MIDDLE EAST
TERRORISM 101
Everyone talks about stopping terrorism. But to do that, we must understand what terrorism is. That will help us make rational, as opposed to emotional, decisions about what might work and what won’t. To begin, terrorism is not a lone wolf or a pair of gunmen with a grudge who shoot up a school or…
Read MoreSAN BERNARDINO
In a way, San Bernardino in Southern California’s Inland Empire has become America’s Paris and also its Jerusalem. Why Paris? The City of Light symbolizes Western enlightenment and respect for human rights—values Islamists deplore. Why Jerusalem? The capital of Israel—even if the United States maintains its embassy in Tel Aviv—represents another symbol deplored by Islamists.…
Read MorePARIS AND BEIRUT
Last Friday’s terror attacks in Paris continue to dominate the news. Not everyone thinks that’s good. Lebanese commentators ask why Paris eclipses ISIS suicide bombings that killed 41 in a southern suburb of Beirut. That was a horror. But there are understandable reasons why the West cries for Paris. Yes, the City of Light represents…
Read MoreEUROPE AND THE SLIPPERY SLOPE
American politics often seizes up atop the slippery slope. When common sense dictates compromise, Democrats and Republicans refuse to take a first small step. They reason that a tiny compromise will lead to larger compromises eroding their core principles. Europe, too, faces a slippery slope in regard to refugees fleeing the Middle East and South…
Read MoreSTORY POWER
During the past week, two signs from the heavens got me thinking. This is all a bit subjective, of course, but my train of thought led me from a red-tailed hawk and white, storybook clouds to our over-busy lives, one of my all-time favorite TV shows and the function of fiction. On a recent walk…
Read MoreFINGERS ON THE TRIGGER
Two weeks ago, I wrote about paranoia in Middle America. Last week, I wondered about the nuclear deal with Iran. A recent experience and a reader’s comments induce me to amplify my remarks. Regarding paranoia, many Americans fear both crime and an encroaching federal government. They often turn to guns for protection. Fear of Washington…
Read MoreIRAN: NOW WHAT?
The Iran deal is done—at least until Congress votes on it. President Obama will veto a “no” vote, and overriding that veto will be difficult. So what lies ahead? We can only speculate. But I do have a warning. First, let’s look at some possibilities. We’ve bought time, but following the ten-year agreement, Iran—unless a…
Read MoreDESTROYING HISTORY
Last weekend, Carolyn and I visited friends in Ashland, Oregon, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. We saw the classic musical Guys and Dolls. (I played Nathan Detroit in summer camp.) We also toured Ashland’s historic Railroad District. As we strolled, I couldn’t help thinking of the barbarians who seek not to preserve history but…
Read MoreFOUR TOUGH TRUTHS
In the movie A Few Good Men (1992), Jack Nicholson is the Marine colonel commanding the U.S. base at Guantanamo. He famously tells a court martial, “You can’t handle the truth.” Given Tuesday’s election in Israel, last November’s American Congressional election and the state of the world, a number of regrettable truths confront us. Truth…
Read MorePALESTINIAN SHYLOCK
An old ad campaign in New York displayed photos of Native Americans, African Americans, Chinese Americans and other ethnic types with the headline, “You don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s real Jewish rye.” This May, theatergoers at the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon will again discover that you don’t have to be Jewish…
Read MoreTHE CAMPUS DISEASE
Cairo’s Al-Azhar University is the Muslim world’s preeminent Sunni religious institution. The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) provides outstanding higher education in the United States. Both seem quite different. Yet both share something in common besides being well-known universities. It’s cause for concern. Last Sunday in Mecca, Ahmed al-Tayib, Al-Azhar’s grand imam, addressed…
Read MoreIT’S ISLAMISM
The Islamic State’s recent beheadings of two Japanese and burning of a Jordanian Air Force pilot bring reminders from Washington that we’re engaged in a “war on terror.” Nonsense. Terror is a strategy, sometimes a tactic. We face an aberrant ideology. It’s Islamism, which seeks to impose by force its version of Islam and legitimizes…
Read MoreEXODUS AND CHARLIE HEBDO
Recently, I saw a Hollywood guild screening of Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods and Kings. Last Wednesday, two gunmen killed 12 people at the Paris magazine Charlie Hebdo. (As I write, French security forces have just killed the terrorists.) The film and the murders tell overlapping yet different stories. If you’re thinking, “Wait. I’ve got to…
Read MoreDEAR BIBI
An open letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Bibi, times remain challenging. As an ardent supporter of Israel, let me respectfully offer a few comments. Because while you’re correct that a significant segment of Palestinians promotes the destruction of Israel, the best strategy Israel can adopt is that of a peace seeker. Before you…
Read MoreSILWAN
A newspaper article from decades ago concerned the wise, heroic act of a teacher in a tough Chicago high school. I wish I could personally tell the story to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu. A student pulled a gun. Let me be clear. No one has the right to bring a gun into a…
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