requirement, it would set a dangerous precedent in international relations. Note that the question of whether the Palestinian entity can qualify as a state is a distinct question from whether one thinks the Palestinians ought to have a state. To regard the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a “state” would mean stretching the meaning of the term beyond all reason.

The accepted international criteria for statehood are laid out in the Montevideo Convention of 1933: a permanent population, a defined territory, government and capacity to enter into relations with the other states. The West Bank and Gaza Strip clearly fail to meet these criteria. The only authority exercised by the Palestinian Authority (PA) is that which it has through the sufferance of Israel, the parameters of which are defined in the Oslo Accords: the population and territory under the PA’s authority, the extent of its governing power and ability to carry on foreign relations only extend as far as that to which Israel has agreed. If the PA presses ahead with its unilateral course, its breach of the Oslo Accords would allow Israel to actually dismantle the PA.

The danger of the PA’s approach is obvious. If the U.N. nullifies all objective criteria for statehood — leaving recognition open for all aspiring separatist movements with sufficient political influence — then it has laid a foundation for perpetual, bloody conflict. The floodgates would open for the multitude of secessionist groups worldwide who would easily qualify for statehood under the “new rules,” whether they be Tibetans, Tamils, Basques, Kurds, or any of the countless others seeking recognition of their “right” to independence and statehood . . . . 


Any declaration of independence on 1967 lines leaves the most populous city in the new Palestinian “state” in the hands of Hamas, a terrorist organization at open war with Israel. Moreover, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have declared an intention to form a unity government, leaving the whole of Palestinian territory under at least partial control of terrorists. 

As for “equal rights,” the PLO’s ambassador to the United States declared that any new Palestinian state should be judenrein, cleansed of all Jews. This declaration stands in stark contrast to Israel, which grants its Arab citizens full civil rights — indeed, Israel’s Arab citizens enjoy more civil liberties than the citizens of any Arab country in the Middle East . . . . 


The prevailing deeply-held belief (and longstanding practice) of the PLO and Hamas is that they are entitled to use violence — to advance the maximalist goal of destroying Israel, or the more modest goal of ending Israel’s so-called “occupation” of the “Territories.” The unrelenting campaign of Palestinian terror, the content of the charters of the PLO and Hamas, and the widespread incitement to violence in Palestinian society are beyond dispute.

This commitment to violence demonstrates that the Palestinians at present are simply not “able and willing” to carry out their obligations under the Charter. Even if, for argument’s sake, one were to accept that the Palestinians were genuinely “willing” to take on the obligations attendant to U.N. membership, very recent history shows they are not “able” to do so. The Palestinian Authority lost its short and vicious civil war with Hamas, leaving Hamas in total control of the Gaza Strip. Does any reasonable person believe that the PA is “able” to restrain Hamas? Has the PA ever demonstrated an ability to restrain Hamas? Can the Palestinian delegation to the U.N. provide any reassurance that Hamas won’t also seize the West Bank — either through bullets or the ballot? . . . 

And, much more.

Let us note in particular:

The floodgates would open for the multitude of secessionist groups worldwide who would easily qualify for statehood under the “new rules,” whether they be Tibetans, Tamils, Basques, Kurds, or any of the countless others seeking recognition of their “right” to independence and statehood . . . .

The prevailing deeply-held belief (and longstanding practice) of the PLO and Hamas is that they are entitled to use violence — to advance the maximalist goal of destroying Israel, or the more modest goal of ending Israel’s so-called “occupation” of the “Territories.” The unrelenting campaign of Palestinian terror, the content of the charters of the PLO and Hamas, and the widespread incitement to violence in Palestinian society are beyond dispute . . .

Is this sort of agenda of easily stirred up civil wars and demand for a "right" to resolve problems by terroristic violence on any excuse by an aggrieved minority what we really want to advance in our region of vulnerable, small island states? 

Or, in the wider world?

To more deeply appreciate this, we need to excerpt from the speech by former Muslim Michael Paul of Iraq, at the 9/11protest Freedom Rally held in New York on 9/11 by Spencer, Geller and others as an alternative to the censored official celebrations:

WTC, 9-11: A man is not a bird
or a bit of debris . . .

[MP:] I am here today, not to speak against Muslims, but to talk directly to those who adamantly demand to build a mosque here at Ground Zero and name it the Cordoba mosque [NB: which is being built with official support, within the debris footprint of the WTC 9/11 attacks, i.e within Ground Zero, at the same time when a church lost during the attacks is meeting all sorts of official delays and obstacles]  . . . .



There are already many Sunni and Shiite mosques in New York. Some have been penetrated by terrorist ideology, others washed in the tide of Islamic Iran’s Revolutionary thinking. Now, that poison is being spread from here across the United States to other mosques. The true purpose of this mosque isn’t for daily worship. Most Muslims  don’t worship on a daily basis because they are too busy working during the week. The true purpose is suspicious.

You, you who want to build the mosque, should appreciate America as a country that supports and sacrifices for the right of man to be free no matter what the sex, race, or religion. Muslims living here have the full rights given in the Constitution and American society. And those rights far exceed those given in your native country.  Why do you now try to use the same laws that have set Muslims free from slavery as a weapon against the people who created those laws? Why do you want to build a mosque on the lives and wounds of the society that liberated so many Muslims around the world? Is it necessary to build the mosque here in this spot on ground that still moans from its wounds? Do you need to renew the pain of all those who’s loved ones were killed here?

The extremist ideology that killed them grew up in a mosque.

Ground Zero has seen the worst form of mass murder and crimes against humanity. The act was carried out by criminals who hate, even though they ate and drank of the best of this country, and breathed the human freedom she gave them. It is an act of shame that they attacked her and killed in the name of Islam.

It is a reminder of the ugly colonial history that is based on attacking people and trying to force a change of religious beliefs by the sword. A history that includes Spain, where the original Cordoba mosque was built over the Christian Church of Saint Vincent. Where that Christian country was occupied, men killed, and women captured and taken to Muslim’s countries as maids and servants who provided sexual pleasure for their conquerors. Many in Islam still boast about that and glory in that conquest. They consider it a symbol of their power and greatness. For them, this new Cordoba mosque will also be considered a symbol of Islamic supremacy, part of their long tradition of building structures on the holy ground of their conquered enemies.

Do you see how desiring the mosque to be named Cordoba is not just an innocent choice? It is being done because the name carries the seeds of dreams that destroy freedom and individual rights. The fruit will be the expansion of radical Islam.

I would like to refer to verse 107 of Sura Repentance [i.e. 9]  in the Qur’an, which says “And there are those who put up a mosque by way of mischief and infidelity– to disunite the Believers – and in preparation for one who warred against Allah and His Messenger aforetime. They will indeed swear that their intention is nothing but good; but Allah doth declare that they are certainly liars.”

You, who want to build this mosque, know the story of Dirar. It was a mosque built at the time of Mohammad in Medina, by the tribe of Auf, on land they stole from Christian Priest Abu Amar. And you know it was stolen because of their jealousy of their cousin tribe who had already built a mosque nearby. The Christian priest told Caesar about the terrible injustice done to him by the tribe of Auf and Mohammad sent three men to burn the Dirar mosque . . . .

Most of the Muslim theologians said that the meaning of  Dirar (which in English means devastating and is what Allah named the mosque in the story) is when you do something that doesn’t even benefit yourself while it damages your neighbor.

Most Muslim theologians have gathered and agreed that no mosque should be built on dirar, and if it is, it is not permitted by Allah to be prayed in.

My question to these men and women who are demanding construction of the mosque is, how do you believe in Islam and you don’t follow what your Prophet Muhammad has said? Instead you try to make the people fear you with your determination to build the mosque here. Muhammad said, “I swear in God’s name, anyone who causes his neighbor to fear him is not a Muslim Believer.”
 
Also, the Prophet of Islam said: By Allah, the ground of all the earth has been my mosque and cleansed for me. All the earth except five places. One of those five places is the cemetery or the grave, or place of death.

A second place that it is forbidden in Islam to build a mosque is coerced land. I am sure that those who want to build here will criticize me, because they will say that they obtained  the land by the regular way. But Mohammed says that anything that you obtained the regular way from people who were bashful to give it to you is the same as coercing it from them.

You who demand to build this mosque and name it Cordoba know full well that this place is a place of death. A place where over 3,000 innocents died. It is a cemetery of their souls. To build a mosque here is forbidden by Islam. If you believe that Allah cleansed all the earth for a mosque, why must you build on this specific site? Also, you are in effect seizing the land by coercion because the majority of Americans don’t want it built here. And beyond that it doesn’t benefit you because there are already many mosques in the area, and other sites that you could build on. It doesn’t benefit you and it damages your neighbors. 

This is dirar . . .

There are some terrible forces loosed in our world today, and we -- Muslims, Christians, peoples of other faiths, or of no faith alike -- need to think very carefully about what we are doing and where we are taking our common world.

Before it is unthinkably, bloodily, horrendously too late.

Including, those of us who live right here in the Caribbean. END
_______

* I count the Cold War as World War III. We must also remember that before the storm broke on May 10, 1940, with the decisive seven-division German panzer thrust through the Ardennes, World War II was reduced to what seemed to be a phoney war, after a relatively minor campaign in Poland. While terrorism seems to many to be mostly a minor problem best handled as a criminal matter,  what is lurking is the rise of radical Islamist powers with ballistic missile technology and nuclear weapons. The next full-bore 9/11 is liable to be under the sign of the mushroom cloud.

Matt 24 Watch, 133a: The story of the 9/11 firemen (a documentary from inside the WTC towers) -- let us never forget their courage and sacrifice . . .

9/11 Attacks, WTC, NY
[HT: Wiki]

(Cf Sep 11, 2012 post here) 

9/11 was a Tuesday morning in September 2001 that began as an ordinary day, but turned into a global horror story that has defined our times.

We must not forget it, and we must never allow our memories and understanding to be shaped by the spinmeisters.

For that, Atlas Shrugs -- rough edges, occasional shrillness and all -- is an unequalled source that I have come to respect for being able to get at angles and stories that just simply do not make it through the media filters.

(And if you think there are not significant media filters that we have to break through to get at the material, well-warranted truth, kindly cf here.)

Ms Geller, here, has highlighted a documentary video by The Naudet Brothers of France, one I have never heard of before, one that tells the story of the Firemen, from inside; including from inside the WTC towers that fateful Tuesday morning, September 11, 2011. She snips a summary that we should clip from:

Gedeon is the older brother, and the avid film maker. But, by the time of 9/11, an additional camera had been purchased for Jules for "camera practice." Jules is with the Battalion Chief, Joseph Pfeifer, and 13 other fire fighters from the house, filming as they investigate an odor of gas at 8:46 am on Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001. They are standing in the path of the plane as it flies over and hits Tower 1, and Jules is filming the entire time. His is the only footage of the attack on Tower 1.

The reaction of the firefighters is immediate, as they take off for the Trade Center, a place they previously would visit up to five times a day on a shift. They know the Trade Center perhaps better than any other firehouse in Manhattan. But, nothing has prepared them for this.

What transpires is the only known footage of the struggle of the firefighters inside Tower 1 as they try to figure out what to do in the chaos and confusion. They had seen it all, they thought, but this was something they hadn't prepared for. The film is very sensitively edited, so you don't see the blood or the gore or the bodies, you only hear about them. The focus in this film is on the brotherhood of the firemen, what was going on in the towers while the rest of the world looked on, helplessly.

How men who make less money than half of the City are the ones who rush into the burning buildings, and who do not hesitate to lay down their lives while saving others. It is the tale of a true brotherhood, of men who are doing jobs handed down to them from generations before. It is more than a story of 9/11, it is the story of the world of New York fire fighters . . .

 Yes, you got it right: these men were on another call, and seeing the attack happen right before their eyes, headed straight for Ground Zero, without having to be called.

There is a language warning, but let us never forget the commitment, courage and ultimately, sacrifice, of those first responders who found themselves on the frontlines of World War IV, at ground zero,

The original video here is gone, here is a replacement:

(I find it particularly interesting, that these men were apparently quite familiar with being called to the WTC for fires etc., up to five times in a shift.)

Let us remember, then, what terrorism means, and what it says beyond all doubt about the utter moral bankruptcy of those who resort to it.

Sigh, that's the first spin to be un-spun.

Let's roll the tape on definition, to keep our thoughts straight:

ter·ror·ism  (tr-rzm)

n.

The unlawful [here meaning: unjust, as in targetted at the innocent or civilians etc.] use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons. 

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

And so, let us resolve, never ever to surrender to it or to be intimidated or misled into telling the self-excusing, turnabout accusation "narrative" of the terrorists for them. END

Capacity Focus, 10: A suggestion for further equipping our educators through a Dip. Ed.

Here in Montserrat, we have a new Director of Education, and he has changed how CXC/O Level results are reported.

As a result, we learned that 25% of the cohort of 5th formers -- as opposed to the percent of students offered to sit the specific exams who passed them (usually considerably higher!) -- were able to obtain at least five CXC's or Ordinary Level "passes," including Math and English. The Director said that these are the ones who are demonstrably trainable for the sort of workforce our region now needs.

The result was that many members of the public were stunned, and even angry: our educators are failing! The teachers can't teach! The school is in a mess! Etc, etc.

Actually, this is an IMPROVED result over what typically obtained over the recent years.

Just, since -- as this is what counts for long term economic performance -- we are now looking at the full set of those who are in fifth form after five or so years of secondary education. So, we are now looking more specifically at the overall performance of the school, not just that of those seen as "bright enough" to sit exams.

Not a pretty picture. 

And sadly, that is not just for here, it is apparently fairly representative of the region.

That points to the need for effective diagnosis and provision of individualised second chance secondary education that has to detect and correct the gaps in our education base, so that students can now take the time to fix the problems and move up to a level that makes them ready to take part in the economic transformation our region so desperately needs. (And, I am not at all sure that "number of CXCs" is the best metric for that achievement; though, the regional secondary exams are an important, widely accepted yardstick that has to be reckoned with.)

Similarly, it points beyond itself, as it is manifest that 5th form standard is no longer good enough as a base for the skills we need if we are to thrive in the decades ahead. And, traditional 6th form is simply too narrow.

So, I have long proposed that we need an Associate Degree programme that can be bridged to -- that is itself a foundational programme of studies to ensure that a good base is in place! -- from a 5th form base, then will carry us to the half-way point of a standard four year bachelor's degree programme. Some such Associates are essentially half-degrees, and make it easy and affordable for people to access the first stage of a bachelor's degree through a community college. Others would be more or less terminal in themselves as applied courses of study, serving as training for various technical and paraprofessional fields.Some of these could even serve as broadening studies for people qualified in other areas to a higher level, but who are looking to get a wider, more marketable or useful skill base. For instance, how many of us would like to pick up some basic business administration or multimedia production skills, or agriculture, or the like?

My angle on all this is, of course, equipping people for effective Christian service and leadership in and beyond our region; through an Associate Degree programme of about 60 - 64 Credits that would complement other studies, or could be done on its own.

Such a programme -- as the "pillars" in the diagram below will show -- would contain a technical "tent-making" skill component, a general leadership and community service skills component, and a discipleship, Bible/Theology and issues component, leading onwards to some focus in an area of concentration and an integrative, capstone project with significant independent learning:

However, we come back full circle.

For, to effectively develop and implement such a programme, and as well to upgrade the skills of our educators to deliver a more effective secondary education system, we are looking at a second programme, designed to further equip a critical mass of our educators.

The logical programme for that is a graduate diploma in education, Dip. Ed., in the context of a professional Masters in Education, M. Ed., one based on bridging studies, a general Grad Cert in Ed and a Specialisation Cert, both one Semester-equivalent.

A research module would then lead on to the M.Ed, but that is not the primary focus just now.Just, we need to know where the design points, and a Master's Degree is currently a hot educational commodity in the region. So, affordable access would open up a considerable market.

In terms of basic design, we could do:

In terms of content for the Diploma component, we could look at, say (just as a preliminary suggestion):

Level I Cert. Ed, ideas (15 Cr):

Survey, Phil & Ethics of Education, 2: timeline highlights, key ideas, dynamics/ models /views & key cases, issues, duties of care and challenges

Survey, Devt'l & Edu Psychology, Caribbean Context, 2

Princs + Praxis, Design & Delivery of Content & Skills, 3: key ideas (& background), dynamics/ models/ approaches/ cases, issues, duties of care and challenges, also benchmarks of "best practice"

Princs + Praxis, Edu Organisation & Administration, 3

Princs + Praxis, Edu assessment, research & quantitative methods, 3 (statistics to be a bridging module)

Seminar I, Micro-teaching & multimedia presentation practicum, 2

Level II Cert. Ed, ideas (15 cr):

Curriculum, Programme & Course Design & Development, 2

Strategic Management & Policy in Education, 3

Specialisation /Independent Work A, 3

Specialisation/Independent Work B, 3

Education Research Methods, 2

Seminar II, micro research practicum, 2

Such a programme should be easily reachable for colleges, Ministries of Education, Seminaries etc. using a blend of online access, micro-campus learning centres based on existing institutions in the community, schools or training departments, and for especially the onward Masters, access to campuses for the in-campus module preparatory to doing one's thesis. The ongoing e-book revolution would easily provide significant access to resources, but strategic centres would probably need to put in place significant reference and periodicals resources.

In particular, the Caribbean Grad School of Theology acting in partnership with various agencies, could cover such a programme.

Nor, would we have to wait until all things are in place before starting. Once we have a reasonable framework, and agreed articulation, the initial modules in the Grad Cert I could begin to be offered, even as standalone professional development workshops with credit banking.

(A similar strategy can of course be used for the more foundational and/or skills based components of the envisioned Associate in Arts, Concentration in Caribbean Christian Service, AACCS. And the basic programme architecture as illustrated is applicable to other fields that would be strategic, such as business or public administration or environmental management, etc.)

So, the logical question (as usual) is: why not now, why not here, why not us? END

Matt 24 Watch, 133: Sunday, September 11, 2011 is the tenth Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks

Sunday, September 11, 2011 is the tenth Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. 

Most of us still can remember what we were doing that morning when the news of an aircraft crashing into one of the World Trade Center towers reached us. In my case, my wife called while I was at my desk, and I guessed -- since, in World War II, a bomber had accidentally crashed into the Empire State Building -- it was an accident. Then, maybe half an hour later, she called back to say an aircraft had crashed into the SECOND tower.

My reply:

"That's Bin Laden!"

And so, it turned out to be, triggering a decade of low-grade global war that with Iran now at nuclear threshold, threatens to go nuclear.

We have much to learn from what happened over the past ten years, but many of us are not ready and cannot bear that yet. Besides, there is a more important focus, prayer.

I think all churches in the Caribbean with the capacity should show the following short video this week end, or a similar one; and should then go into a time of intercession for the Muslim peoples of our world, the other peoples of the world, and our own civilisation; that we would stop, pause, and listen afresh to the Prince of Peace, our Lord and Risen Saviour, risen with Healing in his wings.

Here is the download page for the video, courtesy the Zwemer Center of Columbia International University. It is playable here:

     

In addition, we are usually woefully ill-equipped to respond to clever and cutting Islamic rhetorical challenges to the gospel, much less reach out to Muslims with the good news that would give them hope. 

So, I wish to highlight a cluster of resources here, here, here, here, here and here, on understanding and responding to the Islamic challenge in the Caribbean and the wider world beyond. I also think this presentation on the clashing sons of Abraham, will be helpful (it also includes some balancing remarks on the modern history of Israel).

Finally, I think we all need to reflect on how we can best respond to the worldviews and cultural agenda challenges we face in our region and as a wider civilisation, so this presentation and this course unit will help.

In the immortal words of the heroic Flight 93 passenger, Todd Beamer, "Let's Roll!" END