2/27/11

the "bad bedouin" narrative

There is just waaaaaay too much going on. We assume this is on purpose, part of the plan, designed to confound and disorient. A multiplicity of narratives, dramas, and deceits. A multiplicity of assorted characters with long histories suitable for cherry picking. A plethora of scapegoats to choose from, some new some old.

Remember The Lorax?



"I'm being quite useful.  This thing is a Thneed.
A Thneed's a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need!
It's a shirt.  It's a sock.  It's a glove.  It's a hat.
But it has OTHER uses.  Yes, far beyond that.
You can use it for carpets.  For pillows!  For sheets!
Or curtains!  Or covers for bicycle seats!"

You know what's great, from the perspective of social engineers, about times like this? What's really great is that NOBODY OUTSIDE THE S.E. LAB CAN AGREE ON A SINGLE THING. Therefore, we are DIVIDED. Therefore, we are rather CONQUERED. Before we even begin. What's not to love? It's win win winwiwiwnwinwiwinwnwin all day long for the Social Engineers. Break out the champagne. Soon they can pull the plug on the busted fiat money machine and blame it all, E V E R Y T H I N G, every iota of fallout imaginable, on the chaos caused by the democracy-seeking peoples of the Arab world, and so forth and so on! For instance, rising gas prices this week? Blame Libya.


LOLZLOZLOZLZOL!!




So, you know, it's great about democracy and all, but all the unrest sure is having some REGRETTABLE consequences. Damn. Even well-meaning people who certainly love democracy and apple pie for everyone might start to resent the consequences after a while of ever-more-expensive gasoline and food.

^^^^^^^


With his penchant for Bedouin tents, heavily armed female bodyguards and Ukrainian nurses, Moammar Gadhafi has cut a showmanlike figure as Libya's leader for more than 40 years.

For most of that time, he also held a prominent position in the West's international rogues' gallery....His love of grand gestures is most on display on foreign visits when he sleeps in a Bedouin tent guarded by dozens of female bodyguards.
Admit it. You're jealous. He sleeps in a Bedouin tent guarded by dozens of female bodyguards who are all martial arts experts.
Gadhafi's personal bodyguards, known as the Amazonian guard, consisted of young women said to be martial arts experts. They often carried machine guns and sometimes wore military-style uniforms with matching camouflaged headscarves. In 2006, Nigerian authorities stopped dozens of Gadhafi's bodyguards, including members of the female corps, from entering Abuja, the capital, with weapons in a dispute that lasted hours and saw the exasperated Libyan leader storm away from the airport on foot before a compromise was reached.
He wears Bedoin robes. He has a voluptuous blonde Ukranian nurse.

Dapper and handsome in his youth, he cultivated an increasingly flamboyant appearance over the years, donning garish military uniforms with braids and huge, fringed epaulettes or flowing, colorful Bedouin robes and clothing with African patterns, along with sunglasses and fly whisks.  ...A 2009 U.S. diplomatic cable released by the website WikiLeaks cites Gadhafi's heavy reliance on a Ukrainian nurse - described as a "voluptuous blonde" - and his intense dislike of staying on upper floors of buildings, aversion to flying over water and a taste for horse racing and flamenco dancing.
Evidently, he's a narcissist.
Yet he does not appear aware of that, or to care, thereby subjecting the fate of Libya's 6 million people to the foibles of one man's narcissism. 

...Gadhafi suffers "the sense of mission and the sense of personal power that someone has when they've been at the top for a very long time with few people, if anybody, seriously contradicting them," said Richard Dalton, a former British ambassador to Libya and Iran. He said the Libyan has the classic delusion of absolute rulers who believe, even as citizens abandon them, that the people are at fault.
"He may do something that one calls crazy, but it flows from the internal history and logic of the personality and his experiences," Dalton said.
Born in a Bedouin tent, Gadhafi has known power for virtually his entire adult life.



So we ask you, how is Ghadafi so different from any number of people on the world stage? Is he perhaps a little *more* narcissistic, perhaps a little *less* psychopathic? A tiny bit off the reservation from time to time?

"I don't see him surviving," said Dalton, the former British ambassador. "I suppose you could say that in Shakespearian terms, his vanity is his fatal flaw."
A Fatal Flaw? Now? After all this time?? We will not be going on to defend Ghadafi, but we will point out the HYPOCRISY of powerful people attacking him. Let's put it this way. Flamboyant or not, SOMEHOW, despite all his flaws (fatal or otherwise, plus Lockerbie), he managed to avoid getting whacked for forty years.




"Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak (L) jokes with Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi upon his arrival at Benghazi airport in this August 27, 1991 file photo." National Post


And we are sure it was not A LOVE OF DEMOCRACY that saved his ass all this time.





Leaders remain in power as long as they serve some purpose to the larger agenda. When the agenda changes, and/or their removal serves some other purpose, and/or they fail to cooperate, and/or all of the above, then we get these "situations." We think the agenda has changed. Must be a very big agenda to necessitate all these situations at once.

What we see, in general, is an internecine war among the powerful, at this time, for some reason. A war in which many people have suddenly become INTOLERABLE.

It's nothing personal. It's business. There's a REASON to make all this commotion right now, a BUSINESS REASON.

But for narrative purposes, it has to be personal.

^^^^^^^

You may have heard of the famous Bedouin hospitality.
The hostile desert environment did not just lead to a total dependency between the individual and the clan and to chauvinistic beliefs of the tribe’s superiority, it also obliged to a fabulous hospitality towards other desert travellers.

...The words of the Prophet Muhammad 'whoever believes in God and the day of resurrection, must respect his guest' means that being good to your guest is to honour God and in return God will be good to you.

Although there are no religious sanctions, there are social sanctions and received hospitality always has to be returned.

The Bedouin of Sinai are peace-loving and cultivated, and they are courteous, joyful, fugal and hospitable in spite of their poverty and nonetheless, Bedouin culture still survives in Sinai, where there is a growing appreciation of its value and its fragility.







^^^^^^^

When the events in Egypt began to unfold, we noted the Bedouin narrative appear very quickly in el Arish.


click to enlarge
from a website called hope-of-israel.org

El (Al) Arish is where the water pipeline from the Nile ends. The map shows the location and the proximate town of Lihfen. (Lahfan) Note how close these places are to Gaza.



Also note that the narrative about the Bedoin causing trouble was setting up over a week ago.


1/29/11: Bedouin tribesman have reportedly taken control of two towns in the Sinai Peninsula. These two towns are the closest to the Gaza Strip and right next to the border with Israel. There were reports yesterday that Bedouin tribes had besieged a police station in Suez and it appears that these riots have spread. This would effectively end the Mubarak dictatorship’s control of the region. There are no reports of the Egyptian military stepping in here.

The more disturbing news is a threat that has been made by the tribes if Mubarak does not step down. According to one report coming from Time Magazine, they are willing to attack the Suez Canal if Mubarak does not leave....If there is a credible threat to the Suez Canal or actual stoppage by force, the 1956 invasion comes to mind. When Egyptian dictator Gamel Nasser nationalized the Canal, the combined forces of Britain, France, and Israel took it by force. It is possible that the United States or European powers would consider to retain control of this important waterway.
Laying the narrative groundwork for the sabotage...

Also note, referencing McJ's thread, the details of the pipeline:


"The Arish–Ashkelon pipeline is a 100 kilometres (62 mi) submarine gas pipeline connecting the Arab Gas Pipeline with Israel. Although it is not officially a part of the Arab Gas Pipeline project, it branches off from the same pipeline in Egypt....In 2010, the pipeline is supplying approximately half of the natural gas consumed in Israel, with the other half being supplied from domestic resources."
As became clear later, this very important supply line to Israel was NOT the one that got bombed. Lucky that.

Basically it was a lot of Bad Bedouin narrative on Al Jazeera today:
The narrative there are pursuing here is the tension between the Bedouins and the Egyptian gov in the northern Sinai because they say the gov has not invested the gas revenues back into the area. The Southern Sinai is ok apparently because of tourist revenue. They keep talking about there being a security vacuum in the area and about the smuggling tunnels to Gaza.  ...Reporter at the Rafah crossing saying that the security there is not good. Police have been attacked and are being protected by the military. They are staying indoors. Residents are forming their own neighborhood security as they have no police protection. This is being blamed on the Bedouin who are also responsible the smuggling trade to Gaza.

Here we have the JPostPedia description of el Arish:
Arish or el-Arīsh is the capital and largest city (with 114,900 inhabitants as of 2002) of the Egyptian governorate of North Sinai, lying on the Mediterranean coast of the Sinai peninsula, 344 kilometers (214 miles) northeast of Cairo. Al `Arīsh is distinguished by its clear blue water, widespread fruitful palmy wood on its coast, and its soft white sand. It has a marina, and many luxury hotels. The city also has some of the faculties of Suez Canal University. El Arish is by a big wadi called the Wadi el Arish, which receives flash flood water from much of north and central Sinai. http://newstopics.jpost.com/topic/Arish



A gas pipeline, lots of water, soft white sand, luxury hotels... so close, yet so far.

You can see why there must be a problem there, right?

Well, here is El Arish again. This time the Bedouins are accused of raping Africans who are trying to get to Israel, the land of Milk and Honey.
JAFFA, Israel — An Israeli rights group said Wednesday that Bedouin smugglers in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula have raped dozens of African women who they promised to smuggle into Israel over the past year. At least 86 women from Eritrea reported they were raped while in Sinai, which borders Israel, said Ran Cohen, executive director of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel.
"Some of them are held separately just for this cause (rape)," said Azizet Kidane, an Eritrean nun who interviewed the women on behalf of the organization. None of the women agreed to talk to reporters. Kidane said the number of raped women was likely higher because many women were ashamed to discuss sexual violence.
Et cetera. Horrible treatment. Have you ever heard of such things? Yes, of course. This is human trafficking, a HUGE part of organized crime. We have written about human trafficking many times before. Just do a search if you like. It goes on all over the world, in an organized fashion, because typically that's the way ORGANIZED CRIME RINGS work: the principle of compartmentalization. Some people get the human slaves into the system, other people move them around, still other people pass them through bottlenecks, others make up paperwork, others launder the money, others receive them at the end, others abuse them, others manage to look the other way, etc.

Could some Bedouins be involved in human trafficking? Of course that's possible. Anything is possible.

BUT WHERE EXACTLY IS THE PROOF THAT BEDOUINS RUN THE BRUTAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING RINGS IN THE SINAI, IN EL ARISH?



It's so very simple. The Israeli rights groups said it, and none of the women agreed to talk to reporters.

WHAT MORE PROOF DO YOU NEED?

When questioned about the TIMING of these reports, look what the group leader, Ran Cohen, says:

http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=209604
When asked why the two reports had come out in such quick succession, PHR-Israel executive director Ran Cohen said the group’s report was more of a followup to a report it put out in December titled “Hostages, Torture, and Rape in the Sinai Desert.” It stated that “out of 165 abortions facilitated by the clinic between January and November 2010, PHR-Israel suspects that half were request by women who were sexually assaulted in Sinai.”



That's right. They're on it, reporting on all the problems in the Sinai. And after doing all those abortions, the clinic SUSPECTED that half were requested by women who were sexually assaulted in the Sinai. Again, what more proof does one need to blame it all on the Bedouins?

Cohen said that in contrast to the Hotline report, “ours more looks at the breadth of the phenomenon, which is very extensive.” He added that “after the revolution in Egypt, we feel that it is very important to bring this subject to the daily agenda of Israel and the international community so that steps will be taken to fight it.
Indeed.

^^^^^^^

"Looking back, there were few clues in Gadhafi’s 2009 UN speech that would suggest he was anything other than a man of peace. “We are here to decide the future of the world in a democratic way that will maintain world peace and security,” he cooed." Bedouin Sound Bites, unsigned editorial, The Weekend Telegram 2/25/11

See how that Bad Bedouin narrative stretches all the way from Libya to el Arish?


2/25/11

everybody is not loving Raymond - updated

UPDATE: A13 has more on the latest arrest of Aaron Mark Dehaven aka Ahmed Haroon HERE.

Also see Penny's posts, here and here.

^^^^^^^

A round up of the Raymond Davis jail situation...


"FILE - In this Feb. 15, 2011 file photo, supporters of Pakistani religious party Jamat-e-Islami attend a rally against Raymond Allen Davis, a U.S. consulate employee suspected in a shooting, in Lahore, Pakistan. The Associated Press has learned that an American jailed in Pakistan after the fatal shooting of two armed men was secretly working for the CIA. The arrest last month of 36-year-old Raymond Allen Davis has caused an international diplomatic crisis. The U.S. has repeatedly asserted that Davis had diplomatic immunity and should have been released immediately. But former and current U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk publicly about the incident, told the AP that Davis had been working as a CIA security contractor for the U.S. consulate in Lahore." (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary, File)





Raymond Davis is being held in a Lahore jail called Kot Lakhpat. There is some concern that an operation might take place to "rescue" him.

ISLAMABAD: The Punjab government, fearing something fishy, will deploy multiple security cordons, including that of Rangers, in the Kot Lakhpat Jail to pre-empt a possible Hollywood Rambo-style sting operation by the US forces to get Raymond Davis released.
Punjab Police sources said that even otherwise the security of Davis had been tightened in view of serious security concerns that include some subversive act from India to get the double-murderer to embarrass Pakistan.
“In sheer frustration, the Americans are capable of conducting a sting operation for which we are ensuring that all security measures are taken on our part,” a Punjab administration source said, adding that the security of Davis was being shaped up while keeping in mind all possibilities whether regarding an assault on him, a terrorist attack and even a strike by US commandos to get him forcibly released.
A Punjab government spokesman and secretary information, Mohyuddin Wani, when approached, confirmed that Davis would be taken to the Kot Lakhpat Jail where he would be placed in a special cell which is detached from the normal barracks but set up for high-profile and high-value prisoners.
“It is highly protected and fully secured,” Wani said, explaining that all possible security measures would be taken, including multiple security cordons for the protection of the double murderer. Wani said that Rangers would also be deployed in the outer cordon.

The trial and hearings are being conducted inside the jail for security purposes.


Reportedly, Davis has gone on a hunger strike and would like to be treated like a gentleman, not a prisoner.

According to media reports, US Citizen Raymond Davis went on a hunger strike in Kot Lakhpat prison after his legitimate demands according to him concerning food of its choice and removing cameras besides treating him like a gentlemen and not a prisoner were denied....On the other hand, Jail Administration were of a clear-cut stance that US Citizen Raymond Davis is a prisoner and not a VIP hence he will be treated like other prisoners.

We learn more about Raymond Davis.

Investigation report pertaining to American murderer Raymond Davis forwarded to high ups exposed his real identity as ‘Michael George Fernandez’. Owing the exclusive expertise in ‘intelligence operating system’, he was deputed in American CIA from M-5 Corps for the execution of secret mission. Previously, he served under the direct authority of CIA chief Leon Panetta.
Highly reliable sources disclosed Davis is an expert in articulating Pushto, Urdu, Punjabi, Persian, Hindko and Marathi, and this why he was deputed in Pakistan as CIA chief in December 2010. 

Sources told that investigation report includes information regarding his meeting with American Consular General, Carmela Conroy in Lahore where he handed over the secrete computer chip about the US drone attacks in FATA and since drones have again started operating.
Investigative report also disclosed Davis’s visit to Karachi where he called on two political cum nationalist leaders and distributed bunch of money. Investigations pertaining to that are underway.


"Policeman stand guard as vehicles transporting U.S. Consul General Carmela A. Conroy and other consulate officials leave Kot Lakhpat jail after they attended the trial of Raymond Davis in Lahore February 25, 2011. A Pakistani court adjourned on Friday the trial of Davis, a CIA contractor charged with killing two Pakistanis until March 3, dismissing U.S. demands for his release. Davis shot dead two men in the eastern city of Lahore last month. He said he acted in self-defence and the United States says he has diplomatic immunity and should be repatriated." REUTERS/Mian Khursheed

LAHORE: US Consul General in Lahore, Carmella Conroy Friday visited Raymond Davis in Kot Lakhpat prison and remained with him for more than 4 hours, Geo News reported. According to sources, Conroy and Davis also had two one-on-one sessions. The US CG in Lahore arrived at Kot Lakhpat prison along with four other officials at 9:00 AM and initially had a two-hour meeting with Raymond Davis.
In a story published Tuesday, the English-language Express Tribune quoted a Punjab police official who said Davis was actually working with the Pakistani Taliban in a bid to stoke insecurity in Pakistan and support the argument that its cache of nuclear weapons isn't safe. Call records of Davis's cell phone allegedly establish his link to 27 Taliban militants and a sectarian group known as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, the police source said.

^^^^^^^

What could possibly go wrong?

He is held in a separate part of the jail. Reportedly, the men guarding him have had their guns taken away for Raymond's safety, so they don't accidentally on purpose kill him, and his food is tested by dogs before he eats it. Well he's on a hunger strike now so that's not important.

But unarmed guards....in a separate facility from the rest of the jail.... where all the proceedings are being held and the US big shots come in and see the lay of the place and have one-on-one meetings with the prisoner, the alleged CIA chief....?

Again, what could possibly go wrong? Is it us, or does it seem like an engraved invitation to some Jessica Lynch Rescue Redux? Could they possibly arrange things to make it any easier for special forces to drop in there?



NEW YORK: The case of American official Raymond Davis, arrested for double murder in Lahore last month, could spark an Egypt-style revolution in Pakistan, cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan has said...."This is not an ordinary situation," Khan told the Time. "If he (Davis) is returned to the US under diplomatic immunity, it might trigger the revolution off." ...However, Khan suggested that Pakistan was ripe for an uprising. "I think Pakistan is completely ready for it," he said, adding, "In fact, it's even more ready than Egypt was."

Well maybe that's the plan? Triggering more instability in Pakistan, as if the Pakistanis haven't had enough? Something to justify the dream of breaking Pakistan up and securing that international corridor out of Balochistan?

Any number of things could happen. We won't speculate.

Balochistan is falling apart. A motorcycle bomb exploded in Gwadar, a port city in Balochistan.

See the series: Final Solution Frenzy.

Another arrest took place today.

Pak arrests another US national, now on suspicion of espionage
According to sources, Aaron Mark Dehaven, locally known by the name of Ahmed Haroon was a US national from West Virginia illegally living in Peshawar, as his visa had expired on 23 October 2010....Well-placed sources told TOI that Dehaven had been living, for the past three years, in Peshawar's Falcon Colony, one of the most secured residential areas in the city. He had set up a private office in the country's volatile city and had hired several locals. ...Sources claimed that Dehaven was originally tasked to provide security to the visiting US officials to Peshawar. Intelligence officials have confiscated his vehicle, carrying Islamabad's number plate---QB 565 and two cell phones.

"The purpose of his visit was unclear but one security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP he had been working with private security agency Catalyst in Islamabad."  (Telegraph UK)





PESHAWAR: The Taliban on Friday responded to the military's allegations that the militants were being backed by India and Israel by distributing pamphlets that described the Pakistan Army as an "impure force" working at the behest of the CIA and FBI.

The local Taliban distributed the pamphlets at mosques after Friday prayers in Miranshah and other areas of the Waziristan tribal region, local residents said.

The pamphlets described the Pakistan Army as a "napak fouj" (impure force) that worked at the behest of the CIA and FBI.

They said the army derived its strength from the "terrorists" of private security contractor Blackwater, US drones, CIA, FBI, India's RAW intelligence agency and Israel's Mossad spy service. The pamphlets also said the Pakistan Army was funded by the US, NATO and the UN.

...On March 2, Pakistani planes had dropped pamphlets in North Waziristan that claimed India, Israel and al-Qaida were funding Taliban fighters in the region. 

This all seems to be born out by the facts on the ground.


2/23/11

in the midst of a crack up boom



Kind of creepy how he laughs when he says:
  • we're all doomed
  • Pakistan is next
  • there are high levels of inflation in many places
Remember the Raymond Davis.

There's an asset who might be worth more dead than alive.

Works for the CIA and Xe, maybe was helping al Qaeda get some bad weapons, and was involved with the drone attacks....?


2/21/11

smear campaign? - updated

UPDATE: New clues deepen Wheeler mystery

Nearly 24 hours before the body of former Pentagon official John P. Wheeler III was found being dumped into the Wilmington landfill on Dec. 31, a neighbor who was watching his home found several rooms in disarray.Chairs lay on their sides. A large plant was tipped over. Wheeler's U.S. Military Academy sword was out of its scabbard and on the floor. Broken plates lay in the kitchen sink. A dusting of Comet cleanser covered the floor. A door had been unlocked and an upstairs window opened.

So someone was there, perhaps there with him. After all, he was MURDERED. But what does this mean?

Dill's account, however, could be more evidence that Wheeler, who had returned to Delaware and was spotted in New Castle and Wilmington the previous evening, was increasingly confused and erratic in the days before he was killed.
Except that his wife said he was disoriented every day of his life. She said the behavior on the tape is NORMAL for her husband. Seeing as he was MURDERED, that rather than blaming him for inexplicably making a mess of his own home, we think it makes more sense to wonder whether someone was in the house, perhaps with him, looking for something? Some information perhaps? As a matter of fact, in the early days after the murder, a radio station reported that another neighbor reported hearing loud noise and saw police tape at the home. Let's not let this fall through the memory hole:

http://www.examiner.com/criminal-profiles-in-national/john-p-wheeler-iii-the-neighbors-twist

Wheeler’s last neighbor, and the one who has the most to share about the week surrounding his death, is Ron Roark.

John’s neighbor Ron heard loud noise emminating from John’s television during Christmas week, and it wasn’t the usual occassional program, as Roark says: it was so loud as to be disturbing…and it was continuous for days.
Delaware law enforcement aren’t saying how John P. Wheeler III died, but they are denying his home was the crime scene. However, according to WTOP FM Radio, two wooden chairs in the Wheeler’s kitchen had yellow crime scene tape stretched across them–and several wooden floorboards near the two chairs were missing.
This could indicate that John P. Wheeler took that Amtrak train and actually made it home. He might also have had an unexpected guest who felt noise was called for as he searched for something buried in the kitchen–and left John Wheeler tied to a chair.
Police have not indicated how John Wheeler died, thus it is not know if torture was part of that death. But unusually loud television noise is often used to mask the sounds of activity others are not meant to hear in the criminal world, and John P. Wheeler did die by foul play.

Radell Smith reported that back in January. She sure has changed her tune in the meantime.

See: terrorists upgrade their weapons
See: some problems are unpatriotic
See: we do not recommend cooperating with this plan
See: let's ask Alice



^^^^^^^

John Wheeler's widow believes he was assassinated.

The widow of former Washington insider John Wheeler believes her husband was assassinated by a hit man. Katherine Klyce told a British newspaper that the way her husband's body was dumped in a landfill could only have been pulled off by a professional. Investigators are still re-tracing the hours leading up to the discovery of Wheeler's body on New Year's Eve at the Cherry Island Landfill in Wilmington, Del.
Klyce expressed her growing frustration with law enforcement, saying "If you write anything, I hope you write that the cops just made our lives miserable." 

It seems clear that Klyce knew little about her husband's whereabouts in the days before his death, and even in the first days after his death. So why would she be treated like a criminal? For expecting answers to how her husband was murdered and dumped in a landfill? Is that somehow unreasonable?

Wheeler had a dispute with neighbors. They own a home in a historical district.
Then things get hazy. At 11:30 p.m. the night of Dec. 28, firefighters discovered a smoke bomb in the half-built house across the street from Wheeler's house in New Castle. The new home has been the subject of a long-running dispute between the Wheelers, who moved to New Castle in 1999, and the owners of the property, Frank and Regina Marini. The police haven't named Wheeler as a suspect in the smoke bomb incident. But local news organizations have reported that police found Wheeler's cell phone in the new house.  
Of course, whoever murdered Wheeler could have arranged for all that, to damage Wheeler's reputation and make him seems unreasonable. He can no longer defend himself.

In contrast, we noted the other day that the Department of Justice might back Chabad of Litchfield County, CT, in their bid to expand a structure in the historical center of town. Chabad wants to expand the building from roughly 2,500 square feet to 20,000 square feet. When the Historic District Commission ruled that that was a bit much for the small congregation in the middle of the historical and tourist district, and suggested 5,000 feet instead, Chabad claimed RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION.

In denying a certificate of appropriateness, the Historic District Commission cited the scope and scale of the project as being too invasive and out of character with other buildings in the heart of the tourist-destination town.

Chabad saw the December 2007 denial as an example of religious discrimination, and in its lawsuit it both cited the horrors of the Holocaust and gave examples of other buildings in the historic district that had been greatly expanded, including the original structure that is part of Oliver Wolcott Library on South Street.

The plaintiffs claim that the actions of the defendants in blocking Chabad’s plans not only represent violations of the Jewish group’s civil rights but also violate the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Person’s Act of 2000 (RLUIPA) and state statutes.

The sole comment to the story says:

"Here we go again. I caution the U.S. Government to look closely at the lies perpetrated by the Chabad on behalf of the good people of Litchfield. There are no Nazis here. Just liars. The town has worked with the Chabad for years and has allowed a doubling of the footprint, which is appropriate for such a conservatively attended congregation. Now they are getting the Government Involved. BIG government should not get involved in small town politics. The Chabad is seemingly up to furthering it's bullying and literally shoving themselves down the collective throats of a town that thrives on it's heritage and New England charm. We acknowledge and accept the Chabad into our community years ago, but the accusations and lies must stop. We hope the Government [does not? - ed.] bows down to this terrible abuse of power."
Just imagine if some Muslims wanted to build a 20,000 square foot mosque in the historical district, and the commission said no. Do we think the DOJ would consider backing their claim of religious discrimination? Of course they wouldn't, unless the teevee heads needed another controversy to get everyone hating Muslims afresh, like the mosque at ground zero. But Chabad doing something utterly outrageous? You will not hear about it. Just goes to show you who runs this country.

See: a jarring sight

Chabad lighting their giant Menorah on the White House lawn.

But getting back to Wheeler, and how the police treat his family...

The lack of communication has frustrated Klyce. "They have been so bad," she said. "They've made my life so miserable." After Wheeler's death, the whole family went down to the Newark police station for questioning. "They treated us like criminals, all of us," said Klyce. "They were rude." The cops confiscated credit cards, financial records, and Wheeler's computer. In recent weeks, some of her cards have had mysterious charges, including two plane tickets from New York to Madrid totaling $3,000, according to Klyce.

What kind of police work is that? How could it possibly remain unsolved who charged two plane tickets to Madrid on Wheeler's or his wife's credit cards, which the police had previously confiscated?

Klyce believes professionals killed her husband, and that only by a miracle was his body noticed, and we agree.

See: terrorists upgrade their weapons

Klyce explains that her husband regularly appeared disoriented, and the videos widely circulated showing him wandering around lost were not unusual behavior for him. Wheeler's doctor, who has known him for forty years, agreed.

Klyce saw the videos, and said Wheeler appeared normal—for Wheeler, at least. Wheeler's doctor, who has known him 40 years, agreed, according to Klyce. Wheeler had a terrible sense of direction. "He was disoriented every day in his life," she said. "He couldn't walk from here to CVS without specifically drawn maps." "He was probably most definitely lost," she added. But she disputes the notion that he was crazy or demented. Wheeler, who was bipolar and took lithium for his condition, didn't always respond to social cues. "He was a touch Asperger-y," she said. "He couldn't read faces. He couldn't gauge other peoples' reactions." What about the shoe in his hand? "He didn't care about clothes," she said. "Jack was oblivious. Nothing sartorially peculiar about Jack is out of the ordinary."
Rather amazing that we learn about this NOW, weeks after the case has dropped off the radar, when his wife and doctor presumably held these opinions all this time. Did the media neglect to ask them? Did the media neglect to mention this important detail in all the coverage of Wheeler's disappearance?

Also, more details about the fight with the neighbors:

Wheeler was most recently in a disagreement with Frank and Regina Marini, the couple who were building the house across the street from Wheeler's house in New Castle. Wheeler objected not just because the new house would block their view of the Delaware River, but because he was annoyed that they were building on a historic battery where cannons sat during the War of 1812, Klyce said.
Wheeler threw himself into the legal fight over the Marini house. "He was a very intense person," said Klyce. "Everything he did he was intense about." First, the Wheelers got 82 fellow residents to sign a petition opposing the construction. In 2006, they formed a "Save Battery Park" group. In 2009, they accused the Marinis of improperly uprooting trees. Still, construction proceeded, and in December, a judge ruled that it can continue if the Historic Area Commission makes an exception. Klyce blames their failure to block construction on local politics: "It's a corrupt little town."

No doubt. It does not sound all that unusual for people to have heated disagreements over historical districts. Just look at Chabad in Litchfield getting the DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE involved so that they can expand a 2,500 square foot building to 20,000 square feet, as they throw about religious discrimination and the Holocaust as justification. Talk about being unreasonable.

These details from the Slate story are very helpful. They allow us to have a more complete picture of Wheeler. These details counteract the narrative that Wheeler may have been drugged, that he may have been the victim of random violence, that he was unreasonable about his neighbors house.


But over at The Examiner, Radell Smith finds it rather suspicious that Klyce would give out this information, defending her husband. Smith thinks it makes Klyce look bad.

Open homicide investigations are never helped by widows taking law enforcement to task in public venues, or sharing information police choose to keep close to the vest. Instead, it is almost like sabotaging the effort on purpose.


It NEVER HELPS to take law enforcement to task in public..... ? It is ALMOST LIKE sabotaging the effort on purpose.... ?

What effort is that? The effort to not find out what happened to Wheeler? The effort to use his credit cards for trips to Madrid? Perhaps we are confused.

Since Katherine Klyce chose to speak out on the matter of the murder of her husband, she will now reap the result of that action through the commentary and article comments sure to follow from the general public.

...Smith wrote, racing to the the first to cast suspicion on Katherine Klyce.

Why would a widow potentially jeapordize [sic] the investigation to find her husband's killer? What does she hope to gain from the public by doing this? And how can she hope to have good relations with the investigators after publicly saying such things about them?
But, as Klyce explained in the Slate article, she DOES NOT HAVE good relations with the investigators. That has been her frustration. They have treated her like a criminal from the outset, as explained in the Slate article, even though she was not in touch with her husband or even necessarily in the same state during the week that he was missing and murdered. The police have been rude to her. Mysterious charges have appeared on their credit cards. The police seem to have taken an ANTAGONISTIC ATTITUDE to the Wheeler family from the beginning. So rather than asking what does Klyce have to gain by doing this, perhaps we might consider WHAT DOES SHE HAVE TO LOSE?

The obvious conclusion to be drawn would be that Ms. Klyce drew the suspicion of the law enforcement community for some reason and when forced to comply with questioning and requests for financial documents and credit cards -- which she says police did request from her -- she began to think that attacking the police publicly might be her best legal recourse.

We don't know in what universe that seems to be the OBVIOUS CONCLUSION. Klyce reports how she and her family were treated, once again, from the Slate story:

After Wheeler's death, the whole family went down to the Newark police station for questioning. "They treated us like criminals, all of us," said Klyce. "They were rude." The cops confiscated credit cards, financial records, and Wheeler's computer. In recent weeks, some of her cards have had mysterious charges, including two plane tickets from New York to Madrid totaling $3,000, according to Klyce.

The police treated the entire family like criminals and confiscated credit cards, financial records, and Wheeler's computer.

If the "law enforcement community" had SOME REASON for suspecting Klyce and the rest of the family, perhaps they should share it.

Smith then goes on to cast further aspersions at Klyce for hiring a lawyer to represent her in her interactions with the police. Somehow hiring a lawyer makes Klyce suspicious, according to Smith.

This particular attorney began making the media rounds himself to publicly take issue with the investigative efforts recently, providing an exclusive sit-down interview with Delaware Online -- or as they are also known "The News Journal". While making media rounds, hiring lawyers to do it for you and complaining about the police does not in any way make you guilty -- or prove you are guilty of a crime--it sure does make the public wonder why the fences are going up....Newark Police Department has remain tight-lipped and ever committed to finding the killer of John P. Wheeler III. Both the Newark PD and the Delaware ME offices have been extremely quiet about the investigation to date, and this recent media interview by Katherine Klyce helps the general public understand better why that might be.
What exactly is Smith implying here? If there is some evidence against Klyce, what on earth might it possibly be? Will we ever learn about it or is the idea simply to hint around darkly without ever having to come up with a single supporting fact, while at the same time disparaging anyone who dares to question the "law enforcement community," or who hires a lawyer to help them with hostile investigators?

^^^^^^^

Regarding this attorney of Klyce's, his name is Colm F. Connelly, a former US attorney for Delaware.

Connelly has an office in the Nemours Building where John Wheeler was last seen by witnesses.

Colm F. Connolly, former United States Attorney for Delaware, is a member of Morgan Lewis's Litigation Practice and the managing partner of the firm's Wilmington office. Mr. Connolly's practice focuses on complex commercial and intellectual property litigation, white collar criminal matters, and corporate investigations.
As Delaware's United States Attorney for more than seven years, Mr. Connolly managed all federal criminal prosecutions and the legal representation of the departments and agencies of the federal government in all civil matters filed in Delaware courts. Mr. Connolly has tried dozens of cases in federal and state courts and has argued numerous cases before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second and Third Circuits. He has handled a broad range of subject matters, including complex contractual and patent disputes, theft of trade secrets, export control violations, healthcare and corporate fraud investigations, RICO litigation, environmental and antitrust offenses, and FDA regulatory violations.





"The Nemours Building, now also known as the Residences at City Center, was built in 1936 as a second office building in the city of Wilmington for the DuPont company. The building is 164 ft tall (50 m), and is between Orange & Tatnall Streets and 10th & 11th Streets." Skyscraper City







Reportedly, Wheeler spent a large amount of time in the Nemours building on December 30th, where he visited the Delaware Small Business Administration office. To our knowledge, no one has suggested that Wheeler met with Connelly.


We would think Mr. Connelly has seen plenty of corruption in his line of work.

Reportedly, Connelly has a very good reputation as a prosecutor, but for some inexplicable reason Joe Biden, also from Delaware, declined to endorse Connelly for a federal judgeship back in 2008.

The Colm Connelly connection to Wheeler appears to lead down some other rabbit holes having to do with the US vs AIPAC spy case, the US attorney firing scandal, and Mike Castle, R-DE, who got a little run for his money by Christine O'Donnell this past fall. 

We don't know if any of these are important to the Wheeler case, but perhaps.We can only imagine what sorts of interesting conversations someone like John Wheeler might have had with someone like Colm Connelly. The two men were acquainted and according to Connelly, met once before in 2009.


The surveillance videos of Wheeler at the Nemours Building have not been released and Connolly said the family would like to see those videos to verify that the person seen in the recordings is in fact Wheeler.
Police said Wheeler is seen on the recordings wearing a hooded sweatshirt, but Connolly said Wheeler's family never saw him wear a hooded sweatshirt.
Connolly said a Washington-area attorney who had been acting as a go-between for Wheeler's family and Delaware law enforcement reached out to him earlier this month to take over that job because of Connolly's familiarity with Delaware.
Connolly is in private practice with law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, which has offices in the Nemours Building. Connolly said it is possible Wheeler was looking for him on Dec. 30, but he said he has no reason to believe that was the case. Connolly said he had not been hired by Wheeler or Wheeler's family at that time and had no appointment to meet with Wheeler on that day.
Connolly said he had met Wheeler only once before, in the spring of 2009.

Connolly confirmed that Wheeler's family had previously done business with a different law firm in the Nemours Building - Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz - whose offices Wheeler visited on Dec. 30, and where Wheeler reportedly asked for train fare before abruptly departing.
According to the timeline:

3:30 p.m. -- Wheeler is spotted in the area of 10th and Orange streets in Wilmington.

Wheeler visited the 10th-floor offices of the Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz law firm in the Nemours building and asked to speak to a managing partner. [INSERT GIANT GAP - ed.] He also asked for train fare before leaving.

8:30 p.m. -- Surveillance video captures Wheeler wandering through the Nemours Building at 10th and Orange streets. Several people approach him because he appears disoriented or confused. Wheeler declines their help. He is dressed differently from the day before.

8:42 p.m. -- Wheeler is picked up on surveillance video leaving the Nemours Building through doors on the 11th Street side. He then continues southeast on 11th Street, walking through the Hotel du Pont valet parking area, crossing over Market Street, and is last seen walking on the west sidewalk of 11th Street, toward the city's East Side.

What did he do for five hours in the Nemours building? Did he speak to the managing partner at Connelly Bove Lodge & Hutz? Is this a secret?

Reportedly, his visit to the Delaware Small Business Administration office was brief.

Jayne Armstrong, Delaware District Director for the SBA Office issued the following statement, but would not comment on anything that took place during the encounter with staff at the office at 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 30th.
"SBA cannot provide any comment on this matter; however, we can confirm that Mr. Wheeler briefly came in to the SBA office on Thursday, Dec. 30th. SBA staff has provided information on this to authorities and will continue to cooperate fully with them on this matter."

We do not see those five hours accounted for.

^^^^^^^

The possible connections from Colm Connelly to Mike Castle are interesting. This past election season Christine O'Donnell upset Mike Castle's candidacy for the senate seat in Delaware. Then O'Donnell imploded, leaving Democrat Chris Coons with the seat.

See: process of analogy
See: politicians

Mike Castle is now out of office, as of January 2011. 

Mike Castle's top twenty supporters in 2007-2008 were:

1 Young, Conaway et al
2 Bank of America
3 Morgan Stanley
4 DuPont Co
5 American Bankers Assn
6 American Express
7 American Podiatric Medical Assn
8 American Speech-Language-Hearing Assn
9 Capital One Financial
10 Honeywell International
11 HSBC Holdings
12 KPMG International
13 National Assn of Home Builders
14 National Auto Dealers Assn
15 National Education Assn
16 New York Life Insurance
17 Tuesday Group PAC
18 JPMorgan Chase & Co
19 Goldman Sachs
20 Marvin & Palmer Assoc

Also see: Who is Castle really working for? Part III, September 2006

I found 29 bills introduced by Michael Castle that benefited a very narrow constituency. Each if the 29 bills dealt with the suspension of tariffs for various chemical compounds that I thought were related big pharma. As it turned out the bills are designed to benefit of the bio-ag-chemical industry. So, I must have missed the press conference, but Michael "Straight Arrow" Castle seems to have taken the poor downtrodden bio-ag-chemical industry under his wing....Maybe our crusading U.S. Attorney, Colm Connolly always concerned about public corruption could issue a subpoena and get to the bottom of this.
We don't know if Colm Connelly got to the bottom of it.

Mike Castle introduced lots of legislation beneficial to big pharma, to allow companies like AstraZeneca, Dupont and Syngenta to import chemicals no longer produced in the US. The chemicals happen to work well with genetically-modified crops.

But now poor Mike is out, and he can no longer help his buddies in big pharma and banking.

As far as we can tell, people like Mike Castle and Joe Biden would not be fans of Colm Connelly, even though Castle submitted Connelly's name for US Attorney for Delaware back in 2001.


^^^^^^

We don't yet see an explanation of what Wheeler did for five hours in the Nemours building, and who he may have met, and what they may have discussed.

But he was murdered shortly thereafter. That just looks suspicious, no way around it. But where are the stories asking who Wheeler met with and what they discussed? And where are the surveillance videos?

We haven't seen those stories yet. Instead we see some people in the media casting aspersions at Wheeler's family, but they present no evidence of wrongdoing by the family. We were NOT SURPRISED AT ALL to see The Examiner pushing that angle. We have noticed The Examiner in the thick of many dubious narratives.


That is a story for another day... how The Examiner works. The media outlet is owned by Philip Anschutz, a Christian billionare activist, self-made of course (aren't they all), based out of Denver, CO. The Examiner pays contributers between $0.006 and $0.008 per page view. Under cover of this homespun bootstrapping little media shop, wildly successful while getting content for next to nothing, preying on people trying to break into journalism careers, they also include contributers like Alfred Lamebremont Webre, for example.

Webre, of course, graduated from Yale, was a Fulbright Scholar, general counsel to the New York City Environmental Protection Administration, futurist at Stanford Research Institute (where he directed the proposed 1977 Carter White House extraterrestrial communication study), NGO delegate to the United Nations and the UNISPACE conference, and judge on the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal. So, in other words, your typical person struggling to make a name for himself as a journalist getting paid less than a penny per pageview as The Examiner's Seattle Exopolitics expert? Something like that. The alternative view is that The Examiner provides a great cover for getting globalist news and viewpoints into the minds of unsuspecting readers, at the expense of all those people submitting content nearly for free.

In a rich twist, Wikipedia, bastion of 24x7x365 revisionist history management, blacklists The Examiner as an unreliable source. Classic.


2/19/11

turning the other cheek - Egyptian style

We bring you the next installment from James at Winter Patriot Community. As the events in Egypt unfolded, we watched carefully to try to discern the forces in play. We thought we might be seeing something new. The only thing we might add to James' piece is that, from our perspective, the events in Egypt implode the accusations against Islam as a violent religion, and against the Arab world in general. At some point, lies become unsustainable.


Turning the Other Cheek - Egyptian Style

In the last article in this series on how Israel plans to rule the world, we ended up by reading the words of some of the protesters who were determined to keep control of their protest and their movement. This protest movement was at first seen as an extension of the protest movement in Tunisia which has been credited with the fall of the dictatorship of BenAli . But it soon began to follow a different course.

The same pattern of American trained social activists (see here and here) were there as they were in Tunisia (and every other 'color revolution' in recent years) but two differences stood out as events progressed.


Firstly, the protests were huge in comparison and all sectors of the Egyptian society were represented so that the American trained 'Young Turks' were swamped by the people and the local leaders that the protests threw up.

Secondly, the protesters did something very different. They stood together in the face of brutal and sometimes murderous attacks from police both in and out of uniform, from thugs and criminals deliberately released from prisons and from trained snipers. They stood together against earlier separate attacks on Christians and Muslims designed to start them fighting each other. These bombings had the fingerprints of Israel and its murderous Mossad all over them. The protesters stood together, defended and cared for each other and tendered to the wounded. They chose not to retaliate and resolved instead to come back and demonstrate again the next day in spite of the beatings and killings and to keep on doing so.

They 'turned the other cheek' and this is what made their protest powerful and released them from the grip of the forces who were not only behind the gullible American trained activists but also behind the likes of Omar Suleiman, head of the Egyptian Intelligence agencies, behind the police force, and, no doubt, behind the snipers, too. These dark forces can be traced back to Mossad and the CIA, then to their governments and ultimately to the bankers that control those same governments. They were going to crush these protesters but it relied on the protesters turning violent in response to all the provocation and so justifying their violent put down.

But the protesters gloriously didn't rise to the bait and thereby defeated their opponents in this first and crucial round. Everybody watching on was so confused as to who was going to do what next that the significance of what happened escaped most people. Perhaps because, ironically but not surprisingly, the true nature of the teaching, “turning the other cheek”, is not taught in our so-called Christian culture, observers did not recognise the power displayed through the true exercising of it.

“Turning the other cheek” has been falsely portrayed as a passive and even submissive practice or strategy but nothing could be further from the truth.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:38-39 (NIV)
 
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth. But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

An “eye for an eye” means countering violence with violence; as if this will resolve an issue. Why wouldn't the returned violence be returned again in turn? And so on ad infinitum? Yet this is the recipe preached by Judaism. How has it worked so far? It has worked extremely well for those with a vested interest in ever more violence but not for the rest of us. So let's look at the proposed alternative.

It is curious is it not that Jesus would specify the right cheek? It must have had significance for him to mention it. Most people then, as now, are right-handed and unless you are trained in the gentle art of boxing it is usual to strike someone with your right hand. So to strike someone on their right cheek with your right hand, you need to give them a 'backhander'. This is the strike of choice for superiors when dealing with people they consider to be inferior to them and insubordinate to boot. So this is the situation Jesus was teaching on; how to deal with evil people in power. When you turn the other cheek they cannot repeat the backhander, they have to punch you if they want to continue. The trouble for them then is that they lose their superior position, their perceived legitimacy, in the eyes of the audience and are reduced to brawling like common thugs. Which is what they are; thugs in fine clothes. This perceived legitimacy is crucial because any despot knows that the people en masse have the power and not him. Hence all the pomp and pageantry and all the police and military might to impress this idea of superior status and power onto the general populace. Power over others is ultimately an exercise in deceit.

Turning the other cheek is an act at once defiant and yet non-aggressive. It is in no way submissive. This action refuses to acknowledge the legitimacy or authority of the abusive power just as the people of Egypt have done. It does not accept the authority of the attack. It does not submit just like the Egyptians have not submitted. They have instead continued to demand that Mubarak's criminal behaviour cease and that he remove himself from his position of imposed privileged. They have pledged to stand there turning the other cheek until he does.

Meanwhile, Mubarak was in the midst of his own tussle with the agents of the Americans and Israelis within his government and military. To combat his enemies, he desperately needed the protesters, the people, to cease their demonstrations against him, accept his promises and go home. But they refused.







Mubarak's enemies within the gates, on the other hand, needed the protesters to turn violent to create what would look like a melting down of society and thereby give them the excuse to intervene using their own authority and attack the protesters for putting the 'security of the country' at risk and also to remove Mubarak from office at the same time for inciting the protesters with his intransigence in not resigning. (This is the reason the Israeli government was urging Mubarak to stay in office and lobbying other governments urging them to do the same i.e. to further exacerbate the situation). It would have been seen as a nice win-win for the generals just like in Tunisia except there were three differences. The first difference was that Tunisia doesn't have a Suez canal which is coveted by Israel. And likewise, nor does it have a Nile river whose water was promised to the Israelis by Sadat in the peace treaty we are hearing so much about again. And finally and most importantly, the protesters refused to play ball; they rejected violence, “an eye for an eye”.

Had the protesters rioted in response to the outrageous provocations and the army marched in behind tanks with guns blazing, the rioting most probably would have spread throughout the country and Egypt would have become chaotic thus triggering the excuse for the anticipated invasion from Israel. Too late, the generals would see that they had been set up by their American and Israeli sponsors. But the overall plot and this plot within a plot were defeated because the protesters refused to “resist”. Resist in this biblical context means to stand against i.e. to “go toe to toe”, to battle with evil by returning violence.

The protesters instead turned the other cheek and confused all their enemies; Mubarak, the generals and the world dominionists working through their captive governments of the US and Israel, their agencies from Mossad to Freedom House, their agents within the Egyptian hierarchy and their at least one time dupes in the sponsored activist organisations. By not “resisting” in this manner, the protesters have saved Egypt an extraordinary amount of violence so far. Not only was it the way of peace for them but it became the way of peace for everybody. Such is its power.

It is still only 'round one', for sure, but the army is on notice that the protesters will be out in the streets again if they don't enact serious changes to the constitution and the electoral process. And all gained without firing a shot.

So what exactly transpired? How did this non-violent mass protest win “Round 1”? I've quoted Mao before saying “All political power comes out of the end of a gun”. And it is very true. Despite what may have been written in recent history, the only party in a country that can seize power from an incumbent political figure or party is that country's own military. They have the guns. (Costa Rica disbanded its army sixty years ago for this very reason).

BUT if the soldiers holding those guns refuse to shoot then the power of the military leaders evaporates. So ultimately it is the foot soldiers who have the power in these situations. These are the enlisted men or, crucially in Egypt's case, conscripted men. Soldiers are trained to return violence. When they are called upon to act “pre-emptively”, they first must be convinced through propaganda that the 'enemy' is about to become violent towards them and their fellow countrymen. But what if the 'enemy' is not some bunch of rioters but rather their brothers and sisters, their mothers and fathers and it is very clear that they are not threatening violence but quite the opposite? Then human nature kicks in (psychopaths aside) and overrides the training and the propaganda and that is when the ordinary soldiers join the protesters.

This is the very real situation the military generals faced. The generals and their sponsors were put between a rock and a very hard place by the protesters rejecting violence, an eye for an eye, and chose to “turn the other cheek” and stand there with their demands. If violence was the basis of human interactions between each other rather than co-operation, then there would be no need for all the fearful propaganda that we are constantly bombarded with in our society by our political 'masters'.

The US and Israel should have seen the tell-tales that this 'color revolution' would not go as the others have but in their hubris they were blind. The tell-tales were there for everyone to see.

Back in December there were bomb attack against the Coptic Christians (link). These were undoubtedly perpetrated by Israel. The bombs were designed to cause splits between the two main religions in Egypt, the Muslims and the Coptic Christians. Mosques were attacked as well. This strategy of the Israelis has worked elsewhere but the response was different in this case. In an act of courage and love, the Muslim community committed to protect the Copts with their own bodies and declaring their commonality with the Copts; their commonality as Egyptians and as human beings. The significance of this cannot be overstated. This care and concern was reciprocated later in Tahrir Square where Christians surrounded muslims who were praying during the protests.


Egyptians adopted a banner that displayed a Christian cross and a Muslim crescent together. The usual suspects should have taken heed. And we the spectators of this world event should have foreseen the very real possibility of the victory that lay ahead. But we didn't. We didn't because we have not been educated to know the true power of collectively turning the other cheek. We haven't been taught it because it threatens any entrenched power that presumes to exploit people and that includes religious power; especially religious power. Religious despots will teach that “turning the other cheek' is an act of humility; an act of submission, even martyrdom. What they are, in fact, teaching is humiliation. And this is exactly what the Egyptian protesters have complained about; 30 years of it from Mubarak and many more before him. But no more.
Jesus, who is revered by both Muslims and Christians, taught and granted people dignity through his words and his example. He remained dignified and unbowed to authorities throughout his entire life.

As I write this, I see that “Round 2” has started. The Egyptian protesters are out in the streets again and filling Tahrir Square demanding their fellow protesters who have been arrested be released and their torturers be brought to justice.

From the ABC News Aust-
 
"Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians have poured into Cairo's Tahrir Square to celebrate the fall of president Hosni Mubarak and to pressure the new military rulers to deliver on reform pledges.
Influential Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi addressed the massive crowd during the prayer sermon, calling on Arab leaders to listen to their people.
 

"The world has changed, the world has progressed, and the Arab world has changed within," said Mr Qaradawi, an Egyptian-born cleric based in Qatar.



 Source
The scene in Tahrir Square Friday morning Feb 18th 2011

"This clickable picture from the BBC is a dramatic illustration of the cooperation and spontaneous organization that was fostered by the protesters' intent and desire to turn the other cheek."~ McJ


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