How would you react?

[Jedrzej Polak]

Thanks, Christian, for your comments.

Well, I wasn't calling for an Anti-Arab crusade, I just tried to demonstrate
how helpless one may feel being indiscriminately victimized by a group of
mindless thugs thinking they have some justification (be it religious,
political or social) for anything that is deemed socially unacceptable, or
harmful. You make a point stating that one may feel that individuals of this
particular origin are exceptionally keen on seeking whatever reason they
find suitable to demonstrate their unbalanced behavior. Well, it's okay with
me as far as they do that among themselves, in a well-known (to them) social
context. Otherwise it's unacceptable, as it may certainly be perceived as
social deviation, and treated accordingly.



JP

> From: D.Bizarro at gmx.net
> Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2001 20:56:49 +0200 (MEST)
> To: Jedrzej Polak <jedpolak at mac.com>
> Subject: Re: How would you react?
> 
> Well, ooh, my oh my

> 
> 
I try to handle this in a nominalistic way. Let´s  say an arab is a person
> who describes himself by this word and/or accepts it as a description for
> her-/himself. So my (limited) experience with these "arabs" shows some
> similarities to yours. In other words, ten days in Israel and the West Bank
> turned me
> almost into a Likud man. I crossed the border to the West Bank and Israel in
> both directions with a palestinian license plate. The driver demonstrated me
> the inhuman treatment by the Israeli Guards on the checkpoint. It was
> ridiculous. Folks, since I lived in Westberlin, I can say, I wish we´d had
> Israeli
> Military checkpoints instead of East German checkpoints.
> 
> That´s only one example. My point is, that after my experience, an "arab"
> mentality seeks desperately for any hint, that could possibly be interpreted
> as
> an insult. This is instantly taken as an excuse for provocation, violence
> and so on

> I don´t buy the "blame it on the society (circumstances)" story.
> 
> So I tip my hat to Rushdie and co with deepest respect.
> 
> best,
> 
> Christian
> 
> Jedrzej wrote

>> 
>> Part IV
>> 
>> September 11th. You drive to work in NYC. You see the first plane
>> crashing.
>> You stop, then try to pull over. You can't. You stand on an intersection.
>> You wait. Suddenly you see it happening: a second plane crashes into the
>> South Tower. People are speechless. There are crowds on the street. You
>> hear
>> sirens. You try to move away from the intersection. Suddenly you don't
>> know
>> what's happening. You don't believe what they say on the radio.   You see
>> him coming. He unbuttons his fly. He pisses on your car. He says: "You've
>> got what you deserve". His skin is tan, almost olive. You think:
>> a)
>> b)
>> c)
>> 
>> It all happened in reality, folks. This is not my invention. Part IV was
>> broadcast today  on a public radio here in Poland. The lady who drove the
>> car is Polish-American. We are not Arab haters, mind you. We rather don't
>> give a flying fuck.
>> 
>> I'm not that much keen on American global policy. I think I understand why
>> poeple from the Middle East living in the West find it diffcult to
>> assimillate,  but it's beyond my powers of reasoning to even try to
>> imagine
>> the cultural differences involved in committing such mindless acts as
>> desribed above. I think  Samuel P. Huntington was right anticipating at
>> the
>> turn of the centuries that from now on  we would have to deal with the
>> clash
>> of cultures, rather than economic or military powers. Which - quite sadly
>> -
>> takes us back to the Middle Ages in  our tribe-vs-tribe and
>> religion-vs-religion understanding of human civilization.
>> 
>> I'm with all those innocent people who got killed on American soil, and
>> WILL
>> get killed in the wake of this tragedy  when  America  retaliates. But
>> this
>> will go on, and on, and on... Three days ago we all woke up on a different
>> planet.
>> 
>> jp 
>> 
> 
> -- 
> GMX - Die Kommunikationsplattform im Internet.
> http://www.gmx.net
>