when Jewish infants children women and men were being brutally murdered by Arab Palestinians that was OK. we all saw the celebrations in Ramallah, Gaza and other Arab cities on 9/11 handing out sweets as people dove off the Twin Towers in New York. now that terror has struck in Amman there are signs of rebellion against the perpetrators even though they were Arabs, first they came for Jews now they come for you, maybe, just maybe it's not too late

I think you said it perfectly. Now if us Israelis can just silence the wackos on our side then maybe we can sort this mess out once and for all and end this fighting. Enough is enough. NO religion can justify killing noncombatants. I do think that there are a few religous moderates who are muslim, christian and jewish. If they would just speak a little louder it might help things. And if one more Iraqi or Jordanian ever sends money to the families of suicide bombers sent to kill Israelis I think Í'll pay for their session with a psychiatrist myself

You would think such would be the case but time after time the 'Islamic Countries' have refused to condemn these acts. Only just recently blocking another resolution at the UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights Conference in July of 2005. Or at the Conference of Islamic States where only Malaysia's Mahatir seemed to understand the danger, although it was still simply a cynical analysis that they would become victims themselves rather than just plain wrong. It is the moral factor that has never been addressed, just constantly obfuscate and equivocate. The PA condemns the suicide bombings because they don't serve the interests of the Palestinians, Never because they are just fundamentally wrong. It's one thing for the PA to say they lack the physical ability to confront Hamas or Islamic Jihad but they consistently and consciously refuse to confront them rhetorically and denounce their acts as immoral and repulsive. Yet somehow we are still supposed to trust them? The same when a number of Palestinians took out an ad denouncing the suicide bombings as against 'the national interest'. Are people supposed to be impressed by this? It's bad PR! That's the problem. It's like in the alleged letter by Al Quaieda to Zarqawi telling him to stop the video beheadings because they were alienating people..... So what does it mean when it is in the 'national interest'? It will then be ok? For consideration, Josef Cohen

Ray, You are a shining light in a sea of darkness. Keep it up.

Well said, if only more Palestinians could come out and speak like him without the fear or being tagged as "collaborators" and then murdered. Hopefully this will serve as a wake up call!

Except when Israelis are slaughtered it is different! The world needs to wake up to savages who are shaking the very foundation of our society. Mr. Hanania you wrote: "Arabs and Muslims can unequivocally denounce all forms of terrorism, including suicide bombings in Israel and in Iraq and still challenge unfair Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank or unfair American policies in Iraq. " Let me tell you something sir. Clean your own house. This is why the savages I wrote about are running the world. Talk about polices sir. From Egypt to Jordan around the whole of the Arab/Muslim world, your people are mistreated and brainwashed BY THEIR OWN!! When you can find toilet paper in public bathrooms in Egypt and the rest of the arab worldand the average arab earns a decent living, then complain about unfair polices elsewhere. Until then, shut your trap and look to yourselves. CLEAN YOUR OWN HOUSE. Occupation? Occupation is what your leaders do to the minds of your people. Occupation of their minds and their hearts which are full of hate and mistrust for the very wrong people. end.

will give up terrorism, why it is in the kooran, "Kill the Christians and the Jews." You want them to stop believing in the holey book? Where is Jordan's $50, 000, 000 dollar bounty on the head of that muzakowie dunghead, not that the Jordanians shouldn't find him for free and let the Israelis interrogate him. I don't take illegal drugs but reading some of this wishful thinking makes think I have.

Well said.

Mr Bunnie, accept, for once, that you are wrong. BBC had a programme about Mohammed, talking about his greatness. Bernard Shoe saw him as a world salvation, and wished he was alive nowadays. I am a Muslim, but won't call you names for describing our profit the way you did. However, i wish you read more, and be open to understand and listen, leaving your sarcasm aside, adding some objectivity. Most muslims realise, and condemn suicidal bombings. We tasted war attrocities, and know how painful they are. USA swept Heroshima and Nagazaki killing all civilians in both cities to end the war. Well, terrorists re-use the excuse, but we do not excuse them, though the world excused USA out of convenience. In Palestine, and even though i disagree with suicidal bombings in Israel, the concept is the problem. Hamas sees killing children, women, and old men (something absolutely forbidden by Mohammed and Allah against whatever religion or ethnicity) as a logistically unavoidable side effect, or price. Exactly the same excuse used by American's in Iraq and Afghanistan when they kill civilians by MISTAKE. I condemn both sides, you only see Muslim MISTAKES. Muslims are not methodically evil. You are fundamentally wrong about that. Always remember, failure of application, does not necessarily equate to flawed scripture. I, personally, wish peace prevails accompanied by the necessary justice. Arab governments are all collaborators, bribed, corrupt pieces of shit. They'll never think about morality because they have none. However, do not tell me George Bush is even a bit better. George Bush does not care about environment, muslims, or even americans. He only cares about his agenda. He lied about the war in iraq, and he always utter lies in his speech. Like his last when he said "terrorists are trying to enslave the world". No they are not. They are lunatics who had the cause of pushing USA out of Muslim and Arab states. They use the morally unacceptable and unjustifiable mean - i agree -, but they do not aim at enslaving the world!! leave iraq, afghanistan, and our oil to us, and they'll leave you. or fight them, i see that fair and square. They are wrong, and so is bush. both kill civilians. both wage aggression and illegitimate wars. both should not speak for their people because people, in essence, are all the same. they want to live in peace and freedom!

seems this struck home with you and you decided not to play with something that is serious like Airport Security Now you might say I'm being the Hater but you seem to do better on serious stuff then what you call Comedy!

Everyone has extremists. We have jewish extremists in Israel also. The difference is that your muslim extremists are consistently violent. And to top it all off they are consistently violent against non-combatants. Suicide bomber wants to die? Sure. Stand infront of my M4 and I'll do it quick and painlessly for him/her. We deal with our radical extremist rubbish in Israel by prosecuting them. What do Palestinians and other Arabs do? Well, Palestinians do nothing to stop terror. Jail them one day and let them go the next day. Thats bullshit Other Arabs? Well they sometimes shoot them or arrest them, like the Saudis do, but only when the terror is directed against Arab interests. When the terror is directed against Israeli and Jewish interests somehow its ok. You could swear theres a lightbulb going on and off in their brains at rapid speed. What rubbish. So we need dialogue with palestinians. Ok thats nothing new But dialogue only works when BOTH sides are willing to: 1) listen to the other side with an open mind; 2). Accept that they are not going to get EVERYTHING that they want, and NEITHER is the other side; 3). Accordingly accept that compromise requires some sort of reciprocity from both sides 4). Accept that one side is NOT entitled to EVERYTHING they want by DEFAULT. But what do we get everytime we start a dialogue? Monologues, thats what. We get (from the palestinians): 1). we dont need to stop terror because we dont have to because the terrorists are a legitimate part of palestinian society 2). we ARE entitled to everything we demand by default. Why? Just because. 3). you Israelis have no claim to anything that we demand 4). we are not and never will reciprocate in any shape or form because we are perfectly entitled to everything that we demand. So what do we do? We unilaterally draw up final border status as closely as possible to protect our interests and give the palestinians some of what they want (not all, because after all we arent getting everything we want either) Then we keep hunting ANYONE who wishes to harm us and we find them, and where possible capture them, or if not we kill them. And thats the story of the terrorist.

Hamas is TARGETING INNOCENT CIVILIANS. That's very different from trying to arrest or kill terrorist gangsters who are targetting innocent civilians. As for your disapproval of the murders of civilians, with this I agree, whether those sad innocents are Israelis, American Jews, Iraqi Shia, Lebanese Christian Arabs, Bosnian Muslims, etc. I do think it worth comparing the number of Muslim CIVILIANS who have been murdered by al Zarqawi's bunch alone in the last year, with the number of Palestinians (heinous terrorists INCLUDED) who have died at Israel's hands in the last FIVE years. al Zarqawi's hands are absolutely drenched with the blood of your fellow Muslims. Israel has been incredibly sparing of the lives of people who launch rocket attacks on its kindergartens and suicide bombers at its marketplaces. Regarding Islam, I do believe that Muslims can be wonderful people and that Islam is not inherently evil. Sadly, al Qaeda and its friends and its insane ideology ARE innately evil, and these people ARE trying to enslave the world. That is, in fact, their openly stated agenda: the creation through rampant violence of a supposed new caliphate, in which not only non-Muslims but Shiites, Suffis and others would be bloodily suppressed. Hamas is a Palestinian Islamic movement and would settle for enslaving the Palestinians and murdering the Jews (and others) of Israel. The massacre and the suppression of anything Hamas doesn't think is sufficiently pure is Hamas' agenda.

Thanks Ray

Nicely said.

You're right, of course. So? Why is this so hard to fulfill? Does violence speak louder than words afterall? I stopped believing in a solution. Simply because on the msn while i'm chatting with muslim arabs in other middle-eastern countries i get the same thing all over : "it will never be. there will always be war between jews and muslims." These are "regular" people - the ones that don't write in newspapers or on the internet - Maybe that's why selective condemnation exists? Because that's what they all think, where they all believe in? :-( Tsedek

The words you write in this forum, Ray, are relatively moderate and crafted to appeal to people with common sense who oppose murder of innocent civilians and who generally support peace. They help build bridges and that's good. But what do you write for other audiences? These are your own words, Ray, in a different context, from Nov 20, 2005: http://www.amin.org/eng/uncat/2005/nov/nov20-0.html Your comment about al Zarqawi championing the rights of the downtrodden is the language of idiots and lunatics. You may claim that you were merely reporting the purported mood on some mythical "Arab street", but your use of language -- "The Arab and Muslim street recognizes that al Zarqawi is the only person who is championing the rights of the downtrodden" -- shows that you believe that these people are recognizing the truth. Maybe you should have said "believes." But you chose to say "recognizes." That's telling. It is also totally ridiculous. Al Zarqawi has been slowly turning the Muslim and Arab worlds against his causes through his love of graphic, sadistic violence against civilians, with no boundaries or limits respected. Even al Qaeda thinks the man goes too far, and that's saying a LOT. And which street is this supposed to be? The streets of Amman came alive with anti-Zarqawi rallies. The streets of Najaf and Basra are full of Arabs whom al Zarqawi would like to murder because they have the distinction of being Shiites. Al Zarqawi would similarly murder all of the Druze Arabs in Israel as heretics. You blame Israel and the US for the violence that is deliberately and painstakingly planned against our civilians, and you blame us for the violence that the same psychopaths commit against others including innocent victims in Amman, by the same Islamist psychopaths. There is indeed blame to be distributed, but it has much more to do with the deluded blindness and hatred that has been sowed by Arab regimes and press and religious figures in recent years, than it does with anything else. These are people who have a duty to show the truth and to present options, but instead feel that they must adhere to a brainwashing program as an alternative to allowing freedom to blossom in their own corners of the world. Overall, I find your Nov 20 piece to be disgusting, Ray. Before you accuse anyone else of being insincere, maybe you had better consider your own words and actions. If you want to be taken seriously as a supporter of peace, you have to support peace and oppose terrorism clearly and without reservation, all the time. Don't bother to criticise terrorism and horror out of one side of the mouth, while out of the other, you advance the arguments of the extremists, who pretend that their horror and evil and their attrocities against innocent civilians are somehow justified by Israel hunting down terror gang leaders or building a fence. Thanks.

I also read Ray's article today. Ray speaks according to who his audience is which leaves him no credibility one way or the other. If he takes a position, then he should stick to it. I happen to agree with what he said in his other article but that's besides the point. Today he proved himself to a first-class phony.

In my other column, I do not say I agree that Zarqawi is good. I say that he is touching a nerve with Arabs and Muslims and that is a threat that has to be addressed. Obviously, you don't like any criticism of Israel. But the fact is Israel can be criticized in a normal debate, even if a few people like you do not tolerate any criticism. To some Arabs and Muslims, as I noted, they will support Zarqawi in the long run, even if he is found to be dead. They will support him because THEY feel that he represents their views on Israel, which I have outlined as completely as I cam in 800 words. You may not like to hear it, but it is true. And, it is an issue that needs to be addressed. Ray Hanania

When all people can do is call others names, obviously, they have little merit to their arguments. I went to the link provided by Howard. It seems to me Ray is consistent. He denounces suicide bombings (which "Lois" doesn't do), and he also criticizes Israeli policy, not himself but by ascribing the popular notions. It seems to me, Ray, "Howard" and "Lois" are the real fanatics. And those who are silent are contributors to fanaticism, on both sides. The distance between a suicide bombing/the killing of a Palestinian civilian and extremist views is very short. Extremists must shoulder the responsibility for the fanaticism that takes innocent lives. So far, we don't hear the extremists in Israel or Palestine do much of taking responsibility. David Weingart Los Angeles

Hi Barak, Thanks for your substantive response. I would however raise serious doubts about your point "We deal with our radical extremist rubbish in Israel by prosecuting them." There are numerous counts of documented abuses by the IDF that go unpunished and only add to the antagonism. Note: I am not criticising all soldiers in the IDF and I have respect for many of them. But consider these: http://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/index_en.asp and http://www.rense.com/general68/girl.htm A little girl is murdered and no action or consequences follow? Pretty appalling. Mr Hanania, a great piece. Don't let the hatemongers get you down. There are plenty of reasonable, intelligent and fairminded Jews who support you and salute you. Thanks, Ann

You are free to accuse me of confusing message with messenger. And I am free to disagree. I actually agreed with some of your Nov 20 points. But I disagree strongly with statements like this: "That’s a frightening future that can only be blamed on the injustices that Americans are willing to turn their back on in Iraq, Israel and the rest of the Middle East." While I do not claim that the US & Israeli governments are free of mistakes and stupidity (no, I don't mind undistorted criticism, Ray; realistic, constructive criticism helps to prevent stagnation), I do NOT believe that we/they are solely to blame for the mess in the middle east. There is PLENTY of blame to go around, and two wrongs, or two hundred, don't add up to a right. I believe that everyone is responsible for his or her own actions, and that if someone blows up an Israeli marketplace or murders Arabs on a bus, they cannot and must not be allowed to excuse their actions by saying "the other side does bad things." The US and particularly Israel are not responsible for Zarqawi or for people who support him. The one who must accept the blame for Zarqawi is Zarqawi. I know. Personal responsibility is out of fashion in the middle east these days; victimhood is "in." That's part of the problem. Maybe that does make me an extremist, as David (#20) thinks -- an extremist centrist! Oh goody! I get to be a double "ist"! *laughs*