My Response to Senator Tammy Duckworth's Response

 

Dear Senator Duckworth,

Thank you for the response in answer to my email, but I must say that I am most disappointed that it is saturated with classical Israeli tropes, claims, and allegiances.  Israel is NOT our "ally", but rather an ally of some American politicians who enable Israeli occupation of Palestine - for a price.  Israel is NOT our ally when it refuses to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine, or for having passed on to the former USSR some of our most advanced US technologies at the time, such as the "Super-computers, Missiles, Rocket programs, AWACS (to China), and the Pollard Affair, the biggest haul of raw intelligence secrets in American history.  And, yes, much of it was later on channeled behind the scenes to the USSR.

As a Christian Arab Palestinian-American born in Haifa, Palestine (before 1948), I have experienced as a child the usurpation of 78% of my Palestinian Homeland in 1948, in order to create "Israel".  Israel's creation was based on a world class crime of major proportion, only second to the Jewish Holocaust.  We were evicted for not being Jewish and for being indigenous Native Palestinians.  We were unlike the primarily East European ideological Zionists and their flocks who arrived with British assistance as "immigrants" and claimed our land, based on extremist religious fanaticism and racism.  If any other people made such distorted claims, based on their misrepresented faith, they would have been condemned and ostracized particularly in the USA.

  

Just think about it this way.  In 1917, the Palestinian population represented 90% and the Jews 10% of the population of the entire Holy Land - including what became "Israel" in 1948.  Within a mere three decades, the avalanche of Jewish immigrants facilitated by Britain, dramatically raised it from 10% to 35%. In spite of that, the Palestinian native population still represented a solid majority af 65% of the total population.  The primarily East-European Zionist-Jewish militias (Haganah, Stern, Zvi Leumi) ethnically cleansed 80% of the native Palestinian population, forcefully evicting us and terrorizing us to flee, and become refugees in neighboring countries.  And to make it even a bigger crime, Israel adamantly refuses to abide by UN Resolution #194, "Right of Return" of 1948 that gives Palestinians the right to return to their homeland and claim their homes, farms, lands and orchards, and to be compensated for their loss.

What the Israeli "Hasbara" (Yiddish for "propaganda") mislabels as, "Normalization" should be corrected to read, "Normalization of Occupation" program. It was invented by Netanyahu-Kushner, spoon-fed to Trump, and spread to their business partners.  It has nothing to do with peace or justice, or humanity, but for building Trump's resorts and golf courses and real estate deals in New York and around the world, including Putin's Russia.  How about "Normalizing" Russia's occupation of 20% of Ukraine?  I can assure you that the only feature that relates to "Abraham" in the fakery labeled as, "Abraham Accords", is the "disobedience" of God's will by actually going ahead with sacrificing - or even crucifying - Abraham's son, Ishamel/Isaac.

Sorry for my long comment, but back to the VWP (Visa Waver Program) subject, Israel should not be allowed to continue its abuse against Arab-Americans and particularly Palestinian-Americans visiting their original homeland, namely, Palestine.  Israel has to be held accountable to treat ALL Americans equally, regardless of their ethnicity, religion, skin color, or political views.

Thanks again and I do sincerely hope that you would take some opportunities to learn more about the "Other" narrative of Palestine-Israel, including visiting the West Bank (including Arab East Jerusalem and Bethlehem) and Gaza.  

And, Thank you for your service to our great country.

Best regards and Salaam ("Peace", in Arabic).

Awad 

On Thu, Jun 29, 2023 at 1:59 PM Senator Tammy Duckworth <correspondence@duckworth.senate.gov> wrote:

Dear Awad, Thank you for contacting me about Israel joining the U.S. Visa Waiver Program (VWP). I appreciate you taking the time to make me aware of your views on this important matter. As strong supporter of our close ally Israel, I support their candidacy to join the VWP. All countries must be able to meet certain requirements in order to qualify to join the program, including certain technical visa requirements, such as a visa refusal rate below three percent for nonimmigrants for the past two fiscal years and reciprocal privileges for U.S. citizens and nationals. I applaud Israel for taking steps to be able to meet the necessary requirements as established by law and stand ready and willing to work with the Biden administration to determine what further measures are necessary for Israel to implement in order to become eligible to join VWP. That is why I recently sent a letter with Senator Van Hollen to Secretary Blinken to express my support for Israel joining the VWP should they meet all program requirements. Since Israel has historically had challenges achieving the necessary refusal rates and ensuring reciprocal treatment of U.S. citizens and nationals—particularly those of Palestinian or Arab descent—our letter also requested additional information on plans to address these concerns. As your Senator, I am committed to advancing policies that reinforce our shared values and security interests. Should Israel satisfy all program requirements, their engagement with the VWP would reinforce our commitment to continued bilateral diplomacy. It is in our own national interest to ensure Israeli democracy remains strong, stable and secure for years to come, despite relentless threats posed by shared adversaries such as Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas and ISIS. To further this goal, it is important for the U.S. to support the normalization of relations between Israel and its neighbors with shared security interests through agreements like the Abraham Accords. That is why I was proud to cosponsor the Israel Relations Normalization Act, which made it U.S. policy to strengthen and expand the Abraham Accords. Please be assured that I will monitor Israel’s progress toward eligibility for VWP, and I will continue to support strong relations with Israel. Thank you again for contacting me on this important issue. If you would like more information on my work in the Senate, please visit my website at www.duckworth.senate.gov. You can access my voting record and see what I am doing to address today’s most important issues. I hope that you will continue to share your views and opinions with me and let me know whenever I may be of assistance to you. Sincerely, Tammy Duckworth United States Senator

Awad is a good friend, he shared with me his contacting Senator Duckworth about an important issue being discussed nowadays in Congress and the administration. I thank my good readers for following my blogs, stay safe and well.  

OUR MEDIA WILL NOT DARE SAY IT, BUT HAARETZ WILL

 

After the frightening escalation of violence, brutality and apartheid in the occupied West Bank and Palestinian territories, mostly by settlers, under the Israeli army blatant protection and guidance this article few days old seems appropriate, and more so as it comes from a prominent Israeli paper. 

  
Editorial for the Israeli newspaper "Haaretz".
The Palestinians are the best people on earth in defending their homeland!!!

Can you believe that the editorial of the largest Israeli newspaper today tells the truth about the Palestinians and that they are one of the best people on earth who rose to defend their rights after more than seventy years as if they were one man ... Continue the article so that you know how much they know the truth:
* The editorial of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz......

One of the rarest things that a living conscience exudes, and the most beautiful thing that intellectual freedom blooms with, and the best that bears fruit with a margin of mastery .... 
The author says: During the war on Gaza and the firing of Hamas missiles at us!!!
Our loss every three days is 912 million dollars in aircraft sorties, the price of Patriot missiles, the supply of fuel to vehicles, and the consumption of ammunition. Not to mention the destruction of homes, shops, cars, and factories by the rockets of the Palestinian resistance.
- We are exposed to a war that we are not running, and certainly we are not the ones to end it, especially since the Arab cities in Israel surprised everyone with this massive revolution against us after we thought that they had lost their Palestinian compass...
- This is a bad omen for the country whose politicians confirmed that their calculations were all wrong and their policies needed a horizon beyond what they thought...
- They are really the owners of the land, and who else but the owner of the land, he defends it himself, his money and his children with this ferocity and this pride and challenge...
As a Jew, I challenge the State of Israel as a whole to come with this affiliation and this adherence and rootedness to the land after we made them taste our scourge of killing, imprisonment, siege and separation, drowned them with drugs and invaded their ideas with superstitions that distanced them from their religion such as liberation, atheism and doubt... But the strange thing is that when one of them is a drug addict but he rises in defense of His land and farthest as if he was an old man with a turban and his voice was neighing Allahu Akbar.
- The armies of countries with full equipment did not dare do what the Palestinian resistance did in a few days. The mask fell off the indomitable Israeli soldier who turned to kill and kidnap and torture;
As long as Tel Aviv has tasted the rockets of the resistance, it is better for us to abandon our false dream of Greater Israel, and the Palestinians must have a neighboring state that makes peace with us and we make peace with it, and this only prolongs the life of our stay on this land by a few years. There must come a day when we pay the entire bill, for the Palestinian will be resurrected again and again and again, and he will come once again, riding his horse, heading towards Tel Aviv.

Thanks to all, stay safe and well....

THAT'S WHO WE ARE ......

 

 

*"OLD PEOPLE"*

"We were born in the 40s-50s-60s."

"We grew up in the 50s-60s-70s."

"We studied in the 60s-70s-80s."

"We were together in the 70s-80s-90s."

"We got married and discovered the world in the 70s-80s-90s."

We venture into the 80s and 90s.

We stabilized in the 2000s.

"We got wiser in the 2010s."

And we're going firmly into 2020.

"It turns out we've been through EIGHT different decades..."

"TWO different centuries..."

TWO different millennia...

“We went from phone with a carrier for long distance calls to video calls to anywhere in the world, we went from slides to YouTube, vinyl records to online music, handwritten letters to emails and WhatsApp."

"Live games on radio, black and white TV, then HD TV."
We went to Video Club and now we watch Netflix.

"We had the first computers, punch cards, floppy disks and now we have gigabytes and megabytes on hand on our cell phones or iPads."

We wear shorts throughout our childhood and then long pants, oxfords, bermudas, etc.

“We dodged infantile paralysis, meningitis, H1N1 flu and now COVID-19.”

We rode skateboards, tricycles, invented cars, bicycles, mopeds, petrol or diesel cars and now we ride hybrids or 100% electric.

"Yeah we've been through a lot but what a great life we've had  !"

They might describe us as “exannuals”; people who were born into this world of the 1950s, who had an analog childhood and a digital adult life.

Our generation has literally lived and witnessed more than any other in all dimensions of life.

It is our generation that has literally adapted to “CHANGE”.

A big congratulations to all the members of a very special generation, which will be UNIQUE."

 Commemorating precious and very true messages and life lessons that I received from a dear friend, John F. who a short time ago passed away......

*  *TIME DOES NOT STOP*

_"Life is a task that we have brought ourselves to do at home._

_When you look... it's already six o'clock in the afternoon; when you look... it's already Friday; when you look... the month is over, when you look... the year is over; when you look... 50, 60 and 70 years have passed!_
_When you look... we no longer know where our friends are._
_When you look... we lost the love of our life and now it's too late to go back._
Don't stop doing something you love for lack of time. Don't stop having someone by your side, because soon your children will no longer be yours and you will have to do something with this remaining time, where the only thing we will miss will be the space that cannot be enjoyed. than with regular friends. This time which, unfortunately, never comes back..."_ We must eliminate the "AFTER"...
After*
I call you.
*After*
I do.
*After*
I say it.
*After*
I change.
We leave everything for *later*,
as if the *After*
it was the best...
Why don't we understand that...
*After*
the coffee is getting cold
*After*
the priority changes,
*After*
the charm is lost
*After*
early becomes late,
*After*
the desire passes,
*After*
things change,
*After*
children grow up
*After*
people age,
*After*
day is night,
*After*
life is over
Leave nothing for *later*,
because while waiting for the *After*,
you can lose
the best moments,
the best experiences,
the best friends,
the greatest loves
Remember that *After* can be late.
*The day is today!*
*WE ARE NO LONGER AT THE AGE TO REPORT ANYTHING.*

I hope you have time to read and then share this message... or leave it for *Later* and you will find that you will never share it!

Always together
always united
Always brothers
friends forever

Beautiful text by unknown older author. Worth reading......

To all my friends, to all my readers, my thanks with my sympathy and my esteem.

THE LEBANESE......

 

*Damn.. It's complicated to be Lebanese 😉😊!* (Amin Maalouf) “We get attached, inevitably. Then, inevitably, we leave. Without even closing the door behind you, since there are no doors or walls. » The airplane takes off. Destination Paris, Larnaca, Dubai, Madrid, London, Geneva, Montreal. They are everywhere. We are everywhere. The dream of leaving, the fear of being uprooted, the nostalgia for a country that is moving away in its turn. Double-divorce. Laughter and tears, tranquility and unease in a perpetual rocking motion. The image of an individual lost in a makeshift airport, who pushes his suitcases and drags his dreams, in an incessant back and forth, wandering aimlessly, except that of escaping, watching some disembark by weariness and the others embark in desperation. Leave and come back. Then leave. Then come back again. Then leave. Then come back. This has been the job of the Lebanese for generations. What is it to be Lebanese? Is being Lebanese a profession? No, it's an identity, and it's the opposite of citizenship. Being Lebanese is reduced to very few things, character traits, tiny details that we recognize immediately. An overly elongated "I'm fine", a false hurried gait, the telephone in their ears, and who shouts instead of speaking, a Lebanese accent which one cannot manage to get rid of, self-proclaimed homeless people who open the champagne in the trendy restaurants, people we meet abroad and suddenly we understand that we are the same, no need for religion, no need for confession, they attract us unconsciously, but we do everything to avoid them because that they remind us too much of where we come from. And always this perpetual rocking movement between here and elsewhere, between the moment and time, this desire to devour the moment, with always the obsession to guarantee a place with his god. An oversized ego and the desire to destroy oneself in a collective. A thirst for freedom and the need to lock oneself up in community cages, everywhere, in Paris, Larnaca, Dubai, Madrid, London, Geneva, Montreal. Open communities, easily assimilated, integrated into their environment, but at the same time, closed communities that speak only of Lebanon. A faceless people because they dare not look in the mirror. Night everywhere. The darkening interior, the exterior too. Darkness is contagious, obscurantism is deadly. Mild climate, sad people. Smiles that are becoming rare, looks that are empty, and always the denial, that of living in one's own reality, in a continual flight so as not to die. Live twice as much beyond your means then suddenly switch to survival in search of a little light and bread. Promising three times more than you can deliver and finally accomplishing nothing at all. Knowing four times as much and actually not really knowing anything. Getting five times the interest on his deposits to finally see his money evaporate. Our daily life has changed overnight, a terrible, unbearable regression, of rare violence. It is difficult to realize what is happening to us. Living out of time with the impression of having everything. But in reality having nothing at all. Continue to live as if everything were normal. Impermanence of life. To feel Lebanese despite everything. Nomadic people in search of a country that fades away. Forced to reinvent itself to exist, with Lebanon both so close and so far away. We are not here to disappear. Damn, it's complicated to be Lebanese…!!! Amin Maalouf, is a famous and bright Lebanese writer, he lives in France and mostly writes in French, he has many famous books, I took the liberty of translating his few words to English, words that discribe very well the Lebanese psych, in the past, present and probably for the future, driving most Lebanese to relocate and try to survive....   As always, my many profound thanks to all, stay safe and well.

DEFAULTING ON OLD DEBTS ......

 

With less than couple weeks until the United States defaults on its debt, plunging the economy into chaos and leading to millions of Americans losing their jobs, Republicans are still demanding a ransom in exchange for allowing our country to pay its bills.

The country's accrued debts, through decades of military adventurism, and gross fiscal ups and downs policies, whereby all previous administrations had a hand in it, is now a ferocious battle between the existing administration defending existing social benefits and expenditures and an opposition right wing machine, claiming suddenly wiser spending, and cutting down most benefits and health programs to the middle and poorer classes, all to preserve low taxation on the very rich and big corporate as well as the oil industries...... 

Joe Biden is right to demand no concessions in exchange for avoiding default: Because if we give in to terrorists, this will never end.

Roughly, until now, Republicans claim not to be targeting Social Security benefits, only the administrative funding that has kept payments delivered in full and on time for nearly a century.

But even if Biden gives in and meets every one of their demands, closing Social Security offices, cutting veterans’ services, meals for seniors, school funding, and more―what will they ask for next year?

We already know that Republicans from Kevin McCarthy to Mitch McConnell to Rick Scott to Mitt Romney were all eager to demand cuts to Social Security and Medicare this year in exchange for increasing the debt ceiling before settling on their current package. If legislating by extortion is normalized, what comes next? Social Security? Medicare? Demanding the president’s resignation?

Political bipartisanship in the U.S. is becoming a total political game and a show of force and ruse, the only problem is the danger it poses to the country's economic and social stability and continuity , as well as the entire world's well being.  

We're already paying a high price due to total partisanship of a rightwing, and corrupt high court, that sold its soul and integrity to politicians in power and big rightwing rich donors and payers.

One of the major trends sweeping America and the world nowadays, is the scene of rapid decline of democracy in many parts. It's sad to see just how much it is changing this country and many like it around the world. All these forces of ugly change share the same hostility to democracy, they are all spreading big lies , inciting  violence, applying colonial and apartheid methodologies, scapegoating innocents, and openly forcing authoritarian institutions and regimes. 

Are we stopping civilization and sane governance as we know them, and the levels we have reached  by our 21st century ?? Are we really going back to mediaeval and dark ages ???       

As always, my many thanks to all, stay safe and well....

LET'S FACE IT .........

 

Let's be courageous and admit the truth, as it's a week of multitude celebrating dates, 75 years to install Israel, the Palestinian Nakba, a year plus and still going strong, the war in east Ukraine, 9 years to the invasion and annexation of Crimea, few words are de rigueur ..... 

Let's face it, Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in the name of Russian greatness, and past semi glorious strength and grandeur. The war has done lasting harm to his people, their culture and their armed forces, the entire past strength image has dissipated. 

The Israeli Zionists have revived a concept and a dream, based on mythology and an alleged Devine promise. Ending in doing even greater harm to their people, to their religious beliefs and to the world. Both sides followed individual decisions made in the midst of crisis, but policymakers were not wise enough to realize that in most cases national and humanitarian interests often clash, and even the smartest politician and policymakers cannot be right all the time, and that's tragic indeed. 

In both cases, the Russian and the Israeli, their leaders cannot fully comprehend nor accept that their hard headed, realist adversaries are also motivated by truth, grandiose ideals and rich pasts. Possibly different truths, but it's as moral, just and robust as theirs. Hans Morgan wrote; "To improve the world, one must work with, and not against it." otherwise, it could turn into an unsolvable and very ugly situation. 

But nothing will stand to these noble defenders of the dignity and survival of their people and countries. Like Prometheus, nothing, no threat, no torture or brutality will break their will, and they will stand through the times as that of the great and noble rebel fighter against injustice and the authority of power, blind and savage power. These men and women take consolation and solace from the righteousness of their cause and the romance often attached to it, despite the ferocious efforts of their oppressors at blinding the ugly facts. 

To stand up fiercely and repeatedly in the face of great violence, injustice and brutality, to ignore one side, and only look to the one sided ideals of one side, is as tragic and hypocritical. I believe it was Kissinger who said : Struggle is not only about seeking justice, but about seeking the lesser evil in an intractable world. There are many ways to fail, and some are better than others. 

I believe it was Freud who said: "All societies, large and small, civilized or not are perpetually menaced with disintegration". As well to consider Joseph Conrad in "Under Western eyes" whereby he suggests that human communities have often oscillated tragically between the "Ferocity and imbecility of their autocratic rulers and reigning regimes". 

Again, many armed conflicts around the world are always there, reminding everyone of how primitive and barbaric humans are, even the great 21st century is a stark reminder of what we really are, but in the case of our two conflicts, the Russian versus Ukraine, and more so the Israeli Zionists against the native Palestinian population, we come to conclusions that " Not even barbarians could invent or inflict atrocities like these, not even the Gods and religions can, the answer obviously is, these are crimes of men".     

My, as always, many thanks for your time, stay safe and well.        

A RUSSIAN ANALYSIS OF THE PRESENT SITUATION AND THE FUTURE

 

I think we've now reached a crossroads. We have two possible futures. Two futures for the “50s of the twenty-first century” (2050). This is very interesting. The date is now open, and it is the moment you make a move in one direction or the other. Now, we are hesitant. The global structure hesitates between two possible scenarios. The first scenario for the year 2050 witnesses the complete and irreversible victory of unipolarity and globalization, the installation of a world government, the advent of the posthuman era, the destruction of human species by posthuman species (artificial intelligence, cyber, bioengineering, neogenesis and all kinds of creatures) posthuman and a unified posthuman society. If we, the Russians, lose this war in Ukraine, the West immediately gets the chance to realize the global dreams of George Soros and Klaus Schwab, an open society. And if they win, a unipolar globalized world will be secured from the serious challenges it now faces.

The second future is the one we win, and that changes everything. Russia wins Ukraine, and a multipolar world will be secured. Outside the circle of Western hegemony, two more poles will emerge: Russia and China.

India will emerge as a third pole. A fourth Islamic pole will emerge, a fifth in Latin America, and a sixth in Africa. This is not the automatic solution to all problems, but it does mean the end of the global domination of one system of postmodernism, technical progress, individualism and artificial intelligence. Humanity will separate into islands of civilizations. An archipelago of civilizations, coexisting with each other. Some can be in conflicts, some can be in peace, and we can define some common rules instead of a unilateral system led by America, a new multipolar system, and how to solve problems and conflicts between civilizations. This will come in a new world, where not only one set of values ​​wins, but when we have many sets of values ​​for many civilizations.

For example, Islamic law and traditions will be recognized as the primary source of the political, economic, metaphysical, social and anthropological systems of one part of the population: orthodox Christianity for us, Confucianism and Maoist values ​​for the Chinese and Indian traditions of the Indians, liberal West, LGBT civilization in the West (as a part but not as a whole) . There will be no more major metropolises or capitals of the world. They will all be interruptions. We'll have a western province, a Eurasian province, a Chinese province...without a capital, or some unique kind of set of universal values, as in "Future No. 1". The receivers are now separated, and the two scenarios are now defined.


Alexander Dugin, interview with Al-Mayadeen, April 24, 2023

The text was received originally in Arabic, translated and published as such, an interesting take on the present and the future, by one of the leading Russian thinkers and political analysts.  We rationally can add to it, a defacto alliance between a Persian and Israeli force to redraw the Levant map, eliminate an Arabic/Sunni independent force,  and join emerging world forces under their influence. Rather than an alliance between the dominant west and the sunni world, both enemies of bipolarity and the new powers.    Thanks for your time.